Monday 20 September 2010

SEWING WITH KIDS

We were babysitting our three grandkids a couple of weeks ago and they got a chance to try out some sewing. We had two handcrank machines out and they took turns making their very own four patch block. They loved making their block and want to come back to "make it look like your blankets, Grandma" :-). We will find some scrap batting and backing and make them into little quilts for their Webkinz next time they come. Here is 4 year old Leah checking out how this machine operates:

Leah with her finished 4 patch block. She chose the colours herself:

Lauren is 6 and took to sewing like a pro. She is all concentration here:

Lauren's four patch block all finished:

Grandpa showing her the ins and outs of the machine:

Eight year old Josh, even abandoned his computer game to come and make his block!! He did a great job and caught on right away:

Thumbs up for a job well done! He chose spider fabrics for his block:

When I went to get the Singer 28 handcrank machine from the library table upstairs in our livingroom, we opened up the attachment compartment to check the threading diagram in the manual and we found some lego pirates LOL! Our other grandson, Joey, hid them in the machine so no one else would play with them til he came back again.

This past Friday evening, we had our friends, Aileen and Jarrett over for dinner with their three boys, Dustin, Jayden and Keegan. The boys had done a little sewing over the summer vacation at home and loved it. We now had a third handcrank machine, so we set all of them up on the table and the boys raided my scrap basket and started sewing strips together. They also caught on famously and did a great job!! Here's Jayden working on his creation on a Singer 201 handcrank:

Keegan got to try the Singer 28 handcrank. He's 4 years old and also handled the machine very well:

Jake teaching him the fine art of sewing on a handcrank:

Dustin sewed on the Singer 15-96. He is in grade 5 and did so well, he could sew without supervision! Mom Aileen and Jayden in the background.

Keegan checking out Dustin's machine:

This takes concentration:

Dustin's work:

Jayden and Keegan posing with their masterpieces:

Their pieces remind me of Gees Bend quilts :-).

I just love the combo of kids and handcranks!! Next time they come, we'll have to get their Dad on one of the treadle machines...he was itching to try it :-).

5 comments:

The Cozy Quilter said...

They are budding liberated quilters! Looks like everyone had fun!

Ruth said...

Cute kids! It's a good experience for them. My DIL has a sewing machine like that, but I think it needs some work done on it as it wasn't working last time we were there. Hope they get it fixed.

cockermom said...

What fun! I can't even get my grown daughter to sew....I feel like such a failure :( lol

Sandra said...

Loved seeing the photos of all the children sewing. This will be a wonderful memory for each one. I'm anxious for my grandchildren to get a little older so I can begin teaching them to sew.

I also enjoy antique sewing machines and recently inherited a treadle machine that belonged to my great-grandmother:)

Anonymous said...

Lots of fun reading this posting. I've been dabbling in quilting myself. I use my antique Singer 128k (hand-crank, naturally) to piece my scraps together. I have to say, a hand-crank or treadle-machine is MUCH safer for a child to use. An electric machine could pose all manner of problems since they're harder to control for the novice user.