Christmas Sewing

I didn't do as much Christmas gift sewing this year as usual.  But, I did make the gifts for my grand kids. I try to come up with something different each year.  This year I made reading pillows. It's basically a pillow that has a pocket to hold books and a strap on the top to carry it by.  I made mine the size of a bed pillow and added a zipper so it can be removed for laundering.  I add a couple books to each pillow according to each child's interest.  

DOUGLAS 

CADE

BRANDON

 ALEX

 ASHLEY

 EMMA

 EMMA (back)

 RILEY

RILEY (back) 

 TORI

 TORI (back)

CURTIS 

Sewing With My Granddaughter

I'm helping my 7 year old granddaughter make a simple flannel quilt. 

This was her first time using a sewing machine.  I'm surprised at how well she did.  She understood when I explained how the machine worked and was able to thread it by herself and sew a straight line from the beginning.

The puppy wants to "help"

The first time using an iron.

More blocks

The only part I did was the cutting.  Riley decided how she wanted to put the blocks together, pinned them, sewed them and pressed them.  She's really enjoying working on it and it's so nice spending time together. Once we get all the blocks made, we'll tack it together.

Sewing With My GD

This is my 7 year old granddaughter learning to sew

The Doll Apron we made.

On the doll

 The proud seamstress 

I don't have daughters to teach to sew, so it's nice sewing with my granddaughters.

Sewing With Emma

Emma is my 11 year old granddaughter, and we love spending time together sewing.


She made most of this cute summer dress by herself.

She used a quilting cotton I had in my stash and this pattern.

This next one is a refashion I did using a long sleeved knit top of her's.  I cut off the sleeves and added narrow bands;  and added a skirt to make a cute summer dress.   I don't have a picture of her in this.

Next up is a sleeveless top:

I used this pattern:

I love this new dress I just finished for her.

I used McCall's 6923 for the bodice and McCall's 5042 for the shirt portion.  It's a simple sleeveless bodice with a half-circle shirt and has a zipper up the back.  I used a facing on the neckline and self-fabric bias binding on the armholes.

I'm happy with the fit and how cute it looks on her.  And most importantly, she likes it.

Emma's Apron

 My 9 r. old granddaughter, Emma, made an apron.





























Emma & I love to sew, and when we get to spend the day together, that's what we do.  She also likes to cook and didn't have her own apron, so she decided to make one. She looked through my stash and picked a "tie-dye" fabric and a solid yellow for accent.  These are both quilting type cottons.    Since I already have Butterick pattern 5426, that's what we used.  We made a combination of views B & C.  And because it's sized for adults, I removed a little here and there to make it fit Emma.

I had to help her with some of the sewing, but she did most of it.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  Most importantly, she likes it.

Emma Sews

My darling granddaughter, Emma, is becoming quite the sewing girl!   Here she is using my machine and making a sundress.   It makes me happy that she likes to sew.

 

Last year for her birthday, I bought her a Kenmore ultra mini. But she says she likes using mine better!
 

















Here she is modeling her new dress. It's a reversible sundress.  We made it using 2 coordinating cotton prints & didn't use a pattern.  She's familiar with patterns as we've used them to make doll clothes, but not for clothes for herself.  I need to get her some, so she can learn how to use them.

 

 

Joann Fabrics has Simplicity patterns on sale next week-end & I'm going to try to pick up a couple patterns for her.  I really like this one.  It's a cute style, plus I think Emma could sew most of it herself.

 

This one's cute too.

 

  

Ashley

Ashley is my wonderful 10 year old granddaughter.  She wanted me to write about her for my new blog.  She has her own sewing machine.  I'm trying to teach her to sew, but she'd rather design and let me do the sewing. I hope she'll grow to love sewing as much as I do.  These are her new fleece pj pants we made today.







 






Some of her Project Runway creations and American Girl doll clothes