Kids Crafternoon - Sewing Project

I am on a mission to actually do some of the lovely projects from my stash of craft books. Craft books are lovely to browse through, pondering which materials I would use, thinking how lovely that would look on my bedside table/ in the kids bedroom / beside the fireplace, how much so and so would like that as a gift... but I very seldom make (and complete) the projects. So over the next few weeks... months.... maybe even years (I have quite a few craft books!!) I hope you will see more and more finished projects from my craft books.

I am in the process of completing my second project (more of that to come shortly) and I have already learnt a lot. By following the instructions as closely as possible (given in the Japanese craft book I was copying the picture rather than the written instructions!) - it has challenged me to do things differently - whether it is a different embroidery stitch or putting together colours I wouldn't put together. I thought that following the projects exactly in a craft book was not 'creative' - that unless I added my own twist to the project I was being productive rather than creative. However with the few projects I have completed I can see that they already have added to my repertoire of skills and possibilities.

Not long ago I bought the Kids Crafternoon, Sewing book (Hardie Grant Books, ISBN 9781742700403) Edited by Kathreen Ricketson. I thought the school holidays - especially with the weather we have been having - would be the perfect time to do some more sewing with the kids. My daughter chose the scarf project (page 46) - a series of rectangles and squares sewn together. She has used a sewing machine before - but I had to help her out quite a bit to keep the seams straight (one side of the scarf ended up a bit more like a 'J') - it was a fun project to do together.

We used some of her old 'too small' clothes (the florals and denims) mixed with some scraps from my stash. The beauty of using old clothes is that they are already soft, and loved, and the colours already go with what she has! Admittedly the scheme is a bit 'wild' for me - but she has worn it everywhere since it was finished!!

Singlet / Tank top tote bag

I finally finished my 'upcycled' tote bag. It has been in my craft room for some time and my daughter has needed a bag for her dancing things for some time - but now all finished!

I started with an old singlet or tank top and some matching ribbon. The stripe pattern proved to be quite handy when sewing and cutting this bag!

Cut the top arm holes and neck away from the body.

Pinned the ribbon (both sides) to make the handles, being careful to match the placement of the ribbon on both sides.

As you can see I cheated quite a bit - the thin stripe on the ribbon provides the perfect stitching guide! After sewing on the ribbon handles I decided that the bag had too much of a 'waist' in it - so I re-stitched the sides and made the bag a bit narrower and straighter than the original tank top. Then stitched the bottom closed being careful to match up the ribbons at the bottom.

Using the left over material from around the sleeve and neck holes - I cut some strips of fabric. Then I gathered the strips of fabric and some left over ribbon to make three rosettes.

I hand stitched the gathered strips in a circular fashion to make the rosettes and sewed to the bag with a red button.

My daughter is very happy with her 'upcycled' bag for tap dancing! She even recognised it as my old top.