Let's start with something simple.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I post a picture and just a few words.

Yesterday, Sonia decided she was going to make a stuffed walrus by hand out of fabric from the rag bag (which, as you may remember, hangs on my laundry room wall.)

But when she came to me completely stuck on the first part, I suggested she try her hand at sewing something simpler first.

Like a beanbag.

So then Zoe wanted to make one too.

We used some expired rice (I had no beans), thread I already had, and scraps from the rag bag, so this is pretty cheap entertainment.

I could have whipped up two beanbags on my machine in no time, but I opted to let them hand sew these because at least 50% of the joy comes in the making process, and besides, needle skills are handy to have.

(Say, when a button pops off of a piece of clothing.)

I did use my machine to zig-zag the edges (to prevent fraying) and the zig-zagging also closed in any gaps in the hand-stitching, which is important because rice is a leetle more prone to escaping than beans.

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Joshua’s 52 Project post: Caecilian

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Wendy

Tuesday 15th of July 2014

This is great! My boys have recently begun learning to embroider. That's been easier for them to succeed at than sewing was.

Gladys (The Pinay Mom)

I learned how to sew by hand before I was 10 years old from my grandmother and our Home Economics subject teacher taught me completely.It's really fun and you are doing such a great job teaching your girls to do things like this.I know few 20 year-old something women never tried to sew because "they don't know how".

Frugal Paragon

Awww! I have fond memories of being about seven, and my mother helping me sew a miniature pillow by hand.

Kristen

A pillow is a great first project too! Basically anything that's a square or rectangle. Ha.

Deb @ Saving the Crumbs

Reminds me a little of my first sewing project. I had my brother lay down on a double layer of fabric and cut around his outline. Sewed the edges by hand, and had him try it on! We still joke about his attempt to squeeze into his outfit (and how I left a needle on the floor that impaled his big toe). Too bad I haven't advanced very far in my sewing skills! :-)

Wow...that was a very ambitious first sewing project!

Diane

I am so grateful for the domestic skills my mother passed down to all of us. Sewing by hand has become therapy for me....a meditation that often gets me through the day.

Hurray for your girls carrying on the tradition!