September 2004

Dear Friends,

My Future Christian Homemaker’s group is about to begin again. Since this month is still quite hot in Florida, we will do a microwave recipe. I don’t mean popcorn! There is so much more you can do with the microwave and few people use it to full potential. We’ll be cooking boneless chicken breasts in the microwave and then making the hot chicken salad recipe found in The Future Christian Homemakers’ Handbook. When we’re done cleaning up, we’ll make Micowave S’Mores, also in the handbook.

I encourage you to dig out the manual that comes with most microwave ovens and try some of the recipes. Or, try the ones in the FCH Handbook, or get some microwave cookbooks at the library. I especially enjoy cooking my vegetables in the microwave. With just a few tablespoons of water and a short cooking time, the veggies keep their color and vitamins.

Many mothers ask how to start their daughters with sewing. I don’t usually start girls at the sewing machine until they are about 8 years old. There are always exceptions, and you will know best when your daughter is ready to handle the machine. Girls must be seated so their foot rests comfortably on the floor and so that they can still see the fabric in the machine. Too often I see girls press the foot pedal by “jabbing” it with their toe as they struggle to reach the pedal. I have found that seating shorter girls at a card table helps lower the height of the machine and make it more comfortable for them to sew. You might even want to try a child-sized card table.

Once you have worked out comfortable seating, your daughter is ready to learn to control the foot pedal. Remove any thread from the machine. Without any fabric or thread, let your daughter try pressing the pedal with her foot until she can maintain a moderate, steady pace for the needle. Then take a piece of lined notebook paper and, still without thread, have her sew on the line all the way across the page. This will take some practice! Encourage her to go slowly; girls love to press the pedal to the floor! Have her look at the line she has sewn. She will be able to see the holes she created and try again.

When she can sew on a straight line, draw some curved lines and circles on a piece of paper and have her sew over those. Then try zig-zags and squares, leaving the needle in the paper at each corner and pivoting the paper before sewing the next part of the line. When she is confident sewing forward, try backstitching for a short distance on the same line. She will need all of these skills to sew successfully on fabric, but it is much easier to learn on paper, without thread.

Get out your sewing machine manual and help your daughter learn the names of the important parts of her machine: the presser foot, feed dog, flywheel, etc. Learn where the stitch length adjustment knob is and the tension knob. Then learn how to thread the machine. Much of the time when a sewing machine jams, it is because of a mistake in threading.

For a simple first sewing project, take a small rectangle of scrap fabric. Fold it in half and have your daughter sew all the way around it, leaving a 2” – 3” opening. Be sure to backstitch at the beginning and end so the stitches don’t come loose. Fill the square with poly fiberfill, then sew the opening closed by hand. This can make a pin cushion or a little pillow for her doll.

Want more help with beginning sewing? I highly recommend “Stitches and Pins” written by Christian homeschool mom, Joann Gagnon. The book has easy-to-follow directions and illustrations and teaches everything you need to know about the sewing machine, fabric types, sewing notions, patterns and much more. There are 14 projects in the book that begin with a simple pillowcase and move gradually to basic garments. She also has a sewing book for boys, “Buckles and Bobbins” and a new intermediate sewing book; more about that next month. You can order the books and learn more about them on her website, www.bunkhousesewing.com or call 1-800-337-8845.

Next month I’ll give some tips on beginning hand sewing, even with younger girls. And I’ll review Joann Gagnon’s newest book for intermediate sewing projects. I just got it and it’s one terrific book!

Until next time ~

Yours in Him,

 

Copyright, 2005, Laurie Latour.  www.FutureChristianHomemakers.com

You may make one printed copy for your own personal, private use.  FCH leaders may make one printed copy for each person in their group.  Copyright line above must be included in all copies.  Permission for any other use must be requested in writing. 
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