• Invite each member to share what s/he would like to learn at the beginning of the skill level or project. Write these expectations down and review them periodically.
• Invite each member to share what s/he learned from an activity, article, or skill level. Members may wish to share feelings about what they did. Be sure to encourage positive accomplishments, rather than weaknesses.
• Ask each member to tell the foods s/he would eat for one meal that demonstrate a balanced diet.
• Have members select names of sewing machine parts and describe how to clean, oil or lubricate that part.
• Give members a challenge to "just suppose" they were given a birthday present of $50.00 to spend on clothes. How would each member spend it so s/he gets the most satisfaction for the money?
• Before the meeting, prepare magazine pictures or tracings of fashion illustrations. Instruct members to randomly select an illustration and describe the style being illustrated.
• Have members describe the silhouette lines or design lines of a garment they are wearing.
• Before the meeting, prepare a sack of knit fabric scraps. Have each member select a fabric and describe the type of knit, the characteristics of that fabric, or an example of a garment which could be made from it.
• Before the meeting, prepare samples of different types of fabrics with suitable or unsuitable hems. Ask members to select a sample and tell why a hem is or isn't suitable for the fabric used.
• Before the meeting, sew seams in different types of fabric samples. Ask members to select a seam and tell whether or not that fabric would need a seam finish, what kind of finish it might need, and why.
• Come to the meeting dressed in a costume or as someone they admire.
• Play posture freeze throughout the meeting by having a person designated as "it" watch for individuals not practicing good posture. Measure the height of the offender. Then tell them to sit or stand tall and re-measure them. At the end of the meeting, compare poor posture height and good posture height. Point out that good posture increases height, makes clothing look less wrinkled, increases attractiveness, etc.
• Use a "line-up" activity to illustrate that each person is unique. Have members line up from shortest to tallest standing in their bare feet. Next, have them line up from shortest to tallest while kneeling. Then, have them line up again, sitting flat on the floor, feet and legs extended in front of them. Discuss what kinds of silhouette/design lines make people more attractive through the torso area, legs, etc.
• Ask members to list the items of clothing (do not include underwear) that they are now wearing. In a second column, list other items which they own that can
  be worn with an item of clothing they have on. Include coats, sweaters, and accessories, as well as coordinates. Discuss the idea that versatile clothing items that can be coordinated with other clothing are more economical than non-coordinating garments.

Original Cost
---------------------- = Value of the Clothing Item
Number of wearings

• Figure the value of a party dress or good suit compared to a pair of jeans. Compare commercially made clothing with home sewn. Compare fabrics, design, construction, cost (including time) and satisfactions, creativity, learning, and appreciation gained from a personally made article.
• Use large name tags to designate roles for "informed buyer", "uninformed buyer", "busy salesperson", and "helpful salesperson". Have members do some role playing on how to ask for help when buying clothing. Discuss appropriate and inappropriate behavior by role playing buying situations.
• Have sacks of knit fabric scraps available for individuals or teams. After showing examples of different types of knits and giving instructions on how to identify them, instruct individuals or teams to distinguish between the different types of knits and sort them into groups. You may wish to organize this activity as a competition or timed event. Review the knits and correct any errors the members have made in sorting.
• Demonstrate how to measure knits for stretchability and how to coordinate them with patterns designed for knits. So that members can practice measuring and coordinating, have on hand a variety of knits and patterns or pictures of patterns from the free monthly advertisements available in fabric stores or departments.
• List the fashion terms from current teen magazines such as Seventeen.

Modified from a publication prepared by Ardis Koester and Barbara Sawyer at Oregon State University, 1984.

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Updated 8/12/05