Our Passport to Imagination at Michaels, part II

Yesterday I took my 9-year-old daughter to the Passport to Imagination class at Michaels. The Passport to Imagination is a 7-week series of craft classes for kids, with each week focusing on a different continent for inspiration for their crafts.

We had so much fun!!!

This week the crafts are inspired by South America. The in-class craft was a paper lizard.

The official project sheet had simple legs made of paper, but since we were a small group, the teacher improvised pipe cleaner legs instead. They took a little more work to make, but the kids were proud that their lizards could stand up on their own.

We also got to do the swap craft, which happened to be a soccer goal made of chenille stems. Liv’s favorite sport is soccer so she was pleased as punch!

It turns out that it’s the right scale for her American Girl dolls, and she already has soccer outfits and balls. Now they’ve got a goal to stage their doll games.

Liv found a friend in the little girl next to her at the table. They shared ideas and talked about their favorite toys (dolls, of course!) and made plans to meet up again for Friday’s class. At just $2, I’m happy to take her. It’s an inexpensive activity outside the four walls of our house that engages her mind. Friday, they’ll be making yarn art pictures for the in-class craft. The take-home project is a painted terra cotta pot. I have a feeling we’ll be getting the supplies so we can do that project this weekend.

It doesn’t matter whether you sew by hand or by machine, you need a pincushion. You need a spot to parks pins and needles and keep them within easy reach for when you need them again. There are a lot of styles of pincushion to choose from. Some magnetic, some fabric. Some cute, some purely functional. This “little bit extra” pincushion has a spot to store all the different types of pins and needles you might need while sewing. Polka Dot Chair has a free sewing pattern you can use to make one for yourself.

This handy little pincushion has a circular shape and is divided into sections to store different types of pins. The bottom section is for your regular straight pins. Just poke them in and they’re ready for when you need them. The top has one section with a felt flap perfect for holding your sewing needles. I don’t know about you but I don’t like mixing my hand sewing needles in with my pins on a pincushion. It makes it hard to find the needle when I want it. So having a separate section for the needles is a great idea.

This “little bit extra” pincushion also has a spot to hold a few fabric clips. Fabric clips have become popular alternatives to a traditional straight pin. They hold fabric pieces together without piercing the fabric, which is important when sewing leather, vinyl, or other materials that will show permanent holes from pins.

You can sew the “little bit extra” pincushion from large fabric scraps or small fabric cuts (fat eighth). You probably already have all the supplies you need to sew one in your sewing supplies already.

Get the free pattern for this “little bit extra” pincushion over at Polka Dot Chair.

[photo credit: Polka Dot Chair]

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