Adorable Thumbelina

Another fun programme at the library. Little One attended with me and she wanted to sew. Although she did not sew whip stitches, this was her first attempt doing it without any holes to guide her along. I am pretty proud of her. I am amazed that when we ran out of time to sew, she improvised to use washi tape to tape felt clothes on the doll. In the end, it looked like some kimono.

Isn't this cute?  Complete with  a tin box full of cute accessories. 

Clockwise from top left:
1. Stuff that the instructor, Susie, supplied. includes blusher, washi tapes and glue roller
2.The two Thumbelinas we made
3. Little One's Thumbelina
4. My Thumbelina

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Our other sewing projects:

Sewing text with real needle
Sewing doll with blunt needle

We are Sewing again

I do not know why but when I saw the princess sewing kit which was suitable for 5+ years old, I could not help but buy it. That was 1 year ago and we only started sewing 10 months ago. What I like about this kit is that it has a safety needle (Tapestry needle) and hence as a parent, one does not need to worry about the child getting pricked by a sharp sewing needle while they attempt sewing. 

The sewing kit

However, I must admit teaching the child to sew is not an easy task. Little One could not understand the needle has to go through one hole and then come back through the adjacent hole from the other side (we were doing running stitches). Little One often sew through the same hole or a few holes down the row. Sometimes, she sewed slip stitches instead. Sometimes, she did not attempt to pull the yarn all the way through the hole before attempting another stitch. Sometimes, she sewed through only 1 piece of felt instead of 2.  Hence, I ended up having to undo her work and let her try again and again.

Her progress after 1 hour of sewing. The eyes and mouth done by me as demonstration. I think the "W"s for the crown are super hard for her to sew.

Another hour of work before we call it a day. This time it is a lot more progress. Notice she pull the yarn real tight!

We continued sewing on and off the following months. Little One was not truly interested in sewing, partly because I kept pointing out her faults. She gave up after some time. It was not until she saw me sewing little stuffs such as flowers and mini stuff toys than she picked up the interest again. That was when she started to request over and over again that she wants to sew again. We even did a test sewing with sharp needle on cards.

So, we start sewing again. When the body of the princess is almost stitched up, we started to stuff the doll. I demonstrated how to do stuffing. This is the fun part and Little One truly enjoy doing this herself!

Put in the stuffing

Push the stuffing in

Using a pencil (crayon in our case) to pushing the stuffing into the 4 limbs

Seal up the head by running stitches

Ta-dah! Finally done in 10 months time! Now she has a new soft toy to play with. I am proud to say she completed 75% of the doll + dress .

Tips on teaching a young kid to sew:

1. Patience, patience and more patience

Teaching children this young is not an easy task. Loads of patience is needed as you guide them along. They would make the same mistakes repeatedly. 

2. Let them make mistakes

Making mistakes is the process of learning

3. Do not give up

Probably they would give up because it may be tedious/difficult for them but you do not give up on them. Sew in front of them, rekindle their interest. They would be amazed with your work to be willing to try again.

4. Get them something cute to sew with

Probably this should be tip no. 1. Cute stuff tends to draw their attention and hence easier to ask them to complete the task.

Report Card:-

Suitable Age Group:- 5 and above.
Difficulty level: 3/5 (Level 1 being no or little help is required, Level 5 being very difficult)
Safety level : 5/5 (Level 1 being very unsafe, Level 5 being very safe.  )
Messiness: No mess
Fun Level : 4/5 (3 for Sewing and 1 more bonus point for stuffing .)

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Making of a Yoyo button Hair Accessory

Little One has a dream. She loves being a princess. To her, princess has long beautiful, wear pretty dresses and wears nice shoes and accessories. It is not surprising that Little One would sometimes go wild when we went window shopping. She would go, "I want to have this, this and that... " 

We do not buy her everything, we would only buy what is needed. I admit we do occasionally indulge in some luxuries. For hair accessory, I would make some for her when I find the time.

This is one of which I had made for her, a Yoyo Button Hair Accessory. 

What you need:

Compass/ anything with a circular base of at least 4.5 to 5 times the diameter of your button

A button (I use 22mm Daiso Covered button)

Sewing thread (similar colour as your cloth or button)

Sewing needle

Elastic cord (I don't know whether this is the correct name)

Old clothes (recycling)

Pen

Steps:

1. Trace a circle of diameter about 4.5 to 5 times that of the button on the cloth with a pen. In this case, I could not get any stuff of 99mm. So I decided to make do with a 95mm (d) case and use that to trace.

If you do not have any thing suitable to trace, you can try drawing with a compass.

2. Sew running stitches around the edges.

3.. Tighten by pulling the thread tight into a "bun like" shape as demonstrated below.

4. Continue to sew the covered button (Little One made this) to attach to the "bun". Sew at least 5 stitches to firming attach the button to the "bun".

5. Cut the elastic cord to a desired length and tie a knot. Then, sew onto the other side of the "bun".

It's done!

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This post is part of the "Care for the Earth" series

• Care for the Earth (introduction)
• Our Green Library and Recommended Green Books. 
• Muse
• Making a Pinhole Camera (Craft)
• DIY card holder (Craft)
• "Lungs of the World" in Singapore
• Making a Yoyo Button Hair Accessory (Craft)
• A different birthday- a more down-to-Earth approach
• Celebrating Earth Day 

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Little One is Sewing

 In April, Little One had a cut on her middle finger and was sent to the hospital by her  uncle and aunty. We decided make a simple card for them.  It is made by using scrape book materials. I get Little One to be involved by selecting the stuff she wanted to put on the card, followed by sewing the words "THANK YOU" on the card.

WARNING! This activity is pretty 'dangerous'. Do it at your own risk!

Write the words and poke the outline using needles. (Do this yourself.)  I am not sure whether crewel needle works but I used my biggest sharp needle. Please don't come after me should the needle broke, bent or whatsoever.

After the holes were done, it was Little One's turn to sew. She was using the same needle. I had tied a knot for her. I need to sit through the whole process to guide and to ensure she does not poke herself.  If your kid had not attempting sewing  with a Tapestry needle (needle with blunt end), I think it is best to avoid this activity. I am not responsible if your kid suffer the same fate as Aurora :P

Sewing in process. I was paying full attention on her and the needle.

Ta-dah! Completed! To cover up the threading at the back of the card, you could cover up with Washi Tapes or decorative stickers.

Report Card:-

Suitable Age Group:- 4 and above.
Difficulty level: 3/5 (Level 1 being no or little help is required, Level 5 being very difficult)
Safety level : 1/5 (Level 1 being very unsafe, Level 5 being very safe, Supervision is required for this craft due to sharp equipment.  )
Messiness: No mess
Fun Level : 4/5 (Sewing is not really her favourite thing, she feels like doing it because she saw me sew.)

I may continue providing Little One this craft to save money on sewing kits. Sewing alphabets seemed to work better on her.

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DIY Card Holder for Little One

Child concession card

Little One has reached the height of 0.9 metre some time ago. Although she is not 7 years old yet, we applied a child concession card for her. It is not necessary but she loves tapping our cards so much that we think maybe we should get her one for her own use. The application is free and can be done at any of the Transitlink Ticket Office. No topping up of value is required. However, in the event whereby the card is lost, a $10 administration fee is applicable. In order for her to travel around without fearing that she loses her card, I made her a card holder to sling around when she travels.

Completed Card holder

This is one mini recycling project. I used her old dress for the button. In fact, I made a few buttons using the covered button kit from Daiso since this dress is made from different patterned fabric. I tested each one of them against the felt fabric which I bought from (Drum roll, no prize for guessing correctly) Daiso again. You may want to use your old clothes for this project as well.

Materials used

Steps
1) Decide where you want the opening to be. Use the card as a guide to help you cut the felt. Wrap the felt around the card, enough to cover the card and some allowance for the button. The sides of the felt has to be slightly bigger than the card so that you can sew. Use a pencil to outline on the wrong side of the fabric the area you want to cut.

2) Sew a button at one end of of the fabric. (see below)

3) Use the same button as a guide to cut a slit at the opposite end. Start with a slit about the size of the button. If the button could go through the slit, you could start sewing blanket stitch around the buttonhole. Otherwise, cut the slit bigger if required till the button is able to go through it. 

4) Cut 2 small slits at the corner of the fabric as shown below. Blanket stitch the slits.

5) Attach a yarn or string to the fabric by inserting into the slits and tying a knot on the wrong side.

6) Fold the fabric into a card holder and apply blanket stitch all around the edges.

Tadah! She is now ready to travel all around Singapore with her card.

This post is part of the "Care for the Earth" series

• Care for the Earth (introduction)
• Our Green Library and Recommended Green Books. 
• Muse
• Making a Pinhole Camera (Craft)
• DIY card holder (Craft)
• "Lungs of the World" in Singapore
• Making a Yoyo Button Hair Accessory (Craft)
• A different birthday- a more down-to-Earth approach
• Celebrating Earth Day 

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