Kindergarten Hand Print Quilt

Brag alert! I was organizing my room and came across a long-lost photo of a quilt I made with my son’s kinder class. (He just entered high school, to put a time reference on this.)

For this project, each kinder got their own white panel of cotton fabric, which was taped to a piece of cardboard. They had help in tracing their hand with a fabric marker and writing their name on it below. To add a bit more color, each student was allowed to spray their fabric with some push-pump fabric dye that I found at Jo-Ann’s.

When the fabric was dry, I washed and ironed each panel to set the colors. I worked out a sewing plan as I went along, coordinating a colored edge around each panel, creating rows and then a border around the entire quilt. A bit of the edge is missing from this photo as the corners each had a yellow square in the center of a dark green square.

I recall that machine-quilting the front to a cotton back was not easy on my home machine, but it worked out in the end. I loved the finished quilt, and believe that it sold for about $350 at our school’s silent auction. Not bad for ten years ago!

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Felt-Covered Journal

This project is good for smaller groups as it requires purchasing a few items, albeit inexpensive ones.

1. Gather or buy chip board and cut to a 6"x9" size, two for each student. Cut 9"x12" drawing paper in half to match the chip board. Place about 1/2" stack of drawing paper between the boards and take to Staples or the equivalent to have wire bound on one side. Have one book made for each student.

2. Cut oversized felt rectangles and pin together to make two sleeves for the book. Show the students how to make a whip stitch around the cardboard edges with colorful embroidery floss. When complete, pin and stitch the two sleeves together on the binding edge.

3. Using the felt scraps, show the students how to cut out decorative shapes and attach with fabric glue.

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Pipe Cleaner Dolls

This doll-making project can be a good introduction to hand sewing.

1. The head is made from a 1" diam. wood ball that has a center hole. Fold a large pipe cleaner in half and insert through ball so that loop sticks out of one end.
2. Gather a small bunch of doll hair and stick it through the loop so that it is centered on the head. Pull the pipe cleaner down so that the hair is pulled snugly to the ball.
3. Twist the pipe cleaner together so that it becomes the spine of the doll. Fold another pipe cleaner in half, twist to make it strong, and wrap it around the spine to make the arms. Fold one last pipe cleaner in half, twist, and wrap to the bottom of the spine to make the legs. Embroidery floss is wrapped around the legs and arms to secure the folds and add color.
4. Give students lots of felt, heavy sewing thread and a needle and let them design an outfit for their doll.
5. Permanent markers may be used to draw facial features.

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My new blog – Sewing Projects for Kids

I’m excited to announce the launch of Sewing Projects For Kids, my new blog dedicated to teaching sewing basics to kids and beginners of all ages with some very simple but creative projects. My first post is this colorful faux chenille bag. Just click on the bag to visit my blog.

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