January Sewing - Part 2

The Second part of our sewing project conisted of machine sewing and finishing. I enlisted the help of our Primary President and a mother to help with this project. We had 3 sewing machines and 1 iron. 3 of us taight the girls the basics of machine sewing, one on one, while the 4th helped the girls with the basics of ironing. It all went pretty smoothly. With 7 girls in attendance, it took exactly 2 hours to finish everything up.

Since each of us were only able to help one girl at a time while sewing and pressing, I set up a table with copies of coloring and game pages from the Friend. This gave the girls something to do while they were waiting for their lesson.

Here are a few photos from the activity:


The girls hand finished the top of their purses with the same decorative craft thread that they used for the inside pocket.

When the girls finished their purses, they used craft glue to attach buttons.

A completed purse; waiting for the buttons to dry.

January Sewing - Part One

Today was our first sewing activity and all-in-all, things went pretty well. My Co-Leader, Chelsea, just started a new job, and was unable to come. So, I called up my BFF Stepahnie, who of course came to my rescuse to help out with the activity. I gave her a quick overview of putting together these simple bags and she was able to jump right in and help the girls.

I sent out invitations ahead of time, asking the girls to bring a 1/2 yard of cotton fabric. I gave them the option of bringing two 1/4 yard pieces, one pattern for the outside of the bag, and another for the inside of the bag. The girls all brought very fun fabric! Some of the girls who only brought 1 pattern, traded with the others to make the fabric combinations even more interesting. I provided:.craft thread (almost like an embroidery floss), needles (with large heads), Felt (for the pocket) Ribbon (for the purse straps), pins and scissors.

For this activity, we focused on cutting and hand-sewing.

We showed the girls how to pin the pattern pieces to their cloth and cut out their fabric pices. Some of the girls were naturals and some had trouble with the whole pinning process--they were either bored or frustrated by it. They only had 3 pieces to cut: the outside & inside bag and the pocket, so the process went by relatively quickly.

We then showed the girls how to hand sew their felt pockets into their purse liners. I simplified the whole pocket process by making them out of felt and having the girls do a simple stitch to apply them. It gives the purses a cute rustic feel. Some of the girls had never sewn before and found it absolutely fascinating! I had no complaints once they got into the actual sewing portion of the activity.

After they sewed on their pockets, we had them pin the inside and outside of the purse to prep for machine sewing, which will be part two of this activity. Then, we helped them cut a length of ribbon for their purse strap (they got to decide how long they wanted their purse to hang).

We organized all of the girls' stuff for next time in paper bags labeled with their names.

Sewing in January

The girls have wanted a sewing activity since I started Activity Days last May, so we are taking both Activities in January to sew these cute purses. I put together a pattern adapted from a couple of purse projects that I found online. I simplified them a bit and put together my own instructions and pattern pieces for the girls. I will use my girls as "Guinea Pigs" and post the instructions and patterns when we have completed them... that way I can "iron" out any kinks!