Today was great!

Today was even better than yesterday, if you can believe that!  Most of the students finished their pincushions and started sewing on the machines.

It was so fun to see the fabrics and embellishments that were chosen.

I found it interesting that chickens were the most popular, followed closely by apples.  I had expected the bear to be the most popular.  

This chicken was made by an incoming 2nd grader. 

One student couldn't make it yesterday, but worked very hard today to make her needle book (pictured above, isn't is so cute?!), her pincushion and by the end of camp today, she was ready to make a lavender sachet on the sewing machine.

Then we worked on our batik squares.  They used paint with water mixed in to create a wash to color in their designs.  Again, it was so interesting to see what every student decided to do.

One student decided to do some splatter paint on hers.

And others followed suit - this gave such a cute added element to their fabric squares.

I put all the squares outside to dry more quickly and here they all are - such a creative group of kids!!

Then onto the most exciting part of camp so far for these kids - using the machines!  They couldn't wait!

First, I had them practice on precut squares of fabric to get used to the machines and figure out how to control both the speed of the machine and the direction of the fabrics.  In no time at all, they had mastered this part.

Almost all the students worked on the machines today - tomorrow the last two will be up and running.  I know they are chomping at the bit to get started.

Tracing the pattern for a lavender sachet.

Here are some of the finished sachets.  We didn't use lavender, we used rose and berry scented potpourri and they smell so nice!

Each sachet combined machine sewing with hand sewing.  The students had to keep a straight line sewing up the seams on this sachet as well as know how to turn corners.  After the sachet was sewn with a small opening left to turn and stuff, they needed to use their new found hand sewing skills to close the sachet and add a button for embellishment.  While this looks like a simple project, many different skills are needed.

This is a reversible headband that one of my students started.  She will definitely be able to finish this tomorrow and then will start something else.

These kids are totally amazing!!  I am so impressed by what they are able to do after just two days!!  See you all tomorrow!