Katy and the Big Snow; Nana and the Big Sew

Abby had a fun time this afternoon, discussing the seasons and making a paper doll girl with clothes for every season. We are finishing up Katy and the Big Snow today. Actually, it's so warm this afternoon, Abby has gone outside to play and we'll read our story later. I found the paper doll pattern at familyfun.com and I used some scrapbook paper to cut out different clothes.

Yesterday we went to the fabric store to purchase cloth for spring skirts and a jacket to go over a purchased dress. This is what we found:


My mom does almost all our sewing and she's planning to come next weekend and get started on the skirts and a couple of dresses and the jacket. She smocks and does French handsewing, as well, and creates lovely things for the girls and makes all sorts of things for everyone. One day soon I'll post a photo of 2 very cute skirts with matching purses that she recently make for Abby for summer..... My mom is a huge blessing to me!

As the girls have gotten older, we tend to buy things for them instead of sewing, but they used to all have matching dresses made by Mom every Easter. Perhaps I'll dig out some pictures soon and have a walk down memory lane!

Last year and this year, Carrie (12) has been learning to sew using this book from Martha Pullen. She especially enjoyed making matching skirts for Abby and herself, both last year and this year. This book comes with the patterns and has very clear instructions and you only have to buy the fabric and notions for each project. It has clothing for girls, clothing to fit American Girl dolls, and things to give as gifts or to use in their room, such as a throw pillow. It teaches some embroidery stitches, as well. The other girls learned to sew using 2 books called Sewing Machine Fun and More Sewing Machine Fun. Truly, the girls were able to teach themselves to do all the projects in the books and had the skills needed to move to simple garments after finishing them. These books have craft projects instead of clothing. The instructions are very clear and they are easy for a child or an adult to use.