Hello Friends,

This past few weeks my classes have been working on elementary hand stitches and basic machine techniques. You could say we are getting “in the groove” for sewing our next projects!

Ms Bobbi (that’s me!) purchased some of the cutest Halloween fabric from Riley Blake. Most of the fabric glows in the dark! We had a blast making Halloween pillows, Halloween candy bags, and Kleenex pouches to celebrate the season.

I started to make my own designs for my hand projects and my first kits were all tested and approved by my students. My younger sewers made my Pumpkin Pillow and my older students made my Pumpkin or Spider Pouch. Look for more, both hand and machine, as we continue through the school year!

As the holiday approaches, my focus will be on celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and any other holiday that people celebrate during this time. My students enjoy making seasonal projects and they love making gifts for family and friends to show off their new sewing skills! And Ms Bobbi loves seeing their smiles as they finish each project and realize that they made it themselves. Learning to sew and loving it!

Until next time,

Ms Bobbi

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, it’s time for my young students to spend the next few weeks leading up to Christmas and Hanukkah making gifts for family and friends. I decided to share a few of these on my blog.   The Fleece Pouch is a project that I use in all my beginning classes. It is simple enough for my kindergarten crowd and all the kids get to practice a straight stitch, running stitch, and sewing on a button. As an extra I add on an applique’ when time permits. The kids love this little cutie!  

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  The pouch was inspired by the Sewing Card from Valori Wells called “Little Wallets”. The pattern was a little too hard for my younger kids so I traced the shape of the pouch and then folded the bottom of the pouch back up on itself about 3 and ¾” and continued to trace the pouch. I now had a simple pattern to cut out for the kids.   While most of the pouches have been from fleece I thought that for Christmas these would be perfect fashioned from Christmas colored felt. I also gathered some embellishments for my pouch like sequins, Christmas buttons, floss, and ribbon.   The first step was cutting out my pouch. Next I decided on an applique for my flap. I pinned the holly in place, stitched around the leaves, and then added beads for holly berries and a ribbon. (You could add any embellishments of your choice). Next I added my button about 2” down from the top and centered in the middle of the pouch.   After sewing on the button I folded up bottom of the pouch about 3 and ¾” and pinned it in place. Using an overcast stitch I sewed each side of the pouch. I added a running stitch to the edges of the flap and finally slit the fabric where the button will go through to close the pouch. Now I could add a gift card or gift, button the flap, and one gift is finished and ready for giving!   Look for the sewing card “Little Wallets” by Valori Wells in my marketplace in the Sew Kool for Kids Shop!   Happy Holidays…