05 December, 2011

Bunnies

Easy sewing, right? A great project for beginners, right? Apparently Lotta Jansdotter doesn't know my kids.

At Market, Lotta Jansdotter gave out these cute little charm packs, pre-printed with a pattern for a little bunny stuffy. Even she commented that they would be a great first-time sewing project, or at least a fast one for the experienced sewer.



So I thought I would bring my little packets out one cold afternoon. The Monster has been begging me to teach her to sew after all. We reviewed our lessons from playing with sewing cards and embroidery hoops. We redrew the pattern, marking dots for where the needle would go in and out. We picked a giant needle to make it easier for little fingers.

I'm happy to report that there were no tears. This, in an of itself, should make it a successful venture. When The Monster is learning something new and can't do it perfectly from the very first effort there are almost always tears. No tears and only minor frustration, but frankly, they were bored. They kept asking if I could just do it or could they try on the machine. At that point I should have put the project aside, to be picked up later. Did I do that? No, of course not. I made them finish, by helping a lot. We had the distractions of pins, scissors, and the red pen we used for marking. Oh, and tiger costumes. When it got to stuffing their interest was renewed. And after I closed them up they went to town with a pen to draw on a face.

And they haven't asked me to sew again.


6 comments:

Mary said...

We have done a scrap wreath, a mini quilt, and a yoyo (just one yoyo), and a ticker tape snack mat. There were great long pauses between those projects getting finished and interests being renewed. As horrible as it sounds, I'm ok with that.

* elizabeth * said...

they're wicked cute. ;)

Unknown said...

Super cute. I remember my first sewing experience with Canaan...not the best experience ever. I think that was one of my first realizations that I am not cut out to be a homeschool mom :/

Andrea said...

they are cute! I can see it being really tough with the little ones. I did stuffies with the grade one's a few years back and doing a whip stitch was tricky for grade ones!

Suzanne said...

Good for you for finishing them up with the girls. Projects that languish are not as fun.

Cynthia said...

My 8 year old son is begging me to teach him to sew (he got a tiny travel mending kit from someone at school). I am somewhat dreading teaching sewing because once I start with one the other 3 will want to learn too. Maybe a little stuffy would be a good place to start.
Thanks for the inspiration to try!