This is the handmade flag my children surprised me with on my birthday many, many years ago. I had always wanted a sewing/craft room representing our projects that were created and display them as reminders of how creative they can be. It brings me such joy when I think of the efforts and the diligence to create fun things like this.
The children hand sewed every star, dyed the colors, and sewed the stripes together for a complete look. My sewing room is an American theme in remembrance of our freedoms, George and Martha Washington, Betsy Ross, and some other important memorable items hanging around, like a copy of our Constitution.
When we moved to this home, this room set up was one of the first things we did as a family. It was important to Jason and I that the kids have access to any creative thing they could get their hands on.
We work with leather, sew clothing, mend items, and simple creativity happens all in this room. They are able to shut the door to keep little ones out of the needles and tools, and most of all, it contains the mess that craft projects tend to make.
Our 3rd born is working on a project she designed herself. She enjoys making her own patterns and loves to make her sisters little dresses for their dolls.
She is amazing at coming up with old fashion designs from different periods in history. She makes her own bonnets for the dolls and continues to amaze us with her ability to create lovely, modest wear for the family.
She enjoys sewing aprons, skirts, and dresses. Most of her creations come straight from interests in what she, or her siblings, like best. This particular night she stayed up late sewing until she was finished.
This American Girl doll dress took her only 2 hours to finish! The felt bonnet took her a little more time to create, but she still did it all within a day. We had some left over material and a jar full of old buttons that she took to create this little beauty! She even handmade the satin flowers from leftover material and stitched a pink ribbon on to complete the look. She is incredibly resourceful.
I am super proud of how she responds to adversity. She is a girl that buckles down when she puts her mind to something that is challenging. Watching her grow into a young lady has been so rewarding for us as parents. She is always thinking about others and loves to gift her younger siblings with handmade creations she thinks they may enjoy.
Possibly in another post, I will show you her whittling ability. She made her little brothers wooden animals, such as calves, chickens, and horses to play with in their barn. She is a girl of all trades for sure and I love watching what creation she will make next. God knew perfectly what birth order to place her in. She truly is a blessing to our entire family!
I never learned to sew so teaching them has been trial and error for me. The trick is to start out small, like a doll dress, handmade cloth diapers, an easy pillow, handsewn doughnuts, or burp cloths.
Some of the little girls love to make handmade napkins for our table settings at meal time. Your children can always move on to their own skirts and simple dresses without sleeves in good time. The key is, they have to have success in the small things first before they will ever have confidence to move onto the bigger projects.
I have found that if I give them an environment where they are able to leave their creativity out for the week, they are more motivated to start with a good attitude. When they can come back to it when there are a couple of afternoons available without interruption, they don’t feel the pressure to finish in a rush.
I pray you find this inspiring! Have a blessed day as you create a beautiful home!
Natalie