She sews! - Easy kid's sewing project

Last week I was working on a blanket for my niece for her birthday.  As usual I was running a little behind on time.  Ella was watching and trying to help me here and there.  Usually I encourage her to help but with my time constraint, I let her know that I needed to do most of the work.   She was a little disappointed, until she decided to make her own blanket.  I know she knows how to use the machine properly, but she had never made anything completely on her own.  She collected my scraps and she told me she was going to make a little blanket for her puppy.  I told her I didn't have time to help her, but if she wanted to do it all on her own she could go right ahead.  

Guess what?  She did!!

I had to at least stop and take a picture of her at the machine because it just makes me so excited to see that she has an interest in sewing.  Sigh!

She did ask me what step to do next as she was making it and she followed directions perfectly.  

It was a simple blanket, but she did it all on her own!!

This is how she made it, if you want a simple starter project for kids...or yourself.  It's never too late to learn something new.

1.  Cut two pieces of fabric to the same size.  (Ella just used my leftover piece so it ended up being a long rectangle.  You can cut to any shape. ) 

2.  Pin fabric together with right sides facing each other.

3.  Sew with a 5/8 inch seam allowance almost all the way around leaving a 3 inch opening.

4.  Turn blanket right side out.  Ella had a little bit of a hard time turning it but managed.

5.  Sew opening shut as close to edge as possible with a topstitch.

6.  Topstitch all the way around blanket about 1/2 inch from the edge just to make it a little cleaner and so it will stay a little nicer.