A Little Sewing

Nikki has always been my crafty little one, loving to draw, paint, work with clay, play in my fabric stash and using random items to create something unique.  Her room is pasted and plastered with her creations as is the ever changing display she provides for the fridge.  She had been asking me to teach her to knit, but thus far has just enjoyed cork knitting b/c I knit Russian style which requires a bit more tension in the left hand, so we're taking it slow with knitting. Last February, I introduced her to embroidery, which she quickly took to with some muslin, yard sale hoops and a pencil to make her own drawn designs, often embellishing them with buttons and sequins.  She has turned these little hand embroidered squares into a number of pillows and blankets for her dolls.  

Nikki  February 2009

 So, it was no surprise that right around the time she turned 7 this past November she began inquiring if she was old enough to sew on a sewing machine.  She dreamed of making clothes for herself and her dolls, doll quilts and so much more.  She has spent hours in my fabric scrap box putting together fabrics which she said, "are just perfect to make this and that."  I was naturally a bit uneasy about teaching her work on a machine with a moving needle and had no intention of letting her learn on my Bernina, but I knew it was the right time to teach her.  

  After finding a suitable full- size beginner machine (I have not heard good things about "child size" machines) - her machine has 3 needle speed controls (the slow speed works great for her), doesn't run without the presser foot down, stops when there's a problem with needle tension or bobbin or if the stitch selected doesn't match the presser foot and has all the basic stitch patterns and 7 different one-step button holes. With the machine all set up (and given a late night test drive beforehand by me), I decided last week she was ready for her first machine sewing lesson. 

We discussed that she would let me make her bobbins and thread the machine and that if the machine gets stuck or makes a beep at her (one of the safety functions on the model we chose) that she would stop and ask for help.  So far she has followed the rules.  

For her first project we chose a simple skirt from Oliver + S , a free pattern on their blog, the Lazy Days Skirt  She selected fabrics from my stash, washed and pressed them (she loves to iron) and did most all the sewing with little or no help, except for the elastic in the waistband (that was a little tricky for her so I took over when it became too challenging).  She is quite pleased with the result -  
which she calls her "Cozy Days Skirt" since the skirt is flannel and is lined with a contrasting flannel. 

She chose to bring the lining fabric around to the front instead of putting ribbon on the bottom, there are some mistakes, not quite straight seams and such, but for her first try she did a great job.  It has been worn and laundered no less than 3 times this week.

As you can see she has her own sense of style and it's obvious her fabric choices are so,  Nikki.  

I think I may be in for lots of her sewing projects over the next few months, she is already planning a matching skirt for her doll. 

And what did this new skirt inspire her to do?  Piano practice...

Now she just needs to make another skirt to inspire her to practice her violin more :-)

We're off to our usual weekend skiing schedule, Cole has a race on Saturday and Nikki's racing on Sunday, 
but I'll see you back here next week to share some outdoor time, more good stuff from the kitchen, and hopefully a little progress on the knitting front - 
until then we're just trying to stay warm (our days have started below zero most everyday) - 
Just as the groundhog predicted we're in for a lot more winter here... time to go bring in some more wood from our wood shed.