Handicrafts with Children: Reversible Bunting

We've hosted birthday parties, engagements, baby showers, and other events at our place and a bit of decoration using fabric bunting has helped to pretty things up, especially out of doors. Below is a section of our verandah the girls decorated when we held my daughter's baby shower here last year.

Our second daughter, Zana, is getting married in September. It's an outdoor wedding and she asked her younger sister to make her some bunting to help decorate the venue. Zana chose a tone on tone white fabric & gave us 5 metres (about 5½ yards) of material which was sufficient for 150 double triangles with some fabric left over (about half a metre).
We used the bunting we had to make a diamond-shaped cardboard template.

Moozle traced around the diamond-shaped template and then cut the shapes out. The diamond fabric was then folded in half, wrong sides together, and ironed.

Width of triangle at the top when folded in half - 16 cm (6​ 1/4 in)

Sides - 22 cm (about 8½ in)

Each triangle was sewn with a 1.5cm (½ in) seam across the top - the seam allowance can be adjusted depending on the thickness of the cord you use:

Using a safety pin, cord was threaded through the seam allowance of each triangle

A small stitch sewn on each triangle can help to keep it in place but we left them unstitched so they can be moved apart or brought closer together. 

This is an ideal way to use up scraps of fabric, as you can see from the top photo where this was done. I like the scrappy look, but I think the white will look lovely in a garden setting for a wedding.

A Fortnight's Review

It's the 'official' school holidays here, not that we follow them, but we tend to end up changing our usual schedule because we don't have our regular weekly activities. Last week Moozle and I taught a group of ten children how to weave using a hula hoop as a loom in kid's holiday programme our church runs twice a year. Benj volunteered as one of the leaders and helped to run games & activities. At other times he's been rostered on First Aid as he has his Senior First Aid Certificate.

The ten children in our workshop were aged around 6 to 10 years of age; about equal numbers of boys and girls. None of them had ever done anything like this and had no idea what they were in for. One little boy wasn't impressed at first. The workshop he volunteered for was cancelled so he got put into ours. "I can't do this...this is boring!" Not a great start, but I kept telling him he'd actually enjoy it once he got the hang of it. The workshop was about an hour and a half long and Moozle & I had already put the warp on the looms (and spent a couple of days cutting up old t-shirts...) so we just had to teach them how to weave. About 10 minutes before the end of the class I told them we'd have to start looking at finishing the weaving and getting it off the looms. The kids didn't want to stop - including the reluctant boy! They kept saying, "Just one more colour..." so their weaving would be bigger. I took some photos once they got the hang of it and they were all thrilled with their finished work.

There are oodles of links on Pinterest and tutorials on youtube on how to weave on a hula hoop.
Update: a video link is here (they use a fancier sort of hula hoop in this one but we just had the normal cheap version) & here.
 

Our Reading

Benj:

The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis - I wrote about this book here.
He's also continuing with The Root of the Righteous by A.W. Tozer which I finished recently.

Moozle:  

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - this is a well-written mystery story that Moozle really enjoyed. A good puzzle with twists that keeps you guessing until the end. A Newbery Medal winner, 1979.

Me:

Stalin: Russia's Man of Steel by Albert Marrin. A good biography for ages 13 years and up. Some thoughts on it here.

A Decline in Prophets by Sulari Gentill - this is the second book in this murder series. I wrote about the first one here.
Set in Australia during the 1930's, this book picks up in pace from the first one, as I predicted, and launches almost immediately into the action. The very likeable main characters from the first book turn up again and find themselves caught up in a crime scene on board a cruise ship. Again, the author weaves crime and mystery with historical events and some notable people of the time and creates a very interesting and unusual story. A great way to learn about some not so well known parts of Australia's history.

Other bits & pieces:


I've been using Singapore Maths for a few years now with Moozle and while I think it's very good at showing the 'why' behind some of the maths, I don't think it's a thorough as some of the maths I've used with her older siblings. I was going through some books I'd packed away and found some unused "Key to..." workbooks so I started using them plus I'm going back to an A Beka text I used in the past as it covers things like clocks!! Most of the clocks at our place are digital and I was shocked recently when I realised that she had difficulty telling the time on a normal clock. She'll still do Singapore until we've finished the books I've already bought and then we may shift to Saxon for high school.

My husband and I have very different tastes in movies but we watched this together and both thought it was very good. Set at the time of the building of the Berlin Wall, it is based on real events and  raises some thoughtful questions regarding moral codes and law. See History vs Hollywood for more details.

Linking up at Weekly Wrap-up

Handicrafts Ideas for Children

Handicrafting is something that has aways given me great satisfaction. In the busyness of bringing up a large family, I always tried to have something I could put my hands to, if only for a few minutes at a time. So much of my day was taken up with doing work that left no visible evidence at the end of the it. Working on a creative project over a period of time produced something tangible and very satisfying.
The world our children are growing up in is the world of the instant, the quick fix. I made a list one time of everything I could think of that could be made instantly. It was significantly long but 'handicrafts' wasn't on it.
As with many other things, learning and aquiring certain skills is so much easier in childhood. When  my older children finished homeschooling and started studying and then working, they had less time for other things. Handicrafts were one of those things that seldom got a look in but I know the skills remain and that they will return to them later on. I used to weave but I haven't set up my loom since my eldest was born. But the knowledge is still there and I'll get back to it again. In the meantime I've developed other skills that are easier to just pick up and do as I have time - quilting and patchwork at present. I started a quilt for a daughter two years ago and I'm still working on it but I know it will be something she will treasure.
This article makes an interesting point on passive entertainment, virtual experience and the lack of true creativity: Handicraft: The Ancient Tradition of Creating Things with Your Hands

Don't despise the day of small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10)...how often have I said that to myself? 

Young children may not produce an heirloom but they are aquiring skills and honing their hands and can take pleasure & pride in their work.

Salt Dough & Origami have been all the rage at our place lately. We haven't had heirloom quality productions...yet...but I have always loved seeing my chidren busy with their hands, losing track of time and absorbed in what they are doing.

Moozle just had a birthday and she scored oodles of lovely paper and has been making dresses...
I thought these were really cute. They make pretty gift cards - with some double-sided tape on the back to hold them in place on various coloured background paper.

The dresses below were significantly larger & made with thicker paper to be strung together & used for bunting...

This video shows how they are done:





Salt Dough is a great handicraft for all ages and a good option if you have young boys. We were introduced to salt dough after I found a book when browsing in the craft section of the library & was really surprised at how creative it can be.

Later I found Dough Crafts by Isolde Kiskalt at a secondhand book sale which has been helpful to have on hand for ideas. Salt Dough is cheap to make - you can start with just salt & flour, some kitchen implements & away you go. We bake or air dry the dough & decorate with water colours (or just leave it plain) after it has dried & cooled. Then it may be varnished which helps longevity and protects the salt dough model against humidity.

Before & after with the model painted...

Snipping with scissors gave the echidna (modelled off a hedgehog) his spines. The snout isn't quite long enough for an echidna but I thought she did a good job with the scissors.

Coffee beans were suggested for the eyes but we didn't have any. Some kitchen utensils that are very useful are: a garlic press (good for making hair), a sieve, scissors, skewers (for patterns on the dough but also to test if the dough is baked properly).

Salt Dough Recipe

2 cups flour (plain, 'all purpose')
2 cups salt
1/2 cup water

Mix the ingredients together & knead thoroughly - an electric mixer or food processor will give the best results.
The dough dries out very quickly so cover it up when not in use.

Salt dough may be air dried but it takes a while, depending on the thickness of the model. The dough will take twice as long to dry in an electric oven compared to a gas oven (microwaving isn't suitable).
The dough will crack if it's dried too quickly.

The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.

When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.

 

 John Ruskin (1819-1900)

  
Update: July 2016 - this is Moozle's latest (ongoing) project using the abundance of leftover material I've used on different projects. It's fairly slow work but she's been doing it while I read aloud:




 

Learning by Hand

Learning by Hand is a monthly handicrafts link-up hosted by Amy at Crossing the Brandywine blog. 

I think the title of this link-up is a very appropriate one in the context of handicrafts in a Charlotte Mason education. Learning by hand extends beyond the more modern notion of crafts and broadens  the traditional concept we tend to think of when we hear the word handicrafts.

I think of manual arts - woodworking, metal working, iron work, tin work, carving, picture framing. Domestic skills such as cooking, making meals from scratch, managing a home, creative budgeting and thrifty techniques.

Interior decorating, home renovation, minor repairs and home handyman skills. It encompasses traditional skills such as knitting and sewing; weaving, spinning, crocheting and darning.

Scrapbooking, embroidery, cross-stitch.

In past generations rag rugs and patchwork quilts were made from old clothes and rags. One of my sons once asked me why I buy material, cut it up and then sew it together again. My Great Grandmother would have wondered the same thing. That would have been unthinkable in her day.

I may not have to resort to using old clothes to make a quilt and it may be cheaper to buy the article ready-made but for me there are other reasons why I would make a quilts.

...a Christian, above all people, should live artistically, aesthetically, and creatively.

Edith Schaeffer: The Hidden Art of Homemaking

I enjoy creating useful and beautiful things. I love handmade presents from friends who appreciate doing the same themselves.

I make meals every day and they get eaten. I clean the house and have to clean it again. I do the washing and ironing and a couple of days later it's all back in the washing machine again. I don't see much evidence of the vast majority of my daily endeavours and that's one of the reasons I love handiwork. Even though much of the creative output of my hands gets consumed, a permanent visual reminder, such as a framed cross stitch on the wall or a quilt on a bed, demonstrates an underlying continuity that is part of who I am.

Many of the handiwork skills I have were learnt as an adult but I am so grateful for those skills I did learn at home when I was a child. It's amazing how much can be built upon even a very basic foundation learnt in childhood. These skills of the hands are so important but they have been overlooked and dwarfed by the push to have knowledge.

Annie Kate posted some thoughts on skills as opposed to knowledge (in a different context) recently.

One day, one of the boys told me what a great week he'd had and then started to tell me some of the things he'd learned during that time. My husband had given him some jobs to do and he'd been shown how to use some different tools. It had given him great satisfaction.

Another day, I was out with the youngest two and two of the older boys were jack-hammering the tiles off the wall in the toilet. I got home a few hours later and saw a workman's ute, plus my husband's car next to the house and then I noticed a trail of water down our long driveway. One of the boys, who is always very gung-ho about everything, had accidently jack-hammered through a pipe in the toilet resulting in water gushing out everywhere - onto our newly laid wooden floor...down the driveway. His older brother acted quickly and turned off the water at the mains & they called Dad and he called the plumber, who had a good laugh when he heard the cause of the burst pipe.

All that to say that it will cost you something to teach your children skills. Hopefully you won't have a plumbing bill to pay, but there will be a cost in time, patience and discipline.
Sometimes I'd cringe when my children asked me to teach them something. I'd think, "mess" or "I just want to have some time to read my book" and not have the inevitable interruptions that go along with learning these skills but I don't regret spending the time I did on teaching skills.
I think it is important that our children see us learning by hand. I know that my children's interest in learning a skill has often been sparked because they've seen me pursuing my interests or helped their Dad fix something.

It’s many years since someone has taught me a skill—which is completely different from being taught knowledge—and I had forgotten what it is like to be at the receiving end of such teaching. - See more at: http://anniekateshomeschoolreviews.com/2015/03/six-lessons-about-teaching/#sthash.PjQjpN6O.dpuf

It’s many years since someone has taught me a skill—which is completely different from being taught knowledge—and I had forgotten what it is like to be at the receiving end of such teaching. - See more at: http://anniekateshomeschoolreviews.com/2015/03/six-lessons-about-teaching/#sthash.PjQjpN6O.dpuf

 ...for the Christian who us consciously in communication with the Creator, surely his home should reflect something if the artistry, the beauty and order of the One whom he is representing, and in whose image he has been made.

 Edith Schaeffer

Cross stitch, spinning and weaving; crochet, patchwork and quilting have been a way to express myself and show evidence of creativity in my life.

Relationship, reading, poetry and nature help fill my soul and always have, but a creative outlet where I use my hands to express myself completes the filling. I need this outlet just as much as I need the others and I try to always have something satisfying I can put my hands to.

Some things that I've done in the past have been too difficult for me to do with a large family or when there were lots of littles around.
I haven't used my table loom for years and this scarf was my last project:

I'd always wanted to try patchwork and quilting and this was my first actual quilt. I signed up for a block a month over twelve months. Each month the materials would arrive but I'd still be working on the first block. I just did it when I could and spread it out over a longer period of time.
A friend signed up at the same time and she was just as slow as me but we helped spur each other on. The good thing about this was that we were sent fabric we probably wouldn't have chosen ourselves and it helped us to think about different combinations of colour, especially when our two quilts turned out so differently. This was pretty basic and the instructions were for beginners like us:

Once I'd done this one I felt more confident to try other patterns:

JJ and Zana, my two eldest girls, learnt quickly and went beyond my ability. Their Aunty Deb was a great help and took them to classes in beading and scrapbooking, things that I didn't have the time or energy for. These were some projects they did between the ages of 12 and 16 years, following patterns either bought or from a craft magazine:

 

A little sewing bag Zana made for Mother's Day one year:

And this is my ongoing project. It's Zana's 21st birthday present but she's just turned 22. But I am making progress...
I'm linking this up at Work in Progress at Freshly Pieced. I hope to get the sashing between the blocks done in the next week - I'll be using the dark blue material.

Amy asked in this month's link up about how we organise our supplies etc.
I have to admit that I 'm not very organised in this department but the key for me in getting time to do something like patchwork (I do it mostly by hand) is to have pieces cut out as you can see above and ready to sew. I can take this anywhere and it's surprising how much I can get done in even 10 or 15 minutes. I do the fiddly measuring and cutting on a weekend afternoon when I'm likely to have less interruptions.