Lucid Dreamings: February 2012

It is rare that I actually buy a brand new gift for someone.. especially children. It usually comes in the form of a handmade (sewn or knit) gift or a thrifted one. The same cannot be said for my children. When it comes to gifts, they almost always get boxed, packaged, plastic, made in a foreign land, gifts. They, of course, love them.
As they've grown I have always tried to show them the beauty in a handmade gift. Thankfully my mother, a wonderful knitter/seamstress/all-round-crafty-egg, has surrounded them in homemade things since birth.
The past few years they have watched me create in many different ways and I have watched their curiosity grow. Sage, who will be 7 in a matter of weeks, has dabbled in needlework and knitting, but always seemed quite interested in the sewing machine. So when the invitation to a school friend's birthday party came up I seized the opportunity for some mama/son crafting time. And Craft we did..

Sage decided that what Chloe needed was a lovely bag. He picked two beautiful fabrics for the job and wrote out a pattern. Since attention spans can often hinder artistic progress, we decided the first day would be ironing, measuring, cutting, and pinning.

So far so good, day two held more in store and so after a nice walk and healthy lunch we took on the rest of the project. It must be said that he did 98% of the ironing, cutting, pinning and sewing himself. Once shown, he needed very little guidance.. only encouragement to keep going.

I helped him to attach the strap to the bag (tricky business) and to sew the button on and we were done. Proud mama am I! Such beautiful work and frankly he does a better 1/4" seem than I do!