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.

I’m always tempted by the pretty velvets at the fabric store. So much texture! And the way the fibers catch the light! But sewing on velvet is trickier than you’d think. That nap that lends beautiful texture also likes to slip and crawl. That nap can also spell disaster if you cut a piece the wrong direction. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use buy that velvet and sew it into something gorgeous, you just need to go into your velvet sewing project prepared. And Melissa at Melly Sews has a post that takes you step by step through sewing on velvet.

Velvet is such a luscious fabric, especially for winter sewing projects. Of course there are velvet Christmas sewing projects – stockings, tree skirts, santa hats – but velvet is beautiful for all winter. Think of all the gorgeous velvet dresses, evening bags, hair accessories, even pillows and other home décor that you see all winter long.

Melly Sews’ post gives you the tips and tricks you need to know in order for your velvet sewing project to end up a success. There are types of projects better suited for velvets, and kinds of projects to avoid. She describes the different types of velvet available. And she also tells the best way to lay out and cut your pattern pieces from velvet fabric. Her tutorial also covers marking, pressing, and of course sewing that beautiful fabric. There’s also a video included in case that’s your preferred method for learning.

Head over to Melly Sews to learn how to sew on velvet fabric.

And if you want to learn more about that lovely blue velvet dress shown, she has a post that tells more about it including 2 ways to style it depending on if you want to be more dressy or more casual.

[photo credit: Melly Sews]

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