I am so excited! My very first project article is available today on the Fiskars site! It is such a special piece because it is about teaching children to sew and features my sweet Emma. Em has been asking me for a while to teach her to sew on the sewing machine. I had been hesitant to teach her because I thought she was too young. She was persistant though so I decided to ask a few people what they thought and did a little research. The result is my article today where I share tips about sewing with your children. I think it has some really great tips that could be useful to anyone wanting to help a young sewer get started.
Emma's first project (as shown in the article) is a pair of pillows. When we bought the supplies for it, she found a dress fabric with a pre-gathered top and Fancy Nancy printed around the bottom. The dress piece is pre-hemmed so all that you have to do is sew a straight back center seam and add straps if desired. She had to have it! We decided it would be her third project after her pillows.
We had the fabric for about a week before she got to work on it. It just about killed her waiting! She talked about it non-stop and drew sketches of how it would look, complete with scraps of ribbon we bought for the straps. When I reminded her how the designers on Project Runway (a favorite show we always watch together) always sketch out their fashions before sewing them, she got really excited, saying that maybe she might end up being a fashion designer. Add that to her list now of being an artist and a cake decorator.
Sewing the seam was simple and quick. I helped her and did the straps. When it was finished she had to put it on right away over her clothes. She literally beamed from satisfaction! I was pretty pleased too. She did well and had a positive expirience sewing. I know that she will want to continue. She is picking out new projects already. Getting to sit next to her and help her learn something that will be a fun and practical skill and getting to pass on something I love was priceless.
