Ruth Learns to Sew

 Sunday January 27, 2013

It has been two weeks since Emily and Ruth have been at Grandma's house.  Today was Ruth's first time sewing on both the little sewing machine (which did not work correctly) and on Grandma's machine.  Ruth sewed the shoulder and sides seam of Isabelle's dress.  Ruth picked out both the pattern and the fabric and decided to leave the front plain and decorate the back of the dress.

Ruth's (5 yrs) first creation for Isabella

Learning to use the scissors 

First Ruth had to try out three sizes:

• Grandma's very small but decorative needlework scissors
• Emily's larger but still moderate in size sewing scissors

and finally Grandma's very sharp sewing scissors.

Next:

The challenge was how to hold the fabric and which hand to hold the scissors in.  Ruth kept wanting to cross her hands but she struggled to cut through the fabric.

Next Grandma held the fabric and Ruth tried the scissors in her right hand and that work well!

and finally success as Ruth masters cutting and moving the fabric.  Now I am going to brag here for a bit one would expect that there would be a great deal of trimming needed - well there was not she got the seams to within a 1/4 inch of the fabric.

Well done Ruth!

 Daddy got into decorating Isabelle's dress by helping Ruth place the alphabet in the right order

Emily also made a dress for Brooklynn

Emily picked out the pattern and fabric and today she had to cut out the pattern.

 and she had to pin the pattern pieces herself as well

 

She used my sewing machine and zigzagged around each pattern pieced and learned that a mistake is really just an opportunity to learn something new - how to pull out stitches

Grandma has been sewing as well.  I completed a blouse for a woman that I work within in trade for her letting me use her serger.

I look forward to seeing this top on Judith.  I am working on a dress for myself at this time and I continue to knit for both my mother and a girl friend as work.

I also learned how to eat ice cream today

With your ginger bread cookie..... (laughing)

 

I hope that each of you has a great week.

Grandma Snyder