Sewing with my granddaughters is something I have always enjoyed doing. It is an activity that makes them feel so special. Usually it involves a sleepover and lots one on one time-whether we are in the sewing room or the kitchen. They love being involved and helping out, whatever we are doing.
When we first moved to Georgia our oldest granddaughter, Katelyn, was 28 months old. I was so happy to be near her and her baby sister, who was 11 1/2 months old. We live less than a half hour away and I knew I would have plenty of chances for family get togethers.
About six weeks later was the first time I ever sat Katelyn in my lap while I was sewing. She was so excited!
Look at the concentration on that doll's face! She was taking it all in!
She wanted me to move my hands so that she could do it all by herself.
Yes, she was bitten by the sewing bug that day! I'm not sure which of us was more thrilled!! I'm so glad my daughter caught this moment for us.
A year and a half later I saw a precious Janome Hello Kitty sewing machine at a quilt show. I just couldn't pass it up-I had three granddaughters at this point and knew that sewing machine represented so many hours I could spend with my little girls making memories! I brought it home and Katelyn immediately took to it like a duck to water and she was only three years old!
Digging through my scrap basket, Katelyn found pieces of fabric to sew together. She was going to make a quilt!
My mother was helping her while I snapped pictures.
The fact that she couldn't cut with scissors yet wasn't going to deter her one bit.
She was so proud of her crooked little square! The joy on her face melts my heart!
Yes, there is no doubt about it--this girl loves a sewing machine!
Fast forward almost 7 years. Katelyn has grown up so much-she'll be starting 5th grade next month. I asked her last week to spend the night with me and wanted to know what she would like to do during her visit. "Make a skirt" was her answer.
We went to A Scarlet Thread Quilt Shop on Thursday and she picked the fabric she wanted to make her skirt out of. Last night she slept over and today she was ready to sew. We decided that she is now old enough to sew on a "grown up" sewing machine. I sat her down and we had a lesson on sewing on my Bernina. I gave her some fabric scraps and explained to her the importance of keeping a straight seam allowance. She practiced sewing 5 rows and was ready to go!
Katelyn wanted the stripes on her skirt to be horizontal, so she had to cut it in half since they were printed vertically.
Next she pinned her seams together. She had learned the importance of keeping her seam allowance straight and even.
She's sewing her side seams together-we used a post it note to help her guide the fabric.
She pressed her casing down and stitched it. She caught on to why we were leaving an opening very quickly.
She used a LARGE safety pin to thread her elastic through the casing.
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And here she is stitching her hem. She went very slowly and carefully because she wanted it to be very straight since it would show on the outside of her skirt.
She's one very proud young lady-and well she should be! She made this skirt all by herself!
Happy Sewing!!
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