Bulldog Bling

There has seriously been a lot of sewing going on in this house lately. Thank you to the upcoming series of holidays. Andrew and Leah are constantly trying to "help", you know the help I am talking about. Applying pressure to the foot pedal of my sewing machine, "putting" the straight pins away by removing them from freshly cut fabric, trying to multi task my gingher scissors by cutting paper (a colossal no-no at our house, gingher scissors are sacred) and tugging on fabric that is being sewn. So I decided to try to include them in a sewing project. Andrew had been asking buy Bowler (his bulldog) a collar, so we came up with a plan to make one. So here's the how-to:

The supplies were:

Long Felt Scraps

Scissors

Buttons

Thick thread or yarn

The biggest needle you have (or you could purchase a kid one at a fabric store)

Thin lined permanent marker

Cherished Animal

We measured the length of felt needed with a measuring tape and cut felt to size, ours was 11 inches by 1 inch. Then you make dots with the marker all the way down the length of the felt, this is wear the kids push the threaded needle through. For Andrew and Leah's dogs I made a zig-zag pattern by putting dots on both sides of the felt. Thread the needle and then instruct the kids to sew the needle through the dots. Leah lasted about 75 percent of the way and Andrew totally finished him. (note: this did require a lot the positive verbal incentives, so praise away)

Do not tie off the thread when they finish their line, instead, just have them tack the button on first. I held the button in place while the kids threaded the button holes. When finished, tie off. Cut slot on other end for the button to slide through. Remember that felt is a bit stretchy, so don't make it too big.
Viola! A good hand sewing project for kids!