What My 7yr Old is Sewing for Christmas Gifts

Can I just say that I am SO proud of my little girl and so proud to introduce her sewing projects to you today.  In this post I will call her Sweet Pea.  Last year when I started to teach myself to sew, Sweet Pea also became interested in sewing.  Since then we have been on this exciting journey of learning to sew,  together. 



The first thing I started sewing was a little doll quilt.  That seemed like a good place for Sweet Pea to start too.  I had her piecing together a quilt block.  It's a great way to learn how to sew straight, learn that right sides go together and so on.  She loved it!  I made the pieces WAY too small though, so her block was taking forever to create.  My plan is to have her cut out some large squares to piece together so she can create her own small blanket.

In the picture below you will see her very first bag.  I did not stick with quilting for very long once I discovered bag making!  I just love it so much!!!!  Sweet Pea has caught the bag fever as well.  She cut this fabric, found the yarn and sewed it up all on her own.  She made it for her sister....(sniff..sniff..)  They are best friends.

For her next bag I helped her by just suggesting that she could turn under the top so the raw edge would not show.  She thought that was a great idea!  (I never know.)  She also asked if she could borrow some ribbon for the handles.  She cut them and sewed them on herself.  I think they look fabulous!  She cranked out about 4 of these in an afternoon.  They are gifts for all her friends!  Did I mention that she has a big heart??!!

Sweet Pea then came to me one day and said she wanted to make a Christmas gift for her Grandmother.  (Grandma's computer is down so don't worry, she won't see this!)  Sweet pea proceeded to cut out the fabric (I had to straighten up the edges a bit) and then she told me she wanted to add the letter N for grandma's first name.  I thought it was a great idea and a perfect opportunity to teach a new skill: applique.  I actually just did my first applique project over the summer.  You can check out my Appliqued Crossover Bag for Kids HERE.  Applique is pretty easy, but your young child will need supervision because there is a lot of ironing involved.  Sweet Pea sewed this with the machine on her own and then I hand stitched the closing.

This last project was also an idea that Sweet Pea came up with all on her own.  She began drawing and cutting out a rag doll shape and if I would have let her continue on her own I'm sure it would have been okay...but I thought this might be a good chance to have a sewing lesson and learn something new together.

I suggested we look for a doll pattern on line.  We found one here.   I was hoping for a little more instruction, but it was good enough for our first try.  Sweet Pea did 99% of the sewing.  I think I mainly helped with attaching the arms and legs.

What do you think of the PINK HAIR???  Are you seeing a theme here???  Yes, her favorite color is pink!  Sweet Pea nonchalantly asked her sister, "um..if you had a doll would you like white yarn, red yarn, blue yarn or pink yarn for her hair?"  And so we have PINK.  I was a little afraid, but it actually turned out pretty cute.

I would say the most fun was making the wig!  I had no idea how to do that!  We found a great YouTube video HERE that really helped us out. 

Are any of you teaching your little ones to sew?  What are some of the projects you guys have worked on together?  I just love thinking about when my daughter is my age, what all she will be doing with sewing.  Maybe she'll grow to hate it, or maybe she'll put it away for a while and then come back to it when she's a mom like me.  Either way, this time is precious, and I know that she will at least always have this memory of us sewing together.  :)

Blessings,
Gina

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