teaching a child to sew

this photo is of moonpie mending a night gown - age 5

one of my fondest memories from visiting my grandmother as a child is learning how to hand sew. i would sit on her little couch and she would hand me an old rag and a threaded needle. i don't remember any real instruction, but i'm sure it was there- just very gentle. i would sit and sew and sew and sew. i remember the shock i felt when i went to college and i was the only person i knew that could sew by hand and for that matter, sew on a button.

i didn't learn how to sew on a machine until about 4 years ago. my mom bought me a small machine for christmas and i just started reading the manual, trying different things out. i had no instruction, just lots of practice. and with that came lots of failure! reading a pattern was just one more step in the confusion for me, so for the first 3 years, i never used a pattern. just kind of did what felt right. i still rarely use patterns, but i have found online tutorials so helpful in learning small finishing skills and neater ways to do things.

i've always disliked the fact that i had to teach myself how to sew (and knit). i feel like hand crafts are something that should be passed down from someone that loves you! john and i think that it is important for both of our children learn how to sew. not only are you learning a skill, but there are character lessons there as well, like patience, perseverance, being quiet.

the first stitch i taught moonpie was the whipstitch. i think this is the easiest stitch for a child to learn first off because there is no real skill needed. to do a whipstitch you

• start (insert needle) from the back of the project so the knot is in the back
• instead of going back in on the front of the project, you 'whip' around the edge to the back of the project
• continue this pattern

once you are done the stitches go all around the outer edge of the project. i know youtube has plenty of instructional videos if you need to see it in action!

beat the heat

buddy helps wash the car...

did i mention it's been over well over 100 degrees every day this week?

feeling important

i finally put together a sewing basket for my little moonpie this weekend. she has been sewing for a while now and it is one of her favorite activities to do. i put this basket together for her so she can sew at the drop of a hat, not having to wait on me to find her needle, etc. i stayed up pretty late making her pin cushion and finding all of the right 'ingredients' (like every pink, vintage button i own!).
the next morning when i reluctantly rolled out of bed i found that she had made me this little wallet! before this time she had never threaded a needle by herself, and had only watched me instruct her on sewing a button in place! i was so impressed!
she just loves her basket. she kept going back to it all day, making button cuffs, doll skirts and the starts of an apron for herself.

i can't tell you how excited it makes me to see her loving sewing. she told me once, a while back, that sewing 'makes me feel important'. giving her something of meaning, something of purpose, makes her feel big. important. what a gift it is to be able to offer that to her!

lucy too

the kids and i spent the day out of town today. before leaving home i went out to check on the chickens. they all were fine and they had food and water. i decided to leave them in their run- a new practice we are trying in order to take back the yard. well, i just went out to feed them some scraps and found lucy, our auricauna, dead. oh man, i feel awful. it got up to 103' today and the poor thing couldn't take it.

this weekend i will be setting up a new spot for them under the trees.

so for the record- that's 2 chickens lost this week.

and i know this is common. i know chickens go down in the heat, but man, it really stinks. trying to live 'simply' can sometimes be really hard.

i haven't even told the kids yet.

peeps watch 2009

oh man, i knew this day would come, really i did. but did it have to be the day john left for camp? one of our sweet little bantams ('peeps') is on her last leg. we have built a little bed for her in the old dog crate and she is just lying there with her head turned back and resting on her back. her eyes are closed and her breathing is rapid. she is dying. the kids are so sad! this is their first experience with death- what a hard lesson it is. moonpie is sure that when she gets to heaven, she will have a farm house and peeps will be one of her chickens.

sounds good to me...

on a happier note, gardenmama is having a fantastic giveaway- 2 vintage aprons (one for mama, one for child). i have just recently began reading gardenmama's blog and i am really enjoying it. she has a real gentle quality to her living. check it out!

-------------------------------update----------------------------

we took peeps out to yonderway farm and farmer jason took care of her for me. that's a relief! she was doing really poorly and the other chickens started pecking at her. she couldn't even move or open her eyes. poor little chicken...

thumbs down for 'up'

amidst all of the glowing reviews for pixar's 'up' movie, i thought i'd share our experience. you know, just to give two sides to the whole thing!

i should begin by saying that we are really conservative when it comes to media for our children. that's our 'thing', if you will. we don't watch television, but we do have a family movie night once a week (or a 'it's way too hot outside emergency sing-along video' occasionally!). our moonpie has a sensitive heart, so the movies we choose are always gentle, and usually made in the 50's or 60's.

fast forward to yesterday, the day we threw all caution to the wind and saw a movie in the theater WITHOUT being previewed or even researched a tiny bit. or the fact that i've boycotted all movies rated PG for the kids. it is rated PG- that's right, they tried to warn me with the rating!

here are the positives about 'up'. it has a great message. the theme is that personal relationships are the greatest adventure anyone can have. i agree with that- of course i do! also, there is no objectionable behavior, coarse language or weird sexual innuendos. i hate that about modern kid movies. moving on... i should also mention the animation. it is spectacular! the skin on the people looks real. better than real. like, just got back from a facial real!

so what didn't i like? the peril. my oh my, is there peril! i can't exactly say how long the chase scene between the dogs and the characters lasted, added on by the murderous old man, but it was loooooooooong. and just when you thought it was over (a dog would yell 'squirrel' and point in another direction, funny!) it picked up again. my poor little moonpie was a wreck. she is very intuitive and had already picked up on the more adult themes of an inability to conceive ('why can't she have a baby, momma?'), the death of a beloved spouse, and a dead beat dad. add to this a glorious bird being bitten ('momma, does he still have 2 legs?') by a vicious dog and an old man trying to kill the main characters- and she was a ball of nerves. but determined to stay in that theater. i think she needed to see it all resolve. she needed the happy ending. buddy on the other hand told me he wanted to leave. NOW! i handed moonpie over to her daddy and took buddy to the lobby. he is more of the out of sight out of mind persuasion. but his big sissy had to be carried to the car and asked to just 'rest on the couch' when we got home.

last night before going to bed she said, 'momma, when you asked if i wanted to see that movie i should have said no'. and while i appreciated her sense of responsibility, i felt horrible. no my sweet girl, i should have said no. i'm the mommy.

in true moonpie fashion she is working it out her own way. she has already made a dog costume and is playing the role of the vicious 'alpha'. and this seems to help. a little play therapy, if you will.

i think, for us, we better stick to the gentle adventures of pooh, or the silly antics of charlie chaplin.

and if a parent of a preschooler asks me for a recommendation, i'll have to say '2 thumbs down'.

living lovely

my friend cheryl launched a website about a month ago offering products for kids, women and the home. it's called the lovely life. check it out if you get a chance. it's a really neat site- they give personal testimonies for every product, and send out a weekly newsletter. there is some good stuff on there!

can i also mention how lovely my life has been with my vita-mix? i mean, i'm using it 3-4 times a day. everyday.

and, while i'm on the theme of lovely, thank you so much for all of your lovely words on our special day. the consensus is correct- i am married to a very thoughtful man. and he's good not to just show it on big days. he is day in, day out considerate. i think i've mentioned it here before, but we've been together since i was 15. the time that i've been with him has now outweighed the time that i had been without him (does that make sense?). i love that...