DIY: Cape for an American Girl Doll {Kid made and designed!}

Its official, my crazy craftiness has spread like wildfire to my little one....and I couldn't be more thrilled. :)

This week I was working hard on finishing up Victoria's new Easter shirt, I will share that soon, the pattern is adorable and matches one of the AG doll dresses I made for her.  While I was doing that and when she was not crocheting birds she went ahead and made a cape for her American Girl doll all by herself.  That's right, kid designed and made 100% kid made!

I kept asking her what she was doing and her response at first was,
     "Its a surprise!!" Then the little kid in me just had to know what she was doing so I may have asked a few...okay more than a few more times. ;)
Then she told me,
     " A cape for my doll, l'm busy working here!" Her response def made me giggle. :)  I left her alone to work on her design and project taking quick little peaks..... when she was not looking of course!

 Here is Victoria with her finished cape for her doll Kit.  For an all by herself project at 8, she did a really good job and I am so proud of her.

She measured how wide the shoulders were on the doll.  Then she remember to add a little extra for the seams....I couldn't believe she remember that from when we sewed her skirts.  I swear kids are like little sponges and suck in everything around them!

She then folded her sides over about 1/2 an inch and sewed them down so that the cape would have a nice clean finished edge.

Then she sewed a button on the top corner and then cut a button hole on the opposite side so it lined up with the button that she sewed on.

After trimming all of her stray threads from sewing she tried it on her doll and came running to me with sheer joy all over her face to show me that it fit and to show off her awesome finished piece.

She is thinking about sewing some lace or other embellishment along the bottom edge to make it more fancy.

 How it looks from the front view.  Like the hats? In a few days time they will be for sale in my etsy store, stay tuned! :)

Showing off her finished cape. :)

She was so very proud of this piece, and I loved watching her dream up how to do it and then create it, even though she thought I was not peaking. ;)  

Updated photo, now both her dolls have matching capes, too cute! :)

There's something truly special about watching your child create things all on their own, its like a little glimpse into the inner workings of their mind.  I love that she loves and finds joy in crafting toys, things for her room, and other fun objects for herself and others.  I hope its a trait that stays with her as she gets older. :)

Off to finish up one of her Easter presents, my first ever Amigurumi project.  I am working on a mini owl for my daughter because her love for owls keeps growing and growing. Can't wait to share it with you this week! :)

I'm linking this post to Petite Hermine's Sunday Linky Party and to Frontier Dreams: Keep Calm Craft On

Sewing School! Sewing with a little one :)

My 8 year old has been very keen on learning to sew....I think its all the sewing I do at home.  She has def. been bitten by the sewing bug! :)  I searched all over the net trying to find the perfect learn to sew book for her.  I wanted something fun, simple, and very kid user friendly.  Low and behold I found the most awesome book ever!!

http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-School-Projects-Kids-Will/dp/1603425780/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319517351&sr=8-1

This book is amazing for teaching a young child to sew.  The directions and pictures are so clear and easy to understand.  So easy that she is able to do most of the projects all by herself.  There are patterns in the back of the book for the child to cut out and use over and over again and each project has step by step directions.

This past weekend my daughter had a sewing party ....it was so adorable to watch!

Here is a recap of her sewing goodies from projects out of the book:

Meet Flopsina.  I made her all by myself.  Cool huh :)

I love my new buddy!!

I can dress her up so we match too!!

Toy for my vexing  cute kitty!

"Mom, what is this for?"  She totally didn't understand why you would want to cover your eyes while you were sleeping. lol

Pin cushions for me and one for mommy too!!

So there you have it, a look into my daughter's sewing party this past weekend along with her thoughts on each picture.  I thought since she did all the work she should get to pick the cute captions to go with it. :)  If you have a little one who wants to learn to sew I highly recommend this book, its really awesome and so easy to use. :)