project time

 

 

 

 

 

 

Often on the days when Audrey is home with me during Gray’s nap time, we have what we call ‘project time’. It’s a quiet, crafty time where we get out those projects we can’t work on when Gray is around. The ones that involve sharp scissors and glue and pins (her), tracing patterns and cutting out fabric and sharp scissors and sharp pins (me). And we spend a blissful half hour or (if we’re lucky, a whole hour) creating. Sometimes we listen to music, sometimes we listen to audio books, sometimes we just chat with each other or work in quiet. And every so often we work on a project together.

Usually it starts by Audrey saying, “Mommy, can I sew?”

Sometimes she just wants to run the machine and use all the decorative stitches, stitching back and forth until the fabric is covered in designs. She sits on my lap and I run the machine and she does all the buttons and levers and knobs.

Sometimes she wants to make something. Like this pin cushion. Months and months ago, she told me she wanted to sew her own pin cushion. She adored mine and was always swiping it for her crafty activities. So I let her pick some fabric from the scrap basket. I cut it to size and she decorated it with various machine stitches. Then I showed her how to pin the edges together and explained how to sew around the edges. She carefully pinned all the edges and then sat on my lap and sewed the entire thing herself with a few directions from me. I turned it inside out for her (per her request) and she stuffed and then hand sewed it closed. I was going to do that part for her but she insisted on doing it herself.

Now it resides in one of her craft supply drawers. And she gets it out during our project time while she works on pinning bits of fabric and felt together. Lately she’s been into making animals by pinning bits together and then tying them into shapes with scraps of yarn. She keeps a basket of scraps and yarn next to her pin cushion in the drawer.

I love the informal nature of our craft time. I rarely arrange organized activities. I prefer to supply her with materials and let her inspiration guide her. When she wants more instruction, she always comes to me and tells me she wants to sew or she wants me to set up a project for her. Then we discuss what project sounds fun and if it’s doable during the time frame of Gray’s nap.

I’m looking forward to the day when Gray can focus on his own crafts, rather than trying to swipe our sharp objects, and we’ll all have project time together. But for now, she and I treasure these quiet moments we spend creating.

 

linking up with Frontier Dreams {Keep Calm Craft On}