Wow – It’s been a busy week!  I can’t wait to see how everyone’s challenge is going, hopefully you have made some good progress on your goal!

I was glad to see so many of you excited about stitching with your kids last week.  We had a lot of fun, and the kids all hung their stitchery up on the wall in their rooms.  Ideally we would make a pillow, or quilt block with them…I’ll have to see about pulling them together for a fun project later, for now they are enjoying them.

This week, I moved to the sewing machine, and started with the child that wasn’t in the tub, or busy playing – Sophia.  Sophia (6 years old) jumped at the chance to sew on the machine, and “wants to sew every day!” – I didn’t realize how contagious sewing was!

To begin, I found some left over pieces, already cut from a Layer Cake.  I showed Sophia how to use the Lapel Stick, then handed it to her to do the next set.  We put a little dab at each end, and in the middle.  Pins are hard for little hands to manipulate without poking their fingers, so I was excited to try Lapel Stick with her.  And of course it isn’t difficult for her – just like using a glue stick!

She carefully matched up the edges, and stuck the layers together.  Check out that intensity!

At the sewing machine, I set it to the slowest speed.  If you don’t have speed control, I would recommend using the pedal yourself and having the child guide the fabric through the machine.  Point out the key parts of the machine that they need to know about –

  • fingers away from the needle
  • presser foot lever
  • where to line the fabric up
  • holding threads at the start of each seam
  • not holding the fabric, let it move with the machine

Then remember that you will probably have to point these out a few times for them to sink in.  I started the first one for her with holding the threads and letting her get a feel for the pedal for a few stitches, then passed it off.  

She had all the details down, quick!  And having used Lapel Stick, she didn’t have to stop and remove pins, and I wasn’t worried that things were getting off kilter.  I started off without a serious plan, just thought we would practice sewing straight lines, after sewing two – she was ready to keep going, so we did!

Thinking on the spot, we joined the strips.  Then put a whole layer cake piece on for a back!

No batting just a lite Barbie blanket, is what it ended up being.  We left a hole about 3″ on one side to turn it right side out, and she got to practice turning the corners too!

She’s proud and excited to see it almost finished!  She turned it right side out, and I showed her how to push out the corners with my purple thang.  I did all the ironing – we will tackle that when she is a bit older.  I think Ella was 8 or 9 when she started ironing – which is handy when I’m piecing for a deadline and she feels like helping!

Finally we stitched the opening, and had a complete project.

Of course, now I see he importance of having a finished project instead of just having some practice time.  For Sophia, being able to take the blanket upstairs and put it to use right away was so fun!  So plan it out, or let your child help you decide the right path for the project.  Just have fun sewing together!!

Barbie is nice and warm.

Are you ready to sit your child down to the sewing machine?  Let me know how it goes!

Amy