Preschool Activity: Learning to Sew Mittens

My cousin has a son who is about the same age as Oliver. He was born two months earlier, but they are separated by a grade in school due to the cut-off. She posted about an activity he did recently to learn how to sew. I decided to test it out with Oliver!

For this activity, you need paper, scissors, a hole punch, yarn, and a yarn needle. You can also get out stickers & crayons to decorate the finished product.

I cut out the outline of a mitten on two sheets of paper. Then, I used a hole punch and punched holes along the edges of the mitten for Oliver to sew along. I started the first stitch so I could knot it myself. Then, I taught him to sew by going over and under with his needle. He picked it up quickly!

The mitten wasn't big enough for his hand, so we put it on his stuffed animals. He was very proud of himself.

Here's the finished product, decorated with Minnie Mouse stickers:

I also have a video of Oliver sewing. He's very chatty these days.

                                                       

Autumn Oak Leaves Pixie Hat - Made from Grandma's Sweaters

A couple of months ago, I spotted some cute pixie hats on Pinterest. I pinned this autumn oak leaves hat, which links to an Etsy sewing pattern that costs $6. The pattern is for two sizes: 9-18 months and 18-36 months.

The pattern doesn't really explain how much fabric you need. I went to Jo-Ann and ordered blindly! I got 1.5 yards of cotton fabric for the lining of the hat, and I ended up using about half of that for three hats. I ordered the smallest amount I could (1/8 yard) of felt for each of the three colors of felt I used. The fabric came to $8, and I had a lot left over. The most expensive item was the embroidery thread I bought for $8. I only got one color instead of two because it was expensive! I used that to stitch on the leaves and acorn. Finally, she lists "wool" as an item needed for the braids on the hat. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to get, so I just ended up using some straw-colored yarn I had. The main part of the hat was made from upcycled sweaters, so I ended up spending $16 on materials for 3 hats and $6 on the pattern.

A small hat for Hazel:
                                                                                             

A small hat for Paisley:

My mother-in-law, Colleen, gave me a few wool sweaters of hers, one that was her mom's when Colleen was a baby, and one that was her mother-in-law's. We worked hard to try to get the sweaters to felt. We put them in her laundry sink and added boiling water. We mashed them with a wooden spoon, and then we ran them through her dryer a couple times. They didn't felt! I tried at my parents' house because they have an older washer and dryer. She'd heard those work better for felting. It seemed to do the trick for some of the sweaters! Three of them felted, but two did not. I was able to get one hat from each of the three felted sweaters. Two of them shrunk so small that I could just barely get a small hat from each. One stayed large enough to get the larger size hat made for Jo. Oliver and Joanna have a new baby cousin, Paisley, so we decided she should get the small hat made from Great Grandma Jackie's sweater. I sent the other to my cousin for her little girl.

Here's Joanna in her autumn oak leaves pixie hat:

I think the hats are so stinking cute! I am not much of a seamstress at all, so I think anyone who has worked with a sewing pattern before would be able to make this hat. I hat a tough time with the first one, figuring out how to flip it and where to stitch in the braided pulls. After that, the others were easy!

Sewing Project: Candy Corn Trick-or-Treat Bags

I am not the best seamstress. I need my mom's help with almost everything I make with the sewing machine, since I just don't sew that often. There was an easy sewing project on Pinterest, and so I decided to give it a go. It was simple, and I was able to do the entire thing myself (minus a question to my mom about threading the sewing machine). If you're just learning to sew, this project is a good one to work at!

You can get the free pattern and tutorial here on The Purl Bee's website.  The pattern is for three bags, so make some for your kid and your neighbor's! They aren't all that large, so they're perfect for little children.