Valentine's Day!

Last week, while Lydia worked on her class Valentines, Bekah started a new sewing project.

Middle schoolers are too cool to hand out Valentines to their friends.  So Bekah decided to just make some fun pillows for her best friends.

I helped out with the template, and then Bekah set to work.

Our final result: 

Two cute heart-shaped pillows for Stephanie and Lauren.

Matching Dresses

Like I said in a previous post, Bekah sewed up a storm while she was at Grandma's house.  She made a pillow for a friend's birthday, one for her sister, one for David, and a round one for herself.  And she and Grandma worked on matching dresses for Lydia and one of her dolls.

The doll one was the most difficult, since it was small.  So Bekah assisted Grandma in making that one.

But the one for Lydia wasn't as intricate, so she did almost the entire thing by herself, with some guidance, of course.

She ended up making a simple sundress with a shawl. 

The dress and shawl matched the one they made for Lydia's doll earlier in the week.

Bekah was so proud of her creation (as she should be!!)

And Lydia was beyond thrilled and surpised when she got home to find this beautiful dress, hand-made just for her!

Neve's Birthday Present

Neve's birthday was Saturday.  The girls celebrated at Sweet Cece's with her on Friday, but they really wanted to get her a present this weekend.  Neve loves loves loves cupcakes and candy - specifically - jewelry with cupcakes and candy on them.  So Saturday, we went in search of said jewelry.  Instead, while shopping for fabric for Bekah, we found this cupcake fabric the girls thought Neve would love.

I told Bekah she should make Neve a pillow.  She didn't think she could do it.  I knew that she could.  I bought the fabric and some stuffing, and off we went.  Bekah asked if I was as nervous as she was.  Nope, I wasn't.  I knew she could do this!

She measured and cut the fabric.  Just look how professional she looks with that tape measure draped around her neck!! 

Then she sewed the sides and turned the pillow inside out.  I think stuffing the pillow was one of Bekah's favorite parts! 

Her finished project turned out fabulous!!  She was so excited, she squealed, "I am AWESOME at this!" and announced, "From now on, I'm making pillows for everyone's birthdays!" 

Well, we couldn't wait to give Neve her presents!  We just had to take them over to her house!

Neve loved her pillow!  In fact, her mom said that she had just asked to be called by the name "Cupcake" instead of "Neve" from now on.  LOL!

Since Lydia was not in on the sewing (she was at a playdate) she bought Neve a beautiful silver bracelet.

Happy birthday to Neve!

Learning to Sew

The girls stayed with the Pughs last week while David was in Ireland.  So on one of the days they were over there, we took Bekah's sewing machine over so Lena could give her a lesson in how to use her machine.

That night, she couldn't wait to set it all back up again to show me what she had learned.  She placed the thread in all the right places and then set to work.

We used bandana scraps from her party to practice on.  Bekah showed me two of the stitches her machine can make.

And here are some of the stitches she practiced while with Lena. 

She learned it all so quickly!  It was quite impressive.  Now she's anxious to go to the store for fabric and thread.  I can't wait to see what she makes!