Starting young.

For Christmas Charlotte got a simple Learn to Sew kit (from Aunt Nancy & Uncle Con). It had some pre-punched felt pieces, a plastic needle, and precut lengths of yarn for sewing. She wanted to open it RIGHT AWAY, but it just never seemed to be the right moment. One morning I promised her we would do it in the afternoon, but the day got away from us and soon it was time to pick George up from school and head off to the library for his very favorite, can't-be-skipped after school program. Charlotte was very upset until I said she could bring the kit with her.

Here she is sewing at the library:

[here you must imagine a charming picture which I can't figure out how to get off my camera phone]

After dinner she wanted to do the second piece in the kit. Her enthusiasm was contagious:





She really caught on quickly, and could spot and correct errors on her own. They didn't seem to frustrate her, either, which might be part of the reason why she learned so quickly; she wasn't wasting time and energy fussing or wailing.

Since then she has also made some Dora finger puppets from a similar kit. I think she's probably ready to move on to something more complicated. But what?


How about weaving? This is a two harness Lily table loom that I bought expressly for the kids to use. We fooled around with it some when it arrived (warped, with newspaper from 1973 separating the warp layers) but some threads had gotten broken in transit, there was rust on the reed, and a few others things didn't seem to work right. After Christmas I found the time to cut off the old warp, clean the whole thing up, and figure out the source of the other problems (missing cords). Now it's working great, and Charlotte can weave by herself, at least until she wants to change colors or advance the warp.