This weekend Michaela was determined to get a turn on the sewing machine, her mission, to make a quilt for “baby”. I let her loose on the purple and pink piles of my fabric stash, (she had no interest in any other colour) and cut some strips from each of her chosen fabrics.
As I had done with Amelia, I set her up with some foundation fabric to piece the strips onto. This seems to work really well for beginners, as there is ample fabric to hold onto, well clear of the needle. I set the stitch speed to extremely-slow, and pinned the fabric well clear of where the needle was to go, so that Michaela could sew without worrying about removing pins as she went.
This method is great because when stitches go awry, they can be re-sewn, often without the need to unpick. Ironing the strips open, as you attach them, covers a multitude of mistakes, as you can see below…
Michaela got about half way with her blocks before she decided to give it a rest. I think she can be pretty proud of her first go on a sewing machine, especially as she is only 6 years old.
The sewing may have held her interest for longer, if this was not going on in the next room.
Cubby houses, made of quilts, are just too much fun to miss out on, and it is important to get in early enough to nab a piece of lounge room real-estate for yourself.
How young were you when you first used a sewing machine? What did you make?