A Very Merry Homemade Christmas:Sew With Me

As soon as Amelia was big enough to talk, if I was sitting at my sewing machine I would hear, "I sew with you?"

Much like anything else I do, she wanted to be a part of it. Not willing to risk little fingers getting poked or pinched I would hand her scraps of fabric to occupy her. As she's getting older she's not as easily entertained by mere fabric. She watches closely as I work on projects and mimics what I'm doing. When I saw her get a baby spoon out of the drawer to use as her needle I knew I needed to come up with something better for her.

This project was inspired by something I remember doing in grade school, sewing with laminated paper and yarn. I wanted something sturdier than paper so I opted for a piece of hardwood. Together with some yarn and yarn needles Amelia now has her own 'sewing kit.'

For this project you will need:
Saw
Drill
Sandpaper
Paint
Small detail paint brush
Spray laquer
Krazy glue
5 1/2" x 36" piece of hard wood
4 Wooden spools 1 3/16" x 5/16"
4 yarn pieces cut to 50"
4 Yarn needles
Optional: cute painted box with fabric modge podged into the top

Start by cutting the wood into four equal parts and sand the raw edgeds until smooth. Next draw your design onto a piece of paper and mark where your holes will be (I spaced mine 1" apart). Each piece of wood will need its own template.I did simple shapes for these using Micrsoft word.
Tape one template to a piece wood and using a drill with a size   drill bit, drill holes through paper and completely through the wood. Remove paper and sand any rough areas that may be around holes. Repeat with remaining pieces.
Using acrylic paint and a small paint brush number the holes as if it were a dot-to-dot puzzle, lable the shape and allow to dry completely.
Once dry, spray with a coat of laquer and allow to set the reccomended amount of time.
Next take a spool and use krazy glue to glue one end of one piece of yarn to the spool. Hold in place until set and allow to dry completely. On the other end of the yarn lace one yarn needle on, leaving a 1" tail. Using the glue again glue the tail back to the yarn, securing the needle onto the yarn. Once the gule is completely dry, wind the yarn around the spool and secure into place by tucking the needle into the yarn. Repeat with remianing spools.