Random Hand-made Things

While the 8-year old hasn't really cared much for the run-of-the-mill pom-pom and paper plate kind of crafts so far, she still cares to create and craft with her own hands as and when inspiration hits.

Of late, inspiration hasn't hit much in the traditional way... or rather, it probably hits at all the wrong times when she'd much rather be riding her bike or reading a book... plus she is a lazy crafter, like her Mama. Stars have to align and universes brought to order before all the teeming ideas in the head ever materialize into a tangible outcome.

Though not much for drawing or painting these days except a rare doodle or two, every once in a while there is something that she puts under my nose with a, "Here, Mama, for you." I can't bring myself to toss these into the recycling pile. Like this picture of her zapatos, for instance.

She seems to love paper crafts of all kinds. At least for now. That can change anytime. She still loves Origami-- the sole paper-crane-maker at home. Stamping and card-making is a favorite activity as well-- especially after binge-watching youtube videos of 25 Days of Christmas Cards. We have a ton of cards we don't quite know who to send to as they are all one-of-a-kind sort-of-experimental ones... maybe we have to set up her own Etsy store or something.

And fabric crafts is another favorite. Making her trademark purses for her friends' birthdays has become a must these days. From choosing the wool felt for the purse and matching yarn for the strap to the decorative beads to sew the purse together she puts in some thought and heart into making them.

Making footwear--She found two good scraps of wood, traced her foot shape on each, and got Papa to cut it for her and staple the fabric on to make a pair of unique wooden footwear. Not terribly comfortable to take a leisurely stroll in, but more for a clunky meditative ambling...

Designing clothes-- of course, the Fashion Design Sketch Portfolio Kit that her aunt gave last year was a great hit with the kiddo even if Mama was squirming and frowning at the models. The (Fashion Angels™) Kit comes with stencils for clothes and accessories, plus a sketchbook full of outrageously unrealistic models to draw on.

Of course, the stencils can be quite limiting, and perhaps best used as a guideline for lines and flow and fall of fabrics when designing...

But, she had a lot of fun adding her own whimsical touches to it, completely oblivious to the disproportionate figures.

My favorite is this design she calls "Fancy Blues"-- love the little details of the accessories in the hair, the blue around the eyes, and the fact that since no single stencil has that exact long dress she improvised by shifting the short skirt stencil down a little each time to add the frilly layers at the bottom of the dress... plus the little pattern on the fabric to indicate fish-scale-like shimmer... Wish I could sew her designs!

And, it is interesting that she chose strong pencil lines for the face coloring and freckles. As she clarified, the yellow hair is a wig.

Sewing: for now, she is just getting her feet wet on my sewing machine. Pillowcases are a breeze of course. So, for practise, being the ever-tough instructor that I am, I gave her a piece of fabric with "Og" written with a marker and asked her to sew on the marked lines. She did it fine enough for her first attempt, turning the fabric as she went, stopping and adjusting as needed. It just takes practise...

And then we had to step it up a bit: she designed a skirt for Enid and sewed it using the machine for the most part, except for the waistband which, being so small, can get tricky, and therefore best done by hand.