Stamping with the Grands

Usually, when the grands come to visit, their mom schedules them for lots of activities (besides beach-going) so that they won't get bored.  This year, due to Covid-19, that really wasn't an option.  My daughter said she was going to go buy them some craft supplies, and I almost choked!  No one in this house should really ever need to buy craft supplies again.

Once upon a time I was a Stampin' Up demonstrator, and to say I have stamping supplies is putting it mildly.  I have an entire closet filled with stamps and scrapbooking supplies.  [Sadly, many of my stamp pads haven't been used in so long they have dried up and SU has changed the colors in the meantime, so I had to cull through the stamp pads and throw out the ones I didn't have re-inkers for.] Anyway, one rainy morning, I dug out the basics and we headed to the kitchen table.  Unfortunately, we were so busy I didn't think to get pictures, but they really had a lot of fun.

Before we started, we had a little lesson on cleaning the stamps after every use so they didn't mix ink colors and ruin the pads I had left, and I turned them loose.  Instead of creating a card design, like I would have done with adults, I let them just stamp to their heart's content. They were delighted.  And they were very good about cleaning stamps after they used them, which made me very happy.

They had a great time creating cards to mail to their friends.  In fact, they had so much fun the first time, they requested a second session to create cards for their dad, who had had to return home by this time.  I think this may be an activity they will request year after year.

Annual Beach Pilgrimage

You would think, living as close to the beach as we do, that I would spend a lot of time there.  Nope.  I really hate sand, and the way it has of sneaking into EVERYTHING.  But my grands love the beach, and once a year, just before they leave, I make my annual beach pilgrimage.  Their mom tells them, "Grandma doesn't love the beach, but she loves you, so she comes to the beach with you every year."  She nailed it. 

This year, the littles were playing in the sand before I even got my beach chair set up. 

I don't have sunglasses, so B shared his with me. =)

I was afraid I had waited too long, because it rained all morning, but by afternoon, the sun came out, leaving the day cool and breezy - just perfect for me, in fact, although the storm left the waves too high for the kids to do more than get their feet wet.

Still, they had a great time, and spirits were high - at least with the youngest two. They built sand structures (I wouldn't exactly call them castles) and had a blast.

They shoveled and dug and had a glorious time.

And E buried B in the sand.  Of course she did!

We had a grand time, and stayed much longer than usual since it was so nice and cool.  A truly wonderful day at the beach - and it's rare for me to say that.

Making Barbie a Swimsuit

I mentioned in a previous post that when Ken got here, all he had was a swimsuit - in fact, when I got my first Barbie back in the day, the only item of clothing any Barbie came with was a swimsuit.  Times have changed!  Apparently, the constant beach-going got the kids playing "go to the beach" and E wondered why Barbie didn't have a swimsuit.  I was pretty sure I could fix that pretty easily.

It was not as easy as I thought.

I scoured Pinterest and the internet for a Barbie swimsuit pattern.  No dice.  The closest I came was this outline on Pinterest.    There was no .pdf pattern and no real way to print it out.  I finally took a screen shot, dropped it in a Word document, and sized it as best I could using the ruler guide on the screen.  Barbie's body is about 5" from shoulder to crotch, so that is the measurement I used.

Once I got the pattern printed out, I cut it out of a piece of scrap knit I had.  I liked the red mostly because the Barbie I had when I was little had a red swimsuit.  The pattern as it printed was about the right length, but way too wide, so I had to fit as I went.  It's still a little big, in fact, but I decided to go with it because it is easier for little hands to manage.

So now Barbie and Ken both have swimsuits and can go to the beach (or the pool) whenever they wish.

Sewing With Grandma - Part III

This segment of Sewing With Grandma had to wait until the item was gifted, hence the delay.  Rather than make the shorts that I had planned for us to make together.  "A" decided she wanted to make her other grandma (Granny) a quilt.  I allowed her to choose any fabric bundle on my shelves (and there are plenty) and she chose Mimosa by Another Point of View.  This rainbow colored bundle was just perfect for her project.

I suggested a Plus quilt, but she asked if there was a pattern somewhere for hearts.  I turned to Cluck Cluck Sew's heart quilt tutorial, and we got started.  Alison has created a super simple, but very fun quilt block that was just perfect for her idea.

I helped her cut the pieces, and showed her how to draw the lines on the background pieces to snowball the corners, and she got started.  I worried a bit that she would lose interest after a couple of sewing sessions, but she was very diligent.  Naturally, this project took place over several days.

Once she got the blocks made, we brought in the portable design board and she got to work.  This child has a knack for design (just like her mom!) and she knew exactly what she wanted.  The idea to have a solid block between each heart was entirely hers, although I helped her figure out how many blocks she would need.  Once she had the layout, she put the blocks in rows and sewed the rows together.

Once the top was complete, she asked me to quilt her masterpiece.  Naturally, I was thrilled to do it.  (Maybe next year, she'll want to do it herself.). She chose a remnant piece of blue plaid for the binding, and it was obviously meant to be, because we only had about 5" of binding left after we bound the quilt.

Needless to say, Granny was thrilled with her gift!  And hopefully, A will have great memories of sewing with Grandma.

Sewing with Grandma - Part II

Yesterday, the kids were just playing in my sewing room (which seems to be the natural hangout for the kids and I) and E asked to play in the scraps.  There are a lot of scrap baskets, so we limited ourselves to the blue and pink baskets.  She pretends all kinds of things with the scraps, beds for stuffed animals, clothes for dolls, but finally started laying out square pieces and demanding that I stitch them together, with specific instructions:  "Sew here, Grandma."  She definitely knows what she wants. 

I did as I was told, of course, and before long we had this adorable little quilt for Willa.  Very modern and  improv, don't you think?  And also very well balanced both as to color and design.  This little girl is definitely the child of a long line of quilters.

All in all, a morning well-spent.

Sewing with Grandma Part 1

Each year, when the grands come to spend their month at the beach, one of the things I try to do is a sewing project with each of them.  Two years ago, we made tote bags.  Last year, we made pajamas.  This year, my idea was to have them each make a pair of shorts. 

With the demand for fabric so high due to the diy mask making and PPE effort, it has been pretty hard to find suitable fabrics for kid shorts at Joann's.  My oldest granddaughter found fabric early on, but we couldn't find anything suitable for the younger two.  My grandson and I made a second trip, and he found some fabric he really liked, and also managed to find some cute fabric for his younger sister's grandma-and-me project.

Even though I have two complete sewing stations in my sewing room, it seems that everyone always wants to sew at once.  Oldest granddaughter had a super-secret project she wanted to do first, and has been consistently on the 440 (also named Jane,) which is the best machine I have for piecing.  This past weekend, I was finally able to work with B on his shorts using the 750 (whose name is Barbie - because that girl can do everything!,) which he loves because it has so many fun gadgets.  Luckily, I had a pattern I used to make shorts for my son back in the day (shorts styles are remarkably consistent over the decades, it seems.)  We cut them out and he got busy.

You can see from the top photo that sewing clothing takes a lot of concentration. There were a few bumps in the road and miscommunications about what exactly to sew next.  The concept of the waistband casing and legs' hems literally being a circle was difficult to grasp, for example.  But we persevered, and his shorts turned out great!

Here he is modeling his finished shorts.  He is pretty proud of his success.

(And yes, the sewing room is a mess.  There is a lot of creativity going on here.)

A Raincoat for Willa

I took oldest granddaughter to Joann's for fabric for her annual grandma-and-me project, and we ended up picking out a pattern for her American Girl doll that included this adorable dolly raincoat.  When we got home, the littlest granddaughter decided her Willa doll needed a raincoat.  The problem with Willa, who is a Wellie Wishers American Girl doll, is that there aren't many patterns for clothes for her, perhaps because she is fairly new. 

Thank goodness for Pinterest.  I had a fairly long hiatus from Pinterest but reconnected to look for doll clothes.  As I was perusing Pinterest the other day I found a post which led to Rosie's blog where she told how to resize regular American Girl patterns for Wellie Wishers dolls.  I made a quick trip to FedEx and resized the pattern.  I decided to try it first with a scrap of Kona cotton from my stash.  I chose this yummy apple green.

This pattern sews up easily and the pieces fit together nicely, which is a big plus for me when sewing doll clothes.  I was pretty happy with the results.  Resizing 18" American Girl doll clothes at 65% for the 14-1/2" Wellie Wishers doll worked perfectly.  I had to add a bit of extra to the welt pockets and the collar to have an adequate seam allowance, but my first try turned out exactly right. 

E informed me that even though it looked like a raincoat, my first try was "just a jacket, Grandma," and she really wanted Willa to have a real raincoat.  Luckily, I had some scraps of oilcloth left from a previous project that turned out to be just enough to make an adorable "real" raincoat. 

Now oldest granddaughter needs a "real" raincoat for her Mary Ellen doll.  Guess I need to get on that soon.