Teaching my 4 year old to Sew

There is no greater joy then teaching your child a skill that you are passionate about. Am I right? Even better is when they actually enjoy it too!

She can load up the bobbin for winding. Pin fabric together. (Especially with bag of M&Ms nearby for energy).

Pull the pins as I sew, she can't reach the pedal yet, (but i'm working on a footstool to help her reach it.)

Oh and stuffing, the best part. Stuffing is usually what ends up in a heaping pile on my sewing room floor as "nests".

 Oh and the pattern by the way if you're interested is "Elsa the Elephant" by Valori Wells.  I found it a quilt shop, but you can also find it online at fabric.com. 

Have a fun day!

Sun Hats now in my shop

Summer days are coming!

I'm busy making sun hats for my shop on Etsy. Dreaming of summer days ahead!

Stop in and support handmade! http://www.etsy.com/shop/tangledthreadsbyjen

JEN

Overcoming Fears

I feel like the luckiest mom alive today. My little girl has a sense of adventure, and it's rubbing off on me.

So we decided to go the Seattle Aquarium, and as we walked across the parking lot towards the pier, my daughter says she wants to go on the big Ferris wheel she sees in the distance. I hesitated for a second, thinking about how I should save this moment for the whole family, but I said "YES!". And I am so glad I embraced that moment and said yes. We skipped down the pier towards the Great Wheel, with huge smiles on our face. Excitement was emanating from our every pore. I could barely keep her at my side while we waited in line to purchase tickets, she wanted on that Wheel.

Well a short wait later, we made it on the wheel, in our very own little carriage, just the two of us.  It was quiet, and made me very nervous hanging so high above the Seattle skyline by a string. Our little carriage rocked slightly back and forth and my heart skipped and pounded in my chest... almost nearing an anxiety attack. -- But with a huge smile on my face I started to sing "You are My Sunshine" to calm my nerves, and so my daughter couldn't see how nervous I was on the inside.
 

She was un-phased.

She hung over the edge of her seat, looking down at the water, fearless. All the while, I wanted to grab her back away from the window, to safety in my arms... but I was not in control of that carriage.

A ride like this would not have scared me 4 years ago. I did jump out of an airplane, and bungee jump not too many years ago. And I rock climbed in college. So where did all this fear of heights come from?  From bringing a person into the world, the overwhelming sense of responsibility I feel for her.

Enjoy a fearless, adventurous day!

Jen

Pattern Review: Simplicity 1670

I used Simplicity pattern 1670 to make my daughters Easter dress that I've posted about the past few days. (I'm not paid to review patterns, this is all my own opinion.). I love all the options this pattern provided. You're the designer as you select from various trim and sleeve options, and a round or square neckline, it was really fun to get creative with this dress yet have all the instructions there to help along the way. As you follow along with the pattern, it calls out "Designers Additions", so you know exactly when the best time is to add in say eyelet trim in the bodice, or piping in the midriff, ruffles to the bottom hem, or a wavy trim.

This wasn't exactly the easiest pattern i've ever followed because the dress is fully lined - not just the bodice, the zipper in the back, and the tiny little sleeve with ties I made were like making barbie clothes - but turned out really cute, and worth the extra fuss. I definitely recommend this pattern as long as it's not your first! But i'm sure you could make it through it as a second dress with a little patience.

I followed the pattern for Dress with Bodice A, and added the sleeve and tie, and roses which I did a tutorial for here. I found the fabric on sale at the Sewing Expo in Puyallup last month. It was a bargain at $5 for the yard. I only had one yard, but managed to squeeze all my pattern pieces for a size 4 into that one yard (another 1/4 yard would have been better).

Fabric: Moda, Chloe's Closet, 30's Playtime, pattern # 32586.
Pattern: Simplicity 1670, Dress with Bodice A with sleeve & roses
Skill level (my recommendation): experienced beginner to intermediate


On the way to grandma's house on Easter Sunday we stopped off at a local nursery to pick out flowers. I didn't see a basket all made up that I really liked, so I let my daughter pick a flat full of flowers to help grandma plant in her garden. She ran from one end of the garden to the other picking flowers, she had so much fun.

Easter egg hunting at grandmas house.

Let me know if you make this dress pattern. I'd love to see what you made.

JEN

Fabric Rose Tutorial

I made fabric roses for my daughters Easter dress & headband and I loved them so much that I wanted to share a little tutorial on how to make them. These are cute pinned to a dress, or glued to a headband. So many ways you could use these pretty little flowers.

Here is the flower pinned to the Easter dress I made.
 

My little one was too busy building a nest and collecting food for her little birds, then to let me take photos of her. She won't stand still for any length of time.

Here's what you'll need to make your own:
Fabric - 22" L x 2 1/4" W, plus 2 1/4" circle, for each rose
thread
needle
small scissors

Step 1: Cut fabric 22" long x 2 1/4" wide, for each flower. Fold fabric in half width wise, with wrong sides together, and press. To gather, machine stitch 1/4" from raw edge and 1/8" above first stitching line, using a long machine stitch. Pull up your gathering threads, to measures 10" in length (as shown in photo above). Tie a knot in the ends of gathering stitches to secure.

Cut a 2 1/4" circle from fabric remnant to match rose. Machine stitch 1/4" from raw edge as show above.

Step 2: Starting at one end of folded fabric, roll gathered edge of rose, hand-tacking as you roll. It should look something like this (above) when you are done, play around with how loose or tight you roll the flower, it might take a few times to get it how you like.

Step 3: The bottom of your flower will like the one on the right of the photo above. To give the bottom of the flower a nice finished look, take the circle you made, and gather it up to look like this (below)

Then, knot the ends of your thread to secure. And smoosh it down flat like this (below)

Step 4: Finally, stitch the circle onto the bottom of the flower.

And there you have it. Now you can hot glue, or safety pin your flower to a headband. I purchased a set of 4 fabric covered headbands at Target, and stitched my flower on the headband. I also pinned a few flowers to the dress so I can remove them before washing.

Have fun making flowers!

JEN