It’s Veterans Day and we are all hunkered down on this crisp fall afternoon. Remember my mug? And remember I said that wasn’t the only thing we accomplished around here on this mini holiday?
After breakfast and a little lesson with the kids on, “Why don’t you have to go to school today?” (for the record, my daughter thought we were commemorating all the people who “work”… we corrected it to “serve”), the boys ran off to line seventy-five cars up in a traffic jam around the house. Realizing I finally had a short but perfect opportunity to cave to my daughter’s wishes and let her try out a sewing project, I dug up the mounds of fabric remnants in the studio and let her kick start her first one.
She wanted to dive right into a ballgown for her American Girl Doll, Katie. Unfortunately, I had to remind her that I am truly not a veteran of the sewing world and we’d have to keep this as simple as possible. As I’ve come to find out, this was beyond easy (and left me wondering if I was some kind of veteran after all).
I snagged the free pattern here at “You Can Make This”. It’s designed to be a charity effort – download the pattern and crank them out for Toys for Tots. At first I thought, “How about I just snag it and not tell anyone I did, releasing me from the guilt I’ll shoulder for keeping the effort totally internal?” But I had such a fun time teaching her that maybe I really should try to make a few to donate to the said cause. Heck, my daughter did so well, maybe she should make them!
Without further ado, here are our Mommy & Me Veterans (but not sewing veterans) Day memories. Thanks to the women and men who protect and serve. (And special thanks to my two boys who stayed completely occupied sorting out their traffic jam so as not to bother us for a whole two hours.)
Whoa, first time with the hot iron… Why did I wait so long to start her on this?
Trimming away around the pattern on side one of the reversible skirt. Look at the size of those scissors in her tiny little hand!
Pinning “right sides” together. She never stuck herself even once. (Yes, I managed a pin into my thumb twice.)
Behind the machine… Costume designer in the making. Her legs were too short to reach the floor so I manned the pedal for her. Soon enough, soon enough…
Turning her fabric (one of the most frustrating parts for me… she handled it like a patient pro).
Katie modeling the final runway version (tropical-island-side out).
And in seconds, she’s ready for her BFF’s birthday party!
Nice work, girl: your first time with the iron, first time with pins and first time wrestling the sewing machine. Beaming with pride (both of us). Now you might just be a veteran…