What is in the Learn to Sew kit?

My Learn to Sew kits are for children who want to Learn to Sew. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I think simple doll clothes is a good place to start. The first two kits are for a simple wrap dress that can be embellished a number of ways. One kit will be for Phoebe dolls the other for American Girl sized dolls. 

I have been working on the kits for over a month now. I know, I know, I should be done by now, but I want to make sure I have thought of everything. Everything, a child would need to make the project and that the instructions are thorough. Nothing puts a damper on a sewing project quicker when the adult helping the child is totally confused. Trust me, I've been there. 

So you don't go there, here is what a kit contains:

1. A detailed instruction booklet. Color photographs of each step of the process, plus written instructions and a side bar of "Things to think about"
2. The pattern pieces. Each piece is on poster board so it can be traced onto the wrong side of the fabric.
3. The "Pins and Needles" Booklet contains several darning needles, enough pins and Wonderclips to make the projects.
4. Practice material. The dress needs a Fat Quarter of Fabric and is embellished with a contrasting waist band and a YoYo Flower and button. You even get a practice waistband and YoYo Flower. You never know that first practice dress may come out just fine and in that case, your doll will need to wear it.
5. The fabric for your real dress, and of course the embellishments.
6. Two large snaps, (Sorry, I forgot to put them in the photograph)
7. Email support line, if you still are a bit confused or have questions about changing things up.

All the recipient has to supply is thread, scissors, tape (I'll explain that later) and the doll.

Most kits will have the same practice fabric as shown here, but there will be a selection of "real" fabrics. 

Next blog post, samples of the wrap dress and fabric choices.

The Practice Fabric set

A Real Fabric Set, this is just one selection.

Pattern Pieces

Quilts at the MFA

It is April School Vacation week, which means less time for sewing, but more time for things I might not ordinarily make time to do. Today I took my youngest daughter and a friend to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the Quilts and Color Exhibit. At age thirteen, they both have started making and designing their own quilts and patchwork pillows. It seemed like a trip two middle schoolers might actually like.  

We were not disappointed. The quilts were primarily Amish and mostly from the mid 1800s and all were entirely amazing. The graphic design of these quilts was stunning. The color combinations and juxtaposition of shapes and textures rivals some of the best graphic design of today. Designers today merely have to click a mouse to bring things together. These designs were created with itty bitty scraps, snipped from worn out clothing or left-over remnants, all pieced and hand stitched together. Coordinating bolts of fabric at Jo-anns, looking at colorful swatches in a virtual shopping cart or rethreading the sewing machine began to seem like such a luxury. These designs sprung out of what was available and months and months of small hand stitches. Maybe the slower speed gave them more time to think about color and design. Maybe the lack of extra fabric and a sewing machine prompted more thoughtful decisions. 

Maybe beauty is what happens when you have fewer options.

When it is the End for a Favorite Fabric

Those of us who sew doll clothes work with small pieces of fabric. Not exactly scraps, but fat quarters, strips and margins of larger fabric pieces. When you have a half yard or more, you can stash some of it for another dress later. Maybe you can squeeze two dresses into a half yard and there is still enough for a shirt, a lining or capris. But eventually you are left with unusable scraps. Pretty scraps, but only the very thrifty will put these to use.

Most of the time, this inevitable using up of our stash is okay. It actually feels good. After all, that is what a stash is for. Right?

Not always. There are always some things we want to both use and hang on to. Those favorite fabrics. The ones you are torn about using and torn about not using.

Today I used the last of one of my favorite fabrics. I bought it a while back. Maybe even as long ago as five years ago. A clean white cotton with bright yellow, red and pink cherries splashed across it. Yes it made a sweet dress. But what I have left could barely be a lining. 

There's always the hope that there might be more. Somewhere.

There are a few places you can check, but you will need to check the selvedge to find the exact name of your fabric.

Etsy, a search in the supplies section

Ebay. You can also set eBay up to save your search and email you when items that match are listed.

Quiltshops, will search over a hundred online quilt shops. I've had very good luck with this.

But sometimes, the fabric is gone, everywhere. It wasn't just my favorite fabric, but many people's favorite fabric.

Teaching a Child to Sew, The Launch of a Series

When I was a child I tried to teach my younger sister to sew.  I have gone on to teach all three of my children, a few nieces, a few children of friends and a brownie troop to sew. There is almost as much of a learning curve to teaching sewing as there is to sewing.

This post is a first in a series about teaching children to sew. The very first post will be about what to think about when introducing sewing to your child--some thoughts before you begin (or end in frustration).

1. Start with hand sewing. Hand sewing is a better way to introduce the basic concepts of sewing, ie securing thread, right sides together, what is a seam, undoing mistakes, etc... than the machine. Understanding how to work a sewing machine is a whole separate mastery that should be learned after a child understands the basics of sewing.

2. Although a child can learn to sew at any age, and each child is different, ages 6-9 is often a great time. They are young enough to still be keen on mastering new skills, not old enough to think, I'll never be good at this. It is also an age when they still play with dolls and stuffed animals, which brings me to my next suggestion...

3. Doll clothes are a great way to start. When the project is done, the child has something they want. Unlike pillows, doll clothes require a number of sewing skills. You can start with a simple dress that just requires seaming and basic hemming and build from there. Through doll clothes your child will also learn the basics of garment construction, which will naturally lead into sewing clothes for people.

Next: The very first sewing skills to teach.

Would you like to sew for Phoebe?

Here is a sneak peek at the Phoebe and Egg Learn to Sew sewing kits. Each kit will come with almost everything you need to sew a simple (but cute) wrap dress for Phoebe. The kit will be designed for beginning sewists, adult or a child 7 and over. The kits will include almost everything you need except the sewing machine, scissors and iron. 

The dress, despite being very easy to sew, is very cute and can be embellished in so many ways. The first version is with a fabric yo-yo and button (which of course will be included in your kit) along with pattern pieces printed on freezer paper that can be ironed directly onto your fabric (no pinning).

Check in later, I'll post a few photos of the dress. Also the last photo below gives you some idea what goes into creating a pattern for a simple dress. Not so simple.

What goes into creating a simple dress is not so simple.

NYC finds and fun

My Egg, now 12, my husband and I went to NYC for a long weekend to visit my older two children (aka Phoebe and Ging), who now live, work and play there.

I wandered again into the garment district. A bit overwhelming-- rooms and rooms, floors and floors, and blots and bolts of fabric, AND trims and threads and sewing tools to the ceiling everywhere. I loved it and it made me want to flee. Next time I go, I'll have some specific idea of what I want.

Anyone else making this trip, Mood Fabrics is a must see.

Now we are home just in time for the next snow storm and some cozy sewing.

In the end, I left with a very small loot (DMC floss), but I really didn't need anything anyway.

The Doll Book

I learned to sew at age eight and started right away making people clothes. I made a dress for my little sister. She was not as appreciative as I hoped she would be and so I moved on to sewing my own clothes. But I spotted this book somewhere, somehow (without an internet) and begged for it. It is called "The Doll Book" and it really was the THE doll book, since I knew of no others. I loved it and made many of the dolls and the clothes. I still have it and I still think it is cool .

It gives you the patterns for a family of dolls--parents, older siblings, younger siblings and a baby. I made them all. The patterns are Barbie sized and I love the way old Barbies are inter-mingled in the photos. It also gives you hundreds of period clothing patterns. You could historically dress your little dolls in outfits from the early 1800s on through to the early 1900s. 

The book would be fun for any child who wants to try doll-making. The dolls are simple and flat and the instructions for the clothing are amazing.

Used copies are still available on Amazon. Starting at about a dollar.

Things I love: flower buttons

There's not too much I can say about flower buttons, except I love them, and they are hard to come by. At least nice ones are. Here is my entire collection, all from various sources in China (found through eBay over the years). The last shot is how I like to use flower buttons. What else can I say? They are the perfect final touch.

Things I love: Perle Cotton

This is the first post in a series, which I will call: "Things I Love".

Each week, I am going to post about something I love and why. Most often it will be about something I use in the doll-making process. I'll explain its virtues,, how I use it and where you can find it. There's no shortage of things I love and I hope some of these things will eventually become things you love as well.

I thought I'd start with perle cotton. Also called, pearl cotton.

Aquarelle from Paraguay and available on eBay.

What is perle cotton?

Perle cotton is a high sheen twisted cotton embroidery thread. It is very similar to a very fine crochet thread. It comes in sizes 3, 5, 8, 12, 16 and 20. And to make it confusing 3 is the largest size. There are a handful of brands--Finca, Valdini, DMC and Aquarelle.

Sizes three and five are thicker and nice for decorative embroidery.  I own and use mostly size twelve balls, but a few eights. I prefer the balls to the skeins, since they don't tangle and are easy to store and reuse.

I am obsessed with details and like to use a fun element in a detail that others might treat as mundane.  I tend to use this thread when my stitches will show since it looks neater brighter and shinier than plain thread. I always use it for sewing on buttons, snaps and labels. 

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Click on image to see a close-up of button thread.

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It's strong, you only need a few passes through to secure a button, snap or label and the color pops. I especially like it for sewing in snaps (another post on this) because they look so much neater and are more pleasant to sew on. Prior to switching to this method snaps were my least favorite task.

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Perle Cotton can be bought in many colors from the following sources:

Woolfelt Central sells a nice selection of size 8

Herrschners sells Size 8 and 12

Valdani sells balls and sets, a bit more expensive

Ebay has many sellers. I've bought pearl cotton from the UK and Paraguay on Ebay and been happy

I stay away from the variegated, not sure how this type can be used.

Perle cotton is not an essential ingredient in sewing doll clothing, but it does make details pop and the more mundane tasks fun.

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Hoarding or Collecting

Our obsessions generate a lot of stuff. For me it is skeins of yarn, stacks of fabric, spools of thread, rolls of trim, jars of buttons, patterns, books, etc… Fellow crafters might call this a stash.  When I’m honest with myself, I’m not so certain. Is it a stash, is it hoarding or maybe, could it possibly be elevated to a collection?

And exactly how do you draw the lines between any of these terms?

A stash seems simple. Having a supply on hand in case you run out. Enough yarn to make a quick gift or pair of socks on a sick day without going on a search for a “good” yarn. A stash is easy to justify and if small enough may not require a justification. I realize it is a current knitting trend to push the limits of what can be considered a stash.

Both hoarding and collecting mean acquiring more than you will likely use. Maybe hoarders imagine they will use what they obtain and collectors actually try not to. In that case, I’m somewhere in the middle.

Maybe hoarders cannot organize their loot and collectors relish the organizing and displaying. In that case, I am the latter. I love arranging my buttons, trims and fabrics almost as much as I do eventually using them.

For the most part, I am inspired by my stuff. I love piecing together the components of a project—the trim, the buttons, the lining, the threads. Each selection propels me into a deeper trance with the project. 

But I only feel inspired when I have the time to sew or knit. When I don’t and I see all of my fabric and yarn, I just feel deprived of time--the one thing that cannot be hoarded, collected or stashed.