You’ve been a mom, now the fun part. Grandmahood.

There’s nothing more fun and exciting than passing down your legacy. If you’re an insanely crazy person like me, and you’ve crammed everything into one lifetime you possibly can, then there’s a lot of legacy to pass on. Better get started early.

When I was an eight-year-old little girl growing up in small town USA, I did something that has impacted my entire life. I joined 4-H. For those of you who don’t know what 4-H is, the Hs stand for Head, Heart, Hands and Health, the four values members work on through fun and programs they participate in. It’s still a very active organization in every county in the country and has nearly six million participants. It’s a wonderful experience for kids. There are many areas of interest to choose from where kids can learn a lot through direct hands on experience, like I did. This is where I learned to sew. 

My mom had a Singer sewing machine that folded into a little sewing table she kept in her bedroom. She made things like Halloween costumes and doll clothes. Other than that, I don’t ever remember her making clothes. But I became passionate about making everything.

Over the years, I made a lot of my own clothes and much to my kid’s disapproval, I made some of theirs. That was fine with them when they were little. They didn’t know better, but when they got a little older they wanted nothing to do with homemade clothes. One Easter I made everyone Easter clothes. However, between sewing, church services and cooking Easter dinner for a houseful, I ran out of time and although I finished everyone else’s outfits, I didn’t get the skirt of my beautiful peach colored suit hemmed. So, I carefully pinned the hem up on the inside, stuck a threaded needle inside my purse, and discreetly hemmed it during church. The back was the tricky part. I got it done and nobody was wiser.

Life changes. After millions of stiches sewn and years of good and faithful service, the sewing machine was tucked away. It stayed there for many years and then, granddaughters!  It was time to drag it out of the garage where it had ended up after a few moves. There was just one problem. There was my old friend, rusted and locked up. Time for the sewing machine graveyard. Good-by old friend and thank you.

All I needed was a simple forward, back, zig zag inexpensive sewing machine. So, off my husband and I went to shop for a simple forward, back, zig zag inexpensive sewing machine. What we walked out with was a several thousand dollar do everything sewing and embroidery Baby Lock Esante machine. That’s what happens when I take my husband with me to shop and the very astute salesman has my husband sit down to show him how easy it is to embroider.

Having seven granddaughters has been a dream come true. When they were born I made them clothes, embroidered everything they owned including clothes, denim jackets that said “My Grandma’s Hot” across the back and towels for every holiday.

When they got to be a little older, they became fascinated by my machine, which is a very safe machine for kids to use. It is the only machine I’ve found that has a speed control which allows you to set the speed of the needle. I can’t imagine anything worse that getting a needle through your finger. Fortunately, I’ve never had it happen to me, but when you’re teaching kids, it’s better to be safe. You can easily slide over to the faster speed. Brother machines, which also makes Baby Lock, all have this safety feature. I would never let a child sew on any other machine. 

When they were five or six I allowed them, with extreme supervision to start sewing little lines with the machine. Using safe scissors, they would cut little squares from scraps from my arsenal of fabric, if you sew you understand, and fold them and sew straight lines or make little pouches. They cut strips and sewed them together to make doll clothes which they thought were beautiful, so did Grandma, of course. It also made them feel they had actually made something. I have a child-size dress form and they became fashion designers creating fun things they could wear, at home for fun. But it’s a start. They loved it!

When I have several of the girls here together, they sometimes have entire sewing days. They grab fabric remnants, cut and pin, and embellish with fringe or rick rack I keep in Grandma’s Goodie Box of scraps. The room is always a disaster but what fun.

One day some of them cried out in unison “Charlie” and there she sat holding up about eight inches of the tape measure she had cut in half. We all laughed and laughed and I still have that cut tape measure. We still laugh about it every time we sew.

When the girls turn eight I buy them their first sewing machine which is always a Brother Sewing Machine, SE600, Computerized Sewing and Embroidery Machine with 4″ x 4″ Embroidery Area, 80 Embroidery Designs, 103 Built-In Sewing Stitches. It’s a great little affordable machine that is safe, with the needle speed control so they don’t get a needle in their finger, and it’s super easy for them to use. It’s also easy to thread and light enough they can move it around. The push buttons are all in the same place as mine since I have a Brother, so it’s a very short learning curve. I highly recommend this machine for kids as well as adults and I’ve been sewing for a long time. 

DO NOT BUY A KIDS SEWING MACHINE! IT WILL ONLY FRUSTRATE THEM, POSSIBLY ENOUGH TO DISCOURAGE THEM FROM YEARS OF SEWING.

Another thing I love about this machine is that it embroideries and comes with a small 4″ x 4′” hoop. I’ve also taught them how to use my embroidery machine and it’s literally so easy even a child can use it! They have a ball with this making things like personalized bags for their friends. Some machines, including this one come with built-in embroidery designs like alphabets and flowers. These designs are very tiny and cannot be enlarged.

In addition to the preloaded small designs, this machine connects to the internet with a USB port and embroidery designs can be directly uploaded into it’s memory very easily by simply dragging them into the drive. I order mine from Amazon and they ship it right to my front door. Click on link below to get more information. 

When they get their new sewing machine, they also get their own sewing box which we shop for together and fill with the essentials they get to pick out (usually pink), like scissors, needles, pins, markers, four or five pieces of fabric, and of course, their own tape measure.

Miss Charlie chose an adorable knit with tiny hearts and we added some sassy red fringe. By creatively adding a zipper to each end she made what we named a Scurfee, a scarf that’s a purse. Of course, Grandma had to donate a dollar bill to initiate her new Scurfee! This little girl who just turned eight years old can even put in zippers! 

My hope is they will keep their first sewing machine from grandma their whole life and think of me when they use it, but more importantly it’s part of my legacy.

 

GRANDMA’S SUMMER CAMP

What could be better that having four of your granddaughters stay with you for over a week in the summer? When my son called and asked if I could keep the girls I jumped up and down with joy. No school. No dance. Just fun! My son lovingly referred to it as Grandma’s Summer Camp.

We did a lot of things, but one of the most fun and memorable was the day we made “Make-Up” Bags. They’re so easy to sew for beginners and the really fun part is picking out the fabric.

The girls were so excited. The first thing we did was to start digging through the fabric. I helped them choose the correct kind of material that would work for a make-up bag, but they picked their colors by themselves.

I then helped them cut the perfect sizes for the outside and the lining using a self-healing cutting pad and rotary cutter, another skills tool for their toolbox.

We then put in the zippers, which was a great learning experience and yep, a tool for their skills toolbox which they will keep with them their whole life.

Each of the girls pinned and sewed their own bag. They then dug through Grandma’s Goodie Box to find tassels and fun things to attach to their zipper pull tabs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a great how-to video by a young lady that shows how to make a make-up bag. I love this particular one because it makes it easy and appeals to young girls. 

 

As you can see, they are very proud of these adorable bags that turned out great. As they ran towards their mom when she walked through the door to pick them up at the end of the day, they were so proud and excited hollering, “Mommy Mommy Look what I made!”

Grandma just sat back leaning against the sewing table smiling and watching her legacy.