Sewing Camp Day 1

Don't you just love camp? Summer time is full of opportunity for our kids to visit any one of a number of camps. Working parents wait impatiently and sign on as early as January/February for slots in the camp of their choice. Because everyone knows, if you wait until summer everything is filled up! I always love to watch Amy at Sewing School put on her summer sewing camp. R11 went to sewing camp at a local sewing school for the first time a few years ago. It began a relationship with that little school which continues today- though not with super regularity.

There's only one thing with camp. It costs money. Lots of money. Lots and lots of money if we are talking four kids or even 2 or who am I kidding? Even one! So, I decided it would be fun to have our own sewing camp- especially after I saw how much the girls enjoyed it at R's birthday party this year. I invited three girls and today we had two of the three (one was too sick), one mom, a sister (who did sew), and a brother- to play with our guys. We had a great time! I'll share with you the order of the day and our plans for next time. We'll meet three more times in August for Sewing Camp which the girls are super excited about. This was time well spent. If you have the opportunity to encourage your kids in this way- seize it! You won't regret it!

I chose the library book bag from Sew Mama Sew! for our first project. It was the perfect choice. The girls did a wonderful job listening to directions and I'm glad I had the help of a friend!

I had the board ready to tell what sized pieces to cut, but actually we increased the dimensions of the bag.

The two yardsticks came in handy to measure out 16x16 fabrics squares- 3 of them and the straps and lining pieces.

We used fusible webbing to make our appliques. Love that stuff.

One camper had brought a recital flyer with a humming bird which was a popular choice for an applique.

Camper E has a very grown up styled bag! I love how the humming bird looks like it's eating on this great piece of fabric.

Camper J works on her red bag with hearts- the appliques went on the outer pocket of the bag so our first step was to trace those and get them cut out and fused to the pocket.

Then it was time to zig zag around the applique - I suppose a tighter stitch might have been better. But Camper R11 did a nice job!

R11 dons her super hero cape to become "Super Sewer" as she sews the pocket liner to the pocket. It has a nice edge over the top of the pocket. Very fun!

I have a lot more to share, but I will put it in the next post! The girls did a great job. We ended camp at various times based on the girls' schedules, but if they could they kept working. We planned to have them finish their bags at the start of the next camp day, but R11 kept working into the evening and finished her bag by reading the tutorial herself. Then I finished mine - with a little direction from her! So, next time we meet there will be girls finishing up the bag and some starting the new project. Stay tuned for what that will be...