Your Trail

And there you are.
Sweet child in white washed sheets
of childhood's glow.
A summer day that never fades.
Embracing, loving, being. I seek,
Soft eyes smiling.
And pray your heart will never change.
The tender green the gentle
gaze, cast my way. As if to sea,
On the breath of a song.
Chasing clearings through
bracken, fern and mossed branch.
Oh, how I think I know the way.
Still, it seems I'm only ever following
behind a trail of dreams
and falling leaves
You'd always left behind for me.

*

The hope filled trails her footsteps
etch across my heart
The grace I find in
... stopping, seeking, following.

Sunhats

Emmy made some sunhats for her sisters as part of her Maths school work.

She has been learning Pi and had to use the Pi ratio and calculations to convert Seraphina's head measurements into a pattern.

It was surprisingly easy to make up too.

Only three pieces needed for a simple one tier hat like this.

Sewing on a curve was the trickiest part.

Memories

Drawing in the garden, then painting in blessed coolness with my girls. 

Taking the time to let creative juices seep through the gentle gauzy linen of sunny afternoons like the sunlight through tender green sycamore leaves.

New Birthday dresses.

The stillness, of summer evenings. And the quiet listening there.

Wild flower trinkets made by my little brown eyed bear cub, special for her Mama.

Child Art. Fresco's!

Friends.

Bringing a little beauty from outdoors, indoors.

Little shoots watering little shoots:)

Fresh home grown produce.

Old toys loved new again..

Simple sewing for Kids

Simple Sewing for Kids

 Sew an Embroidered Felt Summer Treasure Purse

Boo made this felt purse to keep all her Summer treasures in... She is always collecting things on our walks, feathers, shells, special shiny stones, leaves....



We started with a felt square. Yellow is a Summery colour we thought :)



We folded it in half and cut straight down the middle.



We folded one of the pieces over leaving about a 2" gap at the top to make the "envelope fold"



Starting at the bottom of the fold for neatness sake Boo began to blanket stitch both sides of the purse.




Once both sides were stitched. I penciled in a simple embroidery design for Boo to follow.



Boo chose a button.



And finger knitted a cord so that the purse could hang around her neck and not get lost when she goes on her big treasure hunting adventures.



And here is one Matilda made a little while back...

Sew a Simple Summer Skirt with your little one.

 

Some fabric found at a local charity shop for £1:99 

This fabric has gone a long way. So far, it has made two peasant blouses, one head scarf, a paneled dress for Emmy and this skirt... and there's still more left over.

First we measured out the fabric. Bujana is an average sized 5 year old. 

We measured out 38 inches for the width and 14 inches for the length. 

These measurements took account of all seam allowances and too be fair they were pretty unscientific, as in they just "kinda looked right lol"
I would say the width would probably have to be increased somewhat for a longer length of skirt though.

We pinned and hemmed both the top and bottom of the skirt ( turning the fabric over twice to enclose the raw edges)
When we sewed the top of the skirt we left about a 1/2 inch gap between the top of the fold and the stitching so that the elastic would be able to work it's way around easily.

We hooked the elastic onto the end of a safety pin and carefully drew it through the 1/2 inch gap we left in our seam,

Here is Bujana pulling the elastic through the folded seam at the top of the skirt. She liked watching how the elastic ruffled the fabric up as she inched it through! Tilly seemed interested for a little while too. Peter rabbit was less bothered it has to be said :)

We doubled over the side seams too to hide raw edges, also called a french seam, although if you are very clever (with a very clever machine unlike my "vintage" cheap as chips, slightly clapped out old singer) you might serger them, which would probably make them feel less weighty.

Now for the homeschool bit...
Here is Bujana drawing out the instructions so that she'll remember what to do next time.

This was a simple, fun sewing project for Boo. She was so excited that she was actually making something that she would actually be able to wear!
All in all the skirt took around 40 minutes to sew up, Boo on the machine (with a little guidance) me on the pedal. And it incorporated so many different skills...Measuring, visual, spatial skills, hand eye co-ordination, creativity, putting a set of instructions into an order of semblance...plus it was a lot of fun with a pretty summery skirt to twirl around the garden in at the end of it all.

Matilda loves to sew.



I recently bought her a small piece of cross stitch canvas and she chose some nice big chunky buttons to sew onto it with a thick needle.

A great way to teach children the basics of sewing is to dye some dried Penne Pasta shapes with food colouring.

My girls all loved to thread these beautiful chunky beads into necklaces and bracelets.

Tilly sewed some buttons and pieces of lace onto a piece of felt and I cut a star shape out of my favourite piece and made a Christmas Tree ornament.

To make one yourself, simply trace around a cookie cutter onto felt with a piece of chalk and cut out your design.

A detail of blanket stitch around the trim is a perfect way to finish off this ornament.

Make sure you sew in a piece of ribbon for hanging.

All that is needed for this small but beautiful little work of art is a simple embroidery hoop some embroidery silks, a thick needle and some nice chunky buttons.

.

We made these Autumn Looms using nothing but a forked tree branch and some scrap yarn.
Simply make a few notches on either side of the branches and criss cross your warp yarn through them.
Then thread a thick darning needle with scrap yarn and weave away!





Finger knitting is a wonderful way to introduce your child to crochet.

They can make bracelets, necklaces and garlands with their finger knitted creations!









If you have a piece of thick rope, some raffia and a darning needle an older child can make a coil rope basket.

Simply start from the inside loop and work outwards using and over stitch to wrap the raffia around the rope.









To make a hand print keepsake trace your little one's hand onto a piece of light coloured fabric.

 With supervision they can sew around the outline with some thick embroidery cotton and a thick needle.









Here are some simple bookmarks we made out of recycled leather.

To make them  trace around a pencil box to make a rectangle.
Cut out fringe both ends of the bookmark.
Hole punch along both lengths and weave a thin piece of leather through the holes
To hold it secure let your child choose a machine embroidery stitch to pattern each end of the bookmark.





A button box and/or a scrap fabric basket is a wonderful way to inspire children's imaginations.

It helps them to learn about colour, texture and composition.

Simply allowing the lovely bright buttons to move around sparks a collage of creativity.

Make sure your child is always supervised when crafting