I’ve been doing summer camps ever since Jolene’s Sewing School began – which means this summer will be my 15th year! By a conservative estimate, I’ve run close to 300 camps, with around 1,000 students. Can you guess which camps I’ve run every single year since the beginning? (The answer is at the end).
I started the first summer with some small sample camps to test out ideas. The “real” first year of camps began with a bang, as it was the infamous year I broke my leg (which you can read about in this article here). After that rather challenging beginning, I’ve continued to run more and more camps, adding in new favorites and updating classics that students continue to request. I even had one student who flew in each year from Hawaii to take camps with me! Since it’s impossible to list them all, you’ll have to check out some of the photo archives below to get an idea of how many different camps there have been (including a little monkey business)!
Kids and family members have helped me come up with themes, which has always been a joy! I always try to do one quilt camp, and a mixture of some clothing and other projects like bags or stuffies. I also have enjoyed the chance to get creative with snacks for each camp’s theme, such as fox cake pops or owl-shaped veggie trays!
Over the years, camps have evolved with the times. I’ve held them at two different homes of mine, and even once in a rented space. During COVID, you might remember all the outdoor camps – which we held early in the morning to avoid the afternoon sun. I had always wondered about doing outdoor camps, and being forced by circumstances to make that idea a reality was a fun challenge, even if the wind made things more difficult than we anticipated! I learned a lot and tried a lot of tricks to make it work.
Did you guess it? My most popular camps, which I will hold for my 15th summer this year, are Fox Camp and Dress a Doll camps! Owl Camp is the runner up as one of my other most popular camps, which I’ve held every year since the 3rd year.
Even though camps are a lot of work, I always look forward to each summer. And it fills me with joy to see my students have such a great time and create a fabulous project I know they will enjoy all year!
Speaking of Camps…
A lot of you have been asking me about dates for summer camps in 2024!
I’ve decided to release the dates, for those who need to make your summer plans. Official camp themes will be coming soon – in the meantime, contact me to reserve a spot and vote for a theme you’d like to see that week!
2024 Summer Camp Dates (note that each week has a morning and an afternoon slot available):
July 1,2,3 | 9-12 or 1-4
July 8,9,10 | 9-12 or 1-4
July. 15,16,17 | 9-12 or 1-4
July 22,23,24 | 9-12 or 1-4
July 29,30,31 | 9-12 or 1-4
Aug 5,6,7 | 9-12 or 1-4
Aug 12,13,14 | 9-12 or 1-4
Aug 19,20 ,21 | 9-12 or 1-4
Spring Closures at Jolene’s Sewing School
Please mark your calendars – the Sewing School will be closed for Spring Break on March 25-31st! Contact me with any questions.
I hope to see you around the sewing school soon!
Keep calm and sew on,
JoLene