A Day With the Nieces

My twin nieces are now headed into high school, incredibly. It doesn't seem possible that they could be on the cusp of driver's license permits. However, for all the growing up that's happened when we weren't looking, they still desire a day every now and then in the sewing room with Aunt Jayne. 

Yay!

Mary Jean was supremely interested when I told her I had a stash of yarn, knitting needles and crochet hooks that I would give her. Yes, she has taken to the needle arts, and in particular loves to crochet. She couldn't wait to get her hands on the goodies.

 

I handed over all the stuff, set her back in my little nest of a sewing corner, and she was happy as a clam. She must have had a pattern in mind that she wanted to start, because she was busy and quiet in no time.

That left Anna Rose to decide what her project for the day would be. I threw out a few suggestions, and she decided that a cross-body cell phone bag would be perfect to wear under her marching band uniform this fall. We then selected fabrics and went to work.

She, too, was happy as a clam as she created her bag. There was some re-familiarizing necessary with the sewing machine, but she caught on quickly. We got one bag done so effortlessly that we made a second one for Mary Jean, flip-flopping the lining and the outer materials. 

And that second one was done pretty fast, too, so Anna Rose asked about making a bigger bag - one that might be a back pack or something along that line. I had a file of patterns that I handed to her. She found a couple she liked and we assessed the ease of construction against the available time we had. She ended up selecting a small-ish bag to which we added a strap, again in cross-body fashion, with hardware.

By mid-afternoon, these were our finishes. Three bags from Anna Rose and a very good start on a market bag by Mary Jean.

Believe it or not, the biggest effort of the day was finding a suitable button for the large bag. Their dad, my brother, had been golfing with my DH while we sewed. The guys were back in time for Mark to have a hand in the great button hunt.

From all indications, I think everyone had a satisfying day. I sure did. Mark says that Anna Rose is serious about sewing, so they are shopping for a beginner machine. 

Let me share with you some of the earlier sewing days we have had. We don't get to do it often, but we have made some nifty things, like headbands and pillow cases. We have also had one overnight sewing party.

For a final picture today, let me roll out this one from Easter 2010 when the girls were 2 and a half.  This may be the most adorable picture ever taken of them!

If they want to sew again, I believe they might go for the idea of one of those 3-yard quilts that are so popular right now. They could buy their 3 yards in advance and we could potentially have both quilt tops done in a day, I think. 

Hope you are having a great day! I am removing nearly an entire quilt's worth of quilting stitches. UGH. Yes, I quilted one yesterday only to discover that more than half of my stitches were "eyelashed" on back - an issue with my tension. I have removed most of the offending stitches. Next I will run some test quilting to assure that tension issues are resolved, then reload this quilt and get it done right!

This just goes to show that not everything works perfectly, but if I'm sewing and quilting, I am usually pretty chill about the snafus along the way.

Happy Quilting, Friends!