Kid sewing 101

Two years ago or so Madison received a sewing machine for Christmas.  She had expressed some interest in learning to sew and enjoyed knitting and such so I recommended that my mother get her that gift.  My mother is not the sewing type.  She use to staple my father's pockets together if they came undone to avoid having to sew.  But Madison's paternal Grandmother, Mary Anne, is a seamstress and my friend's mother is a seamstress and both offered to help her learn how to use a machine.

Tom, Darcy and I made a trip to the fabric store and consulted with a nice lady on what to start Madison out on making.  She recommended an apron or pajama bottoms, something the store taught in their beginning classes.  Because an apron was what I made in my first attempt at sewing in Home Economics class so that we could wear them while we learned to cook, I skipped right over that and went straight to the pajama bottoms.  Darcy and I picked out cute material we thought Madison would like and purchased the pattern and all the extras needed to complete the task.

In the months after Christmas while all the other gifts were being used the sewing machine sat forlornly in the corner of the playroom.  One day Madison got it out and, with her father's help (he learned at the knee of his mother), learned how to thread the bobbin and work the machine.  She made things on her own:  Barbie stuff for Darcy, headbands for friends, and darning for her mother. Something always seemed to come before the sewing lessons for both the student and the teacher and before we knew it two years had passed.

Finally this summer the two got together to make the bottoms.  Madison went to her grandmother's house and they learned how to work the machine.  Then Grandma came to our house and taught Madison how to cut a pattern, iron, and sew.  They quickly went through the job and by the time Mary Anne left the bottoms were almost completed.  She left Madison with instructions and a few days later Madison completed them and showed off her creation.

We all oohed and aahed and were quite proud of the job she had done.  I began to envision the piles of bottoms she would sew for the family.  I discussed where we could purchase tops to match the cute bottoms.  Then we all cheered for her to put them on, and so she did.  Only they were too small.  They weren't long enough and were a tad tight around the waist.  Two years ago they would have fit quite nicely.

No matter, we shouted.  Enter the younger sister (who just happened to have a matching shirt).

We have promised Madison more material and a bigger pattern and maybe another outfit of her choosing.  In the meantime; however, the younger sister is quite happy.  Isn't that always the way it goes?