Special projects

Last week, Ellie was really into doing "special projects" with Mama during Stephanie's naps. One day, we did modeling clay. Another day, we did painting. Then, we tried sewing. Ellie likes to sit on my lap and place her hands on mine while I sew. I recently bought a new softies book, so I thought we'd give that a whirl. She sat with me and looked through the book before selecting a pattern. Then, she learned to trace it and cut it out. The critter in the book was pink, so Ellie was most distressed when I cut mine out of yellow felt. It took some serious doing on my part to convince her that ours do not have to look exactly like the one in the book (she had to have pink anyway). She lost steam after a while, and the project became a two day job. I finished mine first so she could see how different they could be, which renewed her enthusiasm and gave her confidence to adapt hers a bit before the final stuffing. The "creatures" (as Ellie decided we must call them) came out really cute. Stephanie adopted the yellow one straight away, and that little raised arm is the perfect size for a small hand to grip.


All specific design features on the pink creature were Ellie's requests (purple mouth, one purple eye, one pink eye...), and she has loved it. She has also loved the softies book. She has picked it up and "read" it every day since.



Over the weekend, we decided to make new bedding for Lolo. Her crib came with blue and green striped bedding, but we had some lovely fabric scraps that we thought we'd use up. Making two stuffed rectangles is very simple and easy with a child, and Ellie loved doing it.


Unfortunately, Mama misjudged how much the pillows would shrink with copious stuffing, and they are slightly smaller than the crib. This means, of course, that they are not usable. Two lovely doll-sized pillows, tossed to the wayside...but at least they were fun to make.