We were very snowed in Wednesday (pictures coming tomorrow – when we are due for EVEN MORE SNOW). To stave off cabin fever I agreed to help Emma and Johnny sew something. They’ve been asking for a while, but I put it off until a quiet Lily nap at home since they wanted to sew with real (a.k.a. sharp) needles. With Valentine’s Day on the way (and with it being Emma’s favorite holiday), we decided to make some Valentine hearts out of felt.
I cut out the hearts, and they stitched them together with a basic running stitch. Emma was able to do this mostly correctly on her own; Johnny had some very innovative stitch placement! One nice thing about sewing with felt: you can frequently undo stitches by pulling the needle back through the felt! It’s also one of the easiest fabrics to put a stitch through.
Then we added stuffing – Johnny stuffed his heart, then got a bit hyper and started throwing the “snow flowers” all around the living room. Emma sewed her heart shut without stuffing it first (while I was dealing with the “snow flowers shower”, so we had to pull out a few stitches.
Then they celebrated having their brand-new hearts! Johnny was too excited to stand still for a picture! They played hide and seek with their hearts, and when Lily woke up from her nap, Emma made a third heart so all three kids could have their own hearts. Now they are planning their next sewing projects – including a T-rex for Johnny. That one might be a bit more challenging…
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
He looks so pleased! This is a wonderful project.
Thank you so much for linking to the Virtual Valentine’s Day Party on my blog. Please take a moment between now and the end of the party Monday night to visit a few of the other party guests. I would love to everyone who linked up to have other guests stop by for a visit.
Remember if you visit two guests and leave me a comment that you did you could win a $15 Visa Gift Card.
@cathy – what a lovely idea – we’ll have to try that!
They both look like they really enjoyed this activity and heart hide and seek sounds great fun! :)
Your kids are like geniuses–I’m serious! They did such a GOOD job with these hearts. I love this! They must have the patience of Job:-).
This is a lovely idea for a beginner’s sewing project – B will love it. Have you ever tried doing a pencil drawing on some fabic in an embroidery hoop and then stiching over the top? They turn out great and it’s a lovely way to capture your child’s art.
Such a great idea!
These look so cute. The smiles on your children’s faces are so cute.
I would love for you to link this recipe to my Virtual Valentine’s Day Party.
http://www.jdaniel4smom.com/2011/02/welcome-virtual-valentines-day-party.html
LOL about making a T-Rex next! How fun for them to sew and make hearts! I’ve been wanting to get the square canvas stuff for Abby to practice stitches on, but felt is a great idea!
Whoa, I am so impressed that Johnny could sew too. I loved that they both worked so hard on their hearts. When my parents go home, we might start learning simple sewing too.
We keep getting bombarded by snow, too! This looks like fun, I wonder if Kiddo might like to sew. I might try something like this.
What a great simple sewing project! I felt like I was in the room with you as Emma sewed her heart shut and you tried to contain the “snow flower shower”… It’s great that Lily got one, too. :) :)
I need to let the kids do more sewing. Batman has been begging to learn to sew.
The best part is that they made them themselves! Love it! I think for the first time our weather is lining up. The kids have been out of school for 4 days. It sleeted Mon. night just as the temps dropped to the teens. The roads were icy for 3 days so no school. Then last night snow fell. But tomorrow it’s supposed to get up to the 50’s by afternoon! Crazy weather!
That’s great! How are our kids already old enough to learn how to sew?? Time for me to thread a needle for Abby!