My friend Judith commented on this post that when she was taught to sew by hand, her mother gave her gingham to use, so she could use the little squares to space her stitches.
What a great idea.
And this past week, Julia decided she wanted to learn to sew by hand. So I found a piece of gingham-like fabric and showed her what to do.
Ignore the white thread – those are my basting stitches.
Julia’s using a very dark pink thread. Of course.
I tried teaching Julia to “sew” using a child’s plastic needle and yarn and those plastic mesh canvas things you can use to make boxes to cover your tissues and the like. She didn’t do so well at the time (this was possibly two years ago, which would explain that), but she did remember that the stitches go in and out, in and out.
“It’s like a dolphin,” she concluded in the car a few days ago. “Because dolphins go in, and out, and in, and out in the water!”
Exactly!
At one point, while she was stitching in and out, in and out, along the corners of all the little squares, Julia looked up at me and said “I like focusing on this.”
The things she comes out with sometimes.
But she knew she really HAD to pay attention, otherwise she might jab herself with the needle.
And, because she was focusing so intently on the task at hand, Julia didn’t jab herself once.
I figure she can practice a few rows of stitches a few times a week, in between working on her next quilt.
Yes, she’s already picked out fabric for that and started cutting pieces out on Thursday.
This next one is for “Bubbles,” the bunny.
Stay tuned.
Woo Hoo! No jabs! Now you just start giving her smaller and smaller gingham. By next summer she'll be putting in a zipper!
Posted by: judith | January 29, 2011 at 09:06 PM