“Mama, I want to sew.” “Mama, I want to cook something.” “Mama, can you show me how to ‘broider again?” “Mama, we’re bored!”
Oh, those are words I really don’t like to hear! In this world with so much to learn and so many good things to do, boredom should never happen. They know that at the merest utter of those words I’ll start handing out chores, and I did. But it didn’t solve the problem at hand. My younger girls want to make something, but their knowledge didn’t match their desire for creativity.
So I descended down to the abyss (our basement that is in desperate want of organizing) and emerged victorious. I had not one, but two looms for them to work on. One had been purchased years ago for an older daughter who did not enjoy weaving at the time, the other found at a thrift store for so little I couldn’t turn it down, thinking perhaps I’d give weaving a try myself.
A quick sorting through a bag of fabric scraps the girls use when they want to sew something and we pulled out all the fabric that was large enough to cut into strips. It took all of 5 minutes to show them what very little I know, and they were on their way, working independently to weave something of their own design, choosing their own colors as they worked. (Though the color choices were limited by what was in the scrap bag.) I had thought to have some time to sew for myself when they tired of their new project, but they never did tire of it, and I spent much of the weekend cutting new strips in the next desired color for them both.
They spent most of the day weaving and it was the first thing they grabbed to work on the next morning. Emma has finished hers and it adds a bit of color and warmth to the bookcase in the living room. Sophie has only the hard bit at the top to finish, and I may end up helping her with that today. As soon as Emma’s weaving was off the loom she asked me to warp it again for her next project, and there she sits as I type, weaving along on her lap.
We’ll have a new dilemma soon, as the fabric scrap bag is nearing empty and I’ve seen the girls eyeing up my very own fabric stash. But we’ll use their newly learned skill as an excuse to buy more fabric! Good idea, yes?