I knew that I wanted to incorporate a little sewing project for Lena (age 4.5) during this week's weather theme. She was very interested in my sewing as I worked on her and Maggie's Halloween costumes in recent weeks, and I thought she was ready to work on a project of her own. As I planned weather week, I realized that making a little sunshine would be just right!
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In addition to your basic sewing supplies (needle, thread, etc.), you'll need 2 small circles of fabric, felt to use for the rays, and some polyester fiberfill stuffing.
Place the two right sides of your fabric together. I placed safety pins around the edge so that the layers wouldn't shift (and straight pins would have been pokey). I also made a line of little dots about 1/4" from the edge to give Lena a guide for where to stitch. I used a regular marker because I couldn't find my fancy disappearing sewing pens.
Make sure to leave a small opening, 3-4" long, so that you can turn it right sides out when you've finished. *Notice opening on right side.*
Thread a needle and get the project started for your little one. I made sure that the thread was fairly short (12" or so) so that there would be less chance of it getting tangled as Lena sewed. This meant that I had to tie it off and restart new thread a few times, but longer thread would have been too hard for her to manage.
Show your child how to sew up and down along the guide line you've drawn. Sometimes I held the project for Lena and flipped it back and forth for her as she sewed. Other times I encouraged her to hold it herself so that she could get some practice with that as well.
Don't point out any mistakes that your child makes unless they will majorly affect the finished product or unless your child notices them on their own. Lena left a few big gaps and had a few places where she accidentally switched to using a whip stitch (around the edge of the fabric), but I wanted her to feel encouraged and pleased with the work that she had done.
Once you've gone all the way around, tie off the thread and turn the fabric right sides out. Let your child stuff the sun with polyester fiberfill. I sewed up the opening myself, since that can be tricky.
Next it's time to add the sun's rays. We used felt, so that it wouldn't fray. Cut several triangles and pin them along the edge of the sun using safety pins, one at a time. I do realize that we could have sandwiched them inside the sun as Lena sewed the 2 sides of the sun together, but I wanted her to see them as she added them and not have them magically appear after we turned the fabric right side out.
Again, I used small lengths of thread and helped hold the project as needed. Add rays all the way around, then tie off your thread and clip all the loose ends.
Lena named this little guy (you guessed it) Sunny, and as you can see from this picture she loves him. She's carried him around all day and told everyone we've seen about her very first sewing project.
Need more ideas for weather crafts? Follow Cutting Tiny Bites on Pinterest or check out the weather theme board below.
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