sewing with kids

In preparation for our 1st grade crafting date, I tried out a few more wee stockings.

They looked fine, so we kept our plan, but also took along some felt, just in case, it turned out that one kid chose felt, so it worked out. Here are the kids’ projects!

It ended up that the kids/moms chose their fabrics, traced and cut them out, and I sewed them up on my machine. In one case, a sewing mom did it herself, and in several cases, a 1st grader pushed the foot pedal while I “steered.” Everyone was happy with their results. However, I will definitely keep felt in mind next time, as it was the easier to work with, and the results were neater.

I blocked my Honeybee cardigan on the needles last night, and found it to be more than long enough.

So I started the sleeves!

But…. These would be MUCH too big! My wrist circumference is about 6″!! So I did some math and decided to cast on 44 stitches instead of the 76 as the pattern directed. So far, so good. They fit and look fine.

Pretty good for a regular old Saturday!

Today the Wee Girl and I did some prep for a small crafty party we’ll attend tomorrow with a few other first grade classmates. My plan was to prepare a super easy sewing project that the kids could quickly finish.

Scraps galore!

The plan is to make these cute quilted stocking ornaments, which the kids will sew up by hand.. http://stumblesandstitches.blogspot.com/2011/11/tutorial-scrappy-stocking-christmas.html

The Wee Girl and I had a pretty good time putting together different variations from my scrap fabrics to make palettes for our friends to choose from.

AND! I let her use my sewing machine by herself. (She’d shown interest in a toy sewing machine she saw in a catalog, but I convinced her that it’s better to learn on the REAL THING, and then I had to be true to my word, right???) I didn’t even hover, which was a really big deal for me.
Our test run was not what we’d pictured, but maybe I’m being too perfectionist about it?? To be super honest, the hand sewing wasn’t so easy for her, nor was the tracing and cutting. Hmmm, maybe those parts will be closely supervised by the moms? Or should I take my machine along for the kids to try out/me to whiz through the stockings? It’s only 3 kids, after all…