Patchwork Quilt Sewing Craft & Activity
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A few weeks ago, my daughter & I made sew & weave Easter bonnets. She really enjoyed working with the plastic sewing needle. She liked it & took to it so well that I wanted to give her more sewing projects. Her nana is a quilter, so she know a lot about quilts. I thought making a quilt craft would be a fun activity for her.
We had a lot of plans for this weekend. My daughter had a birthday party for one of her best friends & we were throwing a Super Bowl party at our own house. Unfortunately, a case of the sniffles changed things a bit. Mai had a nasty cough & a runny nose, so we stayed in our jammies all weekend. She may have been a little under the weather, but it did not slow her down any. She was still running around like crazy. I wanted to get her to sit down & relax, so we sat down & did a quiet & simple activity together.
We cut the center of a paper plate out.
Mai loves using the paper hole punch, so she was excited when I gave it to her & let her punch around the inside & outside of the paper plate. I started it & showed her where to punch so that it didn’t clip just the edges.
I punched the outer edge of a paper bowl because that was a bit too tricky for her & then poked the bowl through the center of the plate and glued it into place.
We used a yarn needle to sew the bowl & plate together with yarn & then to sew lacing around the edge of the plate. I showed my daughter how to use the needle under & over, under & over. She skipped some holes at first & would ask me for help when it would tangle, but eventually she got into the groove & was able to do it perfectly without any help.
We had so much fun with our project that we made several.
She enjoyed the sewing so much that I wanted to see if she would enjoy weaving as well.
I took a paper bowl & cut around the edges like shown.
The weaving was similar. It weaved over & under, over & under between sections.
My daughter was not interested in weaving. I finished the weave myself. We glued the woven bowl into the center of another paper plate & then punched more holes around the plate for sewing.
She liked this hat the best of all. We had fun sewing our hats, sniffles and all.
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It can sometimes be exhausting finding activities to fill your toddler’s day, especially when they are as curious as my busy baby. We try to fill her days with fun activities and books but sometimes (and don’t think me a bad mom) it is a nice break to sit her down in front of Disney Junior or a Baby Einstein video, so I can fix dinner or just grab a moment for ourselves.
Lately she has been requesting to watch television far more than I want to accommodate. Mommy created a bad habit. This worries me. She has a particular fondness to ‘Little Einstein’s’. “Stein, Stein” she asks, when she wants to watch them. She loves these characters. I came across a few different ideas for puppets the other day & it made me think, maybe I could give her those characters she loves without having to turn on the dreaded t.v.
Tonight’s inspiration… ‘Little Einsteins’s’ felt puppets.
If you have been following us, you know that I love working with felt. It is easy & fun to work with & fairly inexpensive.
What you will need…
Felt
Glue Gun
Markers
Scissors
Needle & thread
Decide how large you would like your puppets. Trace out the shape of your characters. I used a white marker, so lines would be less visible if missed after cutting. Cut out the body of your puppet (front & back).
Use scissor to cut out facial details such as eyes and mouth & hair if needed.
Use your glue gun to secure details to the body of the puppet.
Use markers to draw in fine details such as eyelashes or eyebrows.
Sew around the outside of the body to secure the front & back of the puppet together.
Repeat this process for all characters.
Here is our finished ‘Little Einstein’ collection…
Up next…Puppet Theater part 2 the stage