GETTING THE KIDS INVOLVED

This months Australian Homespun has an interesting article about getting the kids involved in sewing. I was asked to participate & being involved really got me thinking about where my sewing journey began.

I don't really have any strong memories of my mum teaching me to sew, but she did sew & the sewing machine being on the table was not a rare sight. I started sewing like most people at school with the obligatory introduction to different stitches on Aida cloth with a nice big fat needle. Then came a dreadful mop cap (why???) then the gingham apron. I must have only been about 8 but I can still remember the teacher who taught me, the smell of the class room & the feel of the fabric - looking back it was obviously the path I was meant to follow.

 

My girls have grown up with me drowning in fabric, mountains of on-the-go projects & the sewing machine constantly migrating from the sewing room to the dining room table so that I can sew & still have them around me. My youngest daughter spent the first 3 years of her life in my fabric shop. She used to sleep in the portacot just outside the back door, then when awake,  there were always plenty of willing customers hands to take her on while I cut up their fabric order. She learnt to walk in the shop & she would desperately try help with the bolts of fabric as they arrived. She has literally been immersed in colour, fabric and quilts all her life so it will be facinating to see if she follows a similar path to me.

HEIDI SITTING IN THE FABRIC SCRAP BUCKET & TRYING OUT THE MACHINE!

My other two girls have also had their own sewing triumphs, they can sew beautifully, they are great with colour but now they are older it has become a bit of 'well, thats mums thing'! I do have a pile of really gastly Wizard of Oz fabric sitting in my stash that we are promising will be our next family quilt project so hopefully next school holiday I can get them involved . . . fingers crossed!

 LUCY WITH HER FIRST QUILT TOP

To see what Isabelle made as her first sewing project as well as other fabulous designers & their kids, check out the August Australian homespun magazine.

Happy stitching!

Claire x