A first sewing lesson

Last year I made some sewing cards for Dorothy, the kind where an adult punches holes all around the edges, and a child threads yarn in and out of the holes. She enjoyed doing that to a certain extent, but she definitely didn't feel like she was sewing (she knew the difference between cardboard and quilting cotton, after all!) and she never asked to do it again. Today it occurred to me that she was plenty old enough to wield a real needle, so I set her up with a beginning sewing project and she did a great job. I just cut out a red felt heart and a strip of blue felt with pinking shears, then guided her through sewing the heart to the strip, then stitching up the sides to make a little pouch. I picked out a rather blunt embroidery needle for her, but sometimes she had trouble getting it through the felt, so I think next time I'll have to set her up with a sharper one. She feels like the pouch needs a hook and loop closure, so I need to either find hook and look tape she can glue on, or I'll have to sew that on myself, because it's hard for anyone to push a needle through Velcro and I don't want her to get discouraged (or poked). In the meantime she carried the pouch very proudly (deservedly so) to Target with her very own dollar inside.

And I've been staying up late watching online tutorials for some software I recently bought but am apparently not smart enough to use, and while I've been watching I crocheted a little green soaker for Worth. I've made this pattern before and just love it. This should be a great summer diaper with a t-shirt, nice and breathable but with the amazing waterproof qualities of lanolized wool.

And finally, slippers for myself! I found a new-to-me fun website with patterns and couldn't resist trying one out.