A Late Christmas Present

How did it get to be so late so soon?  

~ Dr. Seuss

Well, my 10-year-old friend's Christmas present finally arrived in the mail and I was able to give it to her on Saturday:  

Yup, I got her her own sewing machine!  She has done a couple of projects with me, on my machine, and she seems to like it.  She's also pretty good at remembering things like: needle down before you turn a corner, needle up before you remove the fabric and sew in reverse a little bit at the beginning and end of each seam.  ;)

I showed her how to fill a bobbin and thread her machine.  And we did some simple sewing, just to make sure that everything was working.  We sat in the living room and she pushed the foot pedal with her hand...  ;)

I also let her raid my remnant stash for pieces big enough to practice on and to make throw pillows.  Happily for me, she ended up taking about half of the stash - which consists of pieces that are big enough that I can't throw them away without feeling guilty, but small enough that I am unlikely to ever use them myself.  So, it was a win-win!  ;)

We had time to stitch up two pillow shells and fill and finish one of them.  :)

Another little thing that makes me feel like this is going to work for her - I explained that she needed to tear the fiber fill into little pieces to stuff the pillow - not just cram in big chunks - and she really did a good job!  She was very patient and spent a lot of time stuffing her pillow.  I think that's pretty impressive for a 10-year-old, don't you?  

Speaking of which, I sent her home with enough fiber fill to make pillows for just about everyone in her life!  ;)

Of course, her mom is now all excited, thinking that Mariana can start sewing her own tailored school pants, because they are expensive to buy.  Yikes!  Apparently some expectation management is called for on my part...  

It probably sounds like a great present for her.  But if she really gets into sewing and I end up with a sewing friend, it will be a present for me!  :)