Sewing kit

Anika and I had lots of time alone together, what with getting up with the birds in the morning, and Dan and Eliza spending 5 hours this afternoon in rehearsal, so we got up to lots.  We worked on a present for a little friend here - it will be a felt bag with a heart pocket and a braided strap. When she's in the mood, this is a project she can do most of on her own.  She loves the ritual of sewing and begged for a sewing kit during a trip to the Dollar store, and we shouldn't have bothered - wasn't even worth the dollar! 

I tried to come up with something a little more useful, with only the elements she actually uses:

• A couple of large-eye needles (I think these were called "Chenille" needles or something?); we mostly sew with felt right now, and these work great for her size of hands, and for the multi-string embroidery floss we usually use.
  
• A tape measure (ok, she doesn't really use this for sewing, but it was one of the things from the cheapo sewing kit that she really loved).
• Some thread and a threader (what are these called??).
• A few safety pins (again, she doesn't really use these, but is very proud of the fact that she knows how to open and close them and I thought she'd like the option).

It all folds up together and fastens with a button. I must say, it's pretty cute! We'll see if it gets used.  I would like to find some small sewing scissors as well - the ones included in the other kit could not even cut through thread, they were that lame.

This was a great idea I saw on Sewing School. It holds just a small amount of thread, hopefully making it easier for small hands to use. 

We have an old suitcase that was my grampa's that we keep all the felt, a jar of buttons, a bag of thread and some fabric scissors in, as well as unfinished hand-sewing projects and miscellaneous ribbons and pieces of fabric.  The girls know where it all is, and as long as Ani curbs her desire to go on a mad cutting spree through all of the felt, I feel ok about them using it all on their own.

Here is a shot from an earlier project she and I did - lavender-filled pillow with a baby in a pocket. I got the little doll from a Waldorf bazaar a few years ago, but I'm sure some of you craftier folk could make them quite easily.

Dan and I are fighting sore throats, so I nursed a rendition of the Heavenly Cold Elixir today, made with sparkly water and ice cubes, which was refreshing and felt great on my throat. Gotta kick it - nothing worse than a summer cold!