Sewing 101
July 7, 2007 by Melinda
Well, I have had some success with my kids’ summertime projects. It is sometimes challenging to find something that will keep them interested because oftentimes they view the needlework I do as “work”. I strive to change that misconception! Also, my little window of opportunity during the summer only lasts so long and then it is back to school and homework routines with little time left for projects. The other big factor I face is the competition from the Nintendo Game cube. They would spend their entire summer in front of the TV playing games if I let them. I remember as a kid spending my time outside or crafting. The TV only had three channels with nothing interesting so I did other things to keep busy.
The puppet idea fizzled from the start with one of my kids. The other worked on the paper mache mouse head and did sew a fabric body. We just haven’t put it together yet. Kind of lost interest in that. Off to the Game cube. I don’t worry too much with her because she is a crafty kid and does her own projects all on her own.
Last summer I bought two yards of fabric with a Pooh Bear and friends print for my oldest daughter with the intention of working on a quilt with her. I have asked occasionally if she would like to work on it and the answer has been ‘no’. She just couldn’t bear to cut the Pooh Bears up into little squares! Well, I asked again recently and she said ‘yes’. Pretty exciting stuff! So I sat her down at my sewing machine and taught her some basics and had her practice on some scrap cloth. We measured and cut the squares of cloth into 8″ squares of Pooh Bear fabric and something we call “Piglet Pink”. She put the pieces together into strips and I showed her how to iron the seams flat. She very enthusiastically has sewn the top all together and finished it with a green cloth border. The one thing I did was to sew the lace around the edges for her. We are ready to begin sewing little embroidery floss knots into the corners to hold the batting and layers together. I am so very proud of her! What big smiles and best of all she is asking about making another one. I think soon we will take a trip to the fabric store to find some more Pooh Bear prints. I was thinking that I can have her try a nine patch square this time with smaller squares.
