Sew Fun – Book Review

March is officially “Craft Month” (though that’s pretty much every month for me!) and I was honored to participate in my own little way by creating a project from Deborah Fisher’s book Sew Fun.

Sew Fun By Deborah Fisher Interweave/F+W Media; $26.99 bit.ly/17VG9JD

The goal of this book is to give you projects and ideas for sewing with your children.  I was intrigued by the topic and thought I’d give it a whirl with my little gal.  I like that the book has tips for what the kids can do in the project that seem pretty reasonably age appropriate.  I will say that I think the book is geared towards middle school to teen kids for actual sewing.  I do a lot of crafts with my 4 year old but sewing with her is not something I’ve tackled. In fact, mama’s sewing room is pretty much off limits because of tools and such.  So this was a bit of a gamble with us. 😉  I chose a project from the “wearable” section of the book because my girl is SUCH a dress up girly girl.

Sew Fun - Book Review

Insect Capes….hmmm…four year old princess loving girl…how’s that going to work?  Well, I started with some purple felt in a vain attempt to eliminate some pink from our lives.  (start laughing…it was a useless endeavor)

Sew Fun - Book Review

I used one of the pattern pieces and traced it on freezer paper.  Since my 4 year old is a bit smaller than the model shown I knew I would need to reduce the size of the pattern.  I simply folded the pattern to eliminate some of the length but not lose the basic shape of the wing. I had to adjust the lines of the pattern to meet in their new length but that is easy peasy!  And before you knew it I had two wings!

Sew Fun - Book Review

I followed the directions and added a neckline to connect the wings and then searched my sewing room for embellishments for the wings.  I knew that my girly girl would want SPARKLE! But this mama was also determined to be frugal and wanted to use what I had on hand.  So that meant blue sparkly snowflakes and green sparkly stick on beads.

Hmm…after gleefully decorating the wings with all the joy in her heart, my little gal came to the realization as she looked at her final product that there was NOT ENOUGH PINK.  Sigh.  lol.  So back to the cupboards I went to search for more PINK things.  And so Mama sewed on sparkly pink trim around the edges of the wings.  And then in an attempt to tie all of these crazy colors together, I added lots of ribbons with all of the colors used.

Sew Fun - Book Review

I’m not going to lie…these wings crack me up.  They are soooo Caitlyn now.  Over the top, sparkly and colorful.  This is how Caitlyn does insect wings. And she lit up when she saw them finished.

Sew Fun - Book Review

It wasn’t all fun and games for me to work with my daughter on this…she’s a bit young for any sewing participation on my end (I know some people sew with their little ones at this age but I know my strengths and this isn’t one of them. lol).  But a lot of this is about exposure and having ownership in participating in the creation of something you see as beautiful and usable.  And you can’t put a price on that.

36 thoughts on “Sew Fun – Book Review”

  1. Wow, what a great giveaway! I have 6 grandchildren who like to take turns spending the weekend with their "Nana". I always try to find something special to do with each one when it's their turn to stay. The book would be perfect inspiration 🙂 Thanks for a chance.

  2. A fantastic beginning for Caitlyn. I know you'll celebrate when she chooses lime green! I could use this book with the grand kids! : )

  3. these are so adorable. you are so right exposing the little ones when they are ready is so exciting and wonderful. my son loved count cross stitch and made some of his own patterns. sewing was ok! but now he sews and sells civil war re-enacting clothes for men. and he is darn good at this hobby. my daughter like to crochet and sew. when she finds time she likes to sit at her sewing machine and work on quilts. so we never know where our patience and guidance will lead them. it is all so much fun as a mother to watch their skills and interests grow and change. have fun with your daughter. and let her guide you as much as you guide her.

  4. My three year old is always wanting to "help" me sew-makes to all so much harder, but I try to let her some b/c she loves it so much! My nephews are actually really interested in sewing (any type of craft or art project really)and are more age appropriate for it as well (8 & 10) so would love to win to try out some projects with them! Thanks for a chance!

  5. This looks like such a fun book. My 8 year old has been begging me to teach her how to sew and I think this would be a great book to introduce sewing to her with.

    suziebee20 at yahoo dot com is my email.

  6. The wings are so cute. I really need a book like this so I can learn to sew! Truthfully, I do, and I have a two year old granddaughter I might find some projects to do for.

  7. What a great review and adorable book. Thank you for sharing your thoughts & of course those inspiring pics! Thinking I might have to break out the glue gun & un-hide the fabric stash rather than spring clean~

  8. My daughter has been requesting to learn how to sew and wants her own "fancy (aka pink)" sewing machine. This book looks to have some ideas she might be interested in and we could work on together. Thank you for the chance to win it. Theballards2001yahoocom

  9. That is too funny! I am with you all of the way, my little almost 4 yr. old is also not allowed to touch mommies machine and we have tried big stitches on felt and let's just say it's tough, now my 6 yr. old son is much better, so I figure give her a year or 2 and then i will be better, she would also require more pink, thanks for sharing.

  10. That is adorable! And the snowflake adds a touch of Frozen to it. Perfect touch. My daughter just got a sewing machine, this book would inspire her I'm sure.

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