Teaching Children to Sew: Portfolios

As your child starts learning to sew, take the time to make these two Sewing Notebooks. Your child will be inspired and encouraged by them, and you will find one of them priceless!

Your Assignment:
1. Let your child choose 2 special 3 ring binders. Buy the kind with a clear pocket on the front.
2. Have them decorate 2 pieces of paper with the following labels
A. PortfolionB. Sewing Ideasnn*Let them decorate it any way they want - with crayons, paint, stickers, cutting out pictures, and gluing them on...
3. Place each paper in the outside pocket of the binders to create book covers.
4. Encourage and help to fill them up.

PORTFOLIO
This one is awesome! Do not miss out on this opportunity. It does take a little extra time but it is well worth it!

When my girls first started sewing, I was so amazed by the fact that they were only 3 and 6 that I wanted to document every creation they made. After they completed a project I would take a picture and we would write down the date, and if it was a special gift we would document this as well. When the girls used store bought patterns, we would make a copy of the pattern on the first page, and on the facing page is where we would place the picture and documentation.

The pictures would either be of just the project or (my favorite) the girls modeling their creations. If it was made for someone else, we would try to get a picture of that person opening their special gift.

What started as an act of amazement, turned into an incredible treasure.
First, the girls love having a book that is full of their own creations. A way they can show their friends and family all of the things that they have made.

Second, it has become a way for the girls to see the improvement in their sewing skills as they thumb through the pages from beginning to end.

Third, it is full of precious memories of friends' and family's birthdays, holidays, and special surprises.

Fourth, our 11 yr. old is now using it as a true portfolio (a business tool) to show what she is capable of making as for potential customers.

The portfolio can be as simple or as fancy as you and your child want. The possibilities are unlimited. Make sure you let your child decide what they want it to look like (it will change over the years).

We simply glue pictures on a piece of paper, or we use our digital camera and print our page out on the computer. To include the patterns we scan or copy them.

To see sample pages go to http://www.sewingwithkids.com/portfolio.htm

SEWING IDEAS
This one is simple. Make sure you do this too. Whenever your kids see something that they like, and can be sewn, take a picture, draw it, or clip it and place it in the notebook.

We enjoy looking through magazines - all types - to get ideas for gifts and for ourselves. These notebooks are full of all kinds of projects, from pillows to clothes (for us and our dogs) to games.

As this notebook grows, you can also use dividers to organize the projects. I have a "Quick" divider. This is full of projects that we can make in a day. I use this for spur of the moment sewing days, or bad weather days.

My oldest daughter actually keeps a completely separate binder with pictures of garments that she wants to sew.

Again, do not miss out on these notebooks. The portfolio is truly priceless!

Enjoy your time with your kids, and don't forget to give them an extra hug!