When she was seven years old, Introduction to Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) teacher Betsy Cron discovered her passion for upcycling. Cron was determined to make sure her Cabbage Patch doll had the “best wardrobe.” She learned how to sew from her mother, who worked as a tailor, and soon began to make clothes for her doll. Years later, Cron’s passion has evolved from that Cabbage Patch doll to her Introduction to FCS sewing unit.

“I realized that if you want a piece that looks really, really nice for a little bit of money, you can sew [it],” Cron said. 

The Introduction to FCS classes recently completed the mending unit Cron implemented into the curriculum. Her students learn how to sew a regular button, shank button, straight stitch, running stitch, whip stitch and ladder stitch. To practice each technique, students create a sampler project worth sixty points.

“After learning how to clean laundry [in the Introduction to FCS class], that’s where the mending comes in—how to take care of your favorite clothes so that you have them forever,” Cron said. “You can fix them and keep them going.”

In addition to her passion for sewing in the classroom, Cron organized a Mending Clinic for her classes to obtain more experience in previous years. Students and teachers in the building could drop off items to Cron’s room, A335, to have their items mended.

“We set up laundry baskets as the repairs come in,” Cron said. “I distribute repairs across all four classes, and then that way each class has equal opportunity to try a new thing. The sampler is nice, but it’s really different when somebody hands you a pair of pants, and you’re like, ‘there’s a seam and a seam—how do I fix this?’ Sometimes you have to rip stitches out to fix something and put it back together.”

On Wednesdays after school, Cron meets with a group of students aiming to develop new pieces themselves in the Sewcial club. 

“It’s all the kids that learn sewing that, especially in fashion, want to sew their own projects,” Cron said. “I encourage them to volunteer for the drama productions [in costume design], and then get back to their projects.”

In her classroom, Cron sewed the skirts and coverings on tables and shelves as well as the bassinet for the class infant simulator. She is grateful to be able to instill this passion for sewing in her students.

“We learned four or five different stitches, and then we learned how to put on buttons,” freshman Brionna Hudson said. “We have a piece of fabric, and then she’s been teaching us a new stitch and how to put buttons on every day. My favorite stitch is the back stitch.”

Throughout her years of teaching, organizing the Sewcial club and running the Mending Clinic, Cron has spread her love and passion for upcycling.

“I try to impress on my students that if you want to look like a million bucks and spend a little bit, [sew],” Cron said.