I feel fortunate to live my adult life in a time when sewing is cool again.  When I was growing up in NY back in the era of parachute pants and Michael Jackson, no one I knew sewed anything, except for my grandmother.  However, it was not passed on to me.   Living my adult life during a sewing, knitting, and crochet revolution means my kids are going to grow up knowing how to do these things.  They will know how to do these things simply because I’ve learned how to do these things, and I’m determined to pass on this beautiful knowledge to them.   It is one of my gifts to them.

You might have the same desire, but how?   How do we pass on the gift of sewing without getting frustrated and spending hours trying to put something together for our kids to sew?   I introduced sewing to my girls at a very early age, but to be honest we haven’t had a really good variety of sewing projects.  Basically, they have sewn dozens of felt pillows by hand and more recently on the machine.  There is nothing easier for kids to sew than a rectangular felt pillow.  If you are looking for a quick and free way to teach your kids to sew, this is a great option.  However there comes a time when kids graduate from felt pillow making and want to make something a little more challenging.  My ten year old daughter is at this point right now.  So needless to say, when I received an invitation to join the Blue Fig Sewing Challenge by Kristin Link from Sew Mama Sew, you better believe I jumped on it!

I am one of the six Blue Fig University Learn to Sew Challengers.  Here is a list of the other Challengers who are blogging about the Blue Fig Kits they made with their kids:

LiEr of ikatbag
Alicia Brown of Felt With Love Designs
Kristy Garceau of Simply This Life
Rae Ann Kelly
Vanessa Lynch of Punkin Patterns

As of right now, Blue Fig has about nine different sewing kits for kids. 

My daughter could choose which kit she wanted, without much hesitation she chose the Lil’ Ruck BackPack.  When the package arrived, my daughter couldn’t wait to open it!

It came with a very easy to understand step by step instruction book with lots of pictures.    We looked it over carefully and made a plan.

The bag is made of felt, not just a cheap synthetic felt either, this is a very dense high quality felt.  I was impressed.  Being that it’s a felt bag, it was nice not having to worry about a lining, fraying fabric, or dealing with a right and a wrong side.   In order to keep things straight, we labeled each piece as you can see in the picture below.

When it was finally time to start sewing, my daughter was down right giddy, can you tell?

She took this project very seriously.  She wanted turn out really nice.

There were moments of doubt and uncertainty.

And moments of rejoicing over making her first zipper.   I felt privileged to share this victory with her.

Then came the silliness!  Check out the quick little zipper song she sang on Instagram @livingdiystyle.

In about an hour and 1/2 or so she finished the bag.  To celebrate her success, we went for a hike at a near by canyon here in AZ.  Here she is proudly wearing her new Lil’ Ruck Backpack like a gold trophy.

I’d like to think, as she looks out at this beautiful landscape she is being inspired to create something amazing, whether it being sewing, painting, sculpting or whatever else her hands decide to make.   I think this young girl has a bright future of creativity and joy ahead of her thanks to little projects like this.

Thank you Blue Fig and Sew Mama Sew for creating this fun and confidence building experience for her!

   I would highly recommend Blue Fig Sewing Kits for kids to anyone!