She Stitches Snappy Stuff

Blue Eyes got a sewing machine for Christmas (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!). This one, in fact. I love that it's a real sewing machine and not a toy. She loves it because it's Hello Kitty and is of the opinion that there's pretty much nothing better than that. Six year olds are awesome.

Diligently working on her very first project

Two projects have now been sewn with it. Blue Eyes first made a drawstring backpack that she gave away as a birthday gift for a neighbor. The second was a dress for this month's Project Run & Play. 

The drawstring backpack

The pattern for this month is the Knot Dress from Jess at The Sewing Rabbit. I decided to keep the pattern mostly the same because this was only the second sewing project ever for Miss Blue Eyes. I had previously purchased some Hello Kitty fabric so that was definitely the material of choice.

Red + Hello Kitty = a very happy Blue Eyes

Because she was the one who did most of the sewing, I'll let Blue Eyes say a few things about her dress.

I like Hello Kitty. This is my favorite dress and I made some of it. My favorite thing about sewing it was when my mom helped me with the twists and turns.

Aaaaaand that was all I could get out of her. Blue Eyes is six years old and not big on sharing much if she doesn't feel like it.

Back view

As for the changes that were made, I closed the back, traded the knots on the bodice for snaps, included a band at the waist, and just used the width of the material for the skirt rather than measuring panels.

The heart snaps are super fun. Just in case you were wondering

I was very proud of Blue Eyes for getting through the stitching of the top of the bodice with all the curves that went into making the straps. There were some pretty tight curves with the straps. I had to stop her quite a few times to help her get the seam allowances even.

Two snaps per strap to keep everything nicely in place Those curves really were deadly.

Blue Eyes stitched the side and back seams on the skirt, as well as the side seams and neckline of the bodice.  I can't say enough how impressed I am that she did such a good job attaching the lining at the neckline. She rocked it! I aided the project by doing the understitching, attaching skirt to bodice, and hemming. Blue Eyes would have done the hemming if I had not put the dress on the back burner for over a week before remembering the Project Run & Play deadline was looming. The final touch was adding the iconic bow.

I added fleece interfacing to the bow for extra puffiness

While I was pleased with how well Blue Eyes did with her dress, I'm thinking her next project will be sewing quilt squares together to make a pillow or a lap quilt. That was how I learned and it helps a lot with getting used to making completely even seam allowances.

She was more interested in playing on the tablet than posing for pictures

I think Blue Eyes has a great sewing future ahead of her. I'm so happy we can share this. The trick for me is trying not to hover and correct every stitch. She's doing great.

Rocking her dress and her new glasses