February Break STEAM

February 22, 2016 Community Central
Youth guiding paper through sewing machine
Youth first practiced on paper – stitching straight lines, pivoting, and sewing on a curve.

4-H youth in Lewiston got an up-close look at how science and art interconnect – through sewing!

As part of the partnership between Lewiston Housing Authority (LHA) and Community Central, members of the LHA’s Aspirations Program and Community Central educators worked over February break to find out a little bit about the science behind different parts of the sewing process.

Elaine using sewing machine
Elaine Theriault, AmeriCorps member serving at LHA, hard at work on her braided infinity scarf.

Using the 4-H Steam Clothing series, youth started by looking at how math is involved in sewing when measuring seam allowances and measuring themselves for clothing patterns.

How else do you think science, technology, engineering, and math might be involved in sewing?

For more information about Community Central, please contact Kristy L Ouellette, PI of the Maine 4-H Community Central Program at kristy.ouellette@maine.edu.

Community Central is a project funded by the USDA’s Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Sustainable Community Projects program.