Little Seamstress

A while back, my friend, Jeri, babysat the kids.  (They love to play with her daughter, Hannah.)  She has a sewing/craft area in her basement that really impressed Tori.  She helped Tor make a vest for her stuffed animal, and Tori was hooked.  When I had my miscarriage, Jeri helped her make a wallet for me with flower buttons.  Tori kept saying she wanted Jeri to teach her sewing lessons.  I told her that I could sew, but my machine wasn't working.  So, I got the idea to get Tori her own sewing machine for Christmas.  I looked on Craigslist, but I was a little worried about getting something that didn't work well.  Luckily, I found a good, simple Brother machine on sale.  It just does the basics, but that's all we need for now.

I am also indebted to my friend, Jackie, who taught her eight-year-old to sew, and made me think seriously about the plan.  I had Tori practice a few lines on some scrap fabric when she got the sewing machine, and then she was ready to go.

I had known, given Tori's enthusiasm for projects, that we'd spend Christmas day sewing - and we did.  I did the prep work, but she did ALL of the sewing.  And she's really good at it!  Here is the skirt and the apron she made the first day:

Then last week, Tori made this skirt.  She's not here to model it for a picture, but it looks really cute with brown leggings and a denim jacket.  (Tori loves peacocks - and this reminded her of their feathers.  She did a report on peacocks a month or so ago, complete with a poster, just for fun.)

The other kids wanted to try too.  Eli made his pillowcase, and I made them for the other two.  (They all picked out their own fabric.)

This has been a great thing for all of us.  I scored some serious "Mom points" when they all realized that I really could sew.  They've been quite complimentary.

If anyone wants the links to the tutorials for the skirt, apron, or pillowcases, let me know.  They're all very simple.