This is a guest post from Susan Mathis.
I have always been fascinated by sewing. My mother, grandmother, and aunt all sewed, spending hours in front of their sewing machines each year making clothes for my cousin and I, as well as themselves. I’m not sure when I got my first set of sewing cards, but I suspect it was in response to begging to be allowed to sew too. I was hooked right from the start. Then, when I was the sewing mom with my own little girl, I started making them for her too.
This is an easy craft that can be made with items you have around the house. It could even be made by an older sibling for a younger one.
Materials for a simple card for a young child:
- A well-washed foam meat tray
- Scissors
- A permanent marker
- Yarn
- Clear tape.
- Hole punch or very sharp nail
- Carefully trim the lip off the meat tray to produce a flat piece of foam. If the tray is large, you can cut it in half and make two trays.
- Draw a simple shape, like a triangle, square or circle on the foam. If the child already knows his shape you could draw a large, capitol letter from the alphabet. HINT: Make enough cards with individual letters to spell out her name.
- Using a hole punch or nail, punch holes about one inch apart around the edge of the shape or letter.
- Cut a length of yarn about as long as the child’s arm and wrap one end with a piece of clear tape (like a shoelace).
- Tape the other end of the yarn to the back of the tray near the first hole.
- Show the child how to put the thread in and out of the holes to outline the shape. If he runs out of yarn, simply tape the first piece down on back and add another piece as before.
- After the child has mastered going in and out around the cards with one color, he can go around again with another color, reversing the over and under process to create a more complicated result.
For a more elaborate picture, glue a coloring sheet to a piece of heavy card stock and then punch holes around the picture. Allow the child to use different colored yarn to outline. An even older child could use a blunt, plastic needle to hold the yarn instead of taping the end.
In addition to writing for The Coupon Cupboard, Susan Mathis loves all types of crafting. She now has more time for these pursuits because she is in her last year of homeschooling her three children. She lives with her husband and family in the suburbs of Washington D.C.