Sophie and her Birthday Gift

A couple months before her 9th birthday in June my granddaughter made a nice wish list and placed it on my fridge, just in case I needed some ideas. At the top of the list was American Girl doll clothes. I am aware of how expensive those are, so I let her know that I would probably (definitely!) not be getting those.

But then I thought, "Hey, she could learn to make some!" So for her special day I gave her a pattern and a coupon to go get fabric and have sewing lessons and make clothes for her doll.

Well, she chose great types of fabric for the projects and she cut the first outfit out: a sundress. I had her do every step herself, from pinning to cutting to gathering to making (and picking out mistaken) seams and even hemming. Plus she did handwork, including putting in a snap and sewing down the facing. It turned out pretty cute!

A few weeks later she mentioned casually that her mom had had her enter it in our county fair--I was surprised! "I'm not sure how well it will do, Sophie. They are very strict in their judging."

When I got to the hall to do some of my own pre-fair work I sneaked over to check out how her little dress did and was overwhelmed with happiness when I saw her very first ribbon: blue! A friend said that it was great feedback on her meticulous work and a wonderful way of motivating her to keep doing high quality needlework in the future.  I can't help but agree.