Sewing with Children

Judith Baines

Working from found objects is always exciting.  Things can be represented in so many different ways.  A flower or feather can be portrayed in a simple running stitch outline or in appliqué, using various fabrics and threads, as shown in the pictures.  Pebbles, shells and mushrooms look good in 3D.  Cut a circle out of fabric, work running stitch round the edge with strong cotton and pull it up and you have a Suffolk Puff!  Suffolk puffs are invaluable and can be used in lots of different ways, according to what you choose to put inside them.  They can be made of plain fabric and painted or decorated with stitches.  They can be pulled over cardboard or pelmet Vilene shapes.  One child dyed some cotton and made a good representation of the ancient paving slabs in a church.  The bell was a great mathematical challenge, solved by using a compass to make graduated circles.  Only the largest circle at the bottom was pulled round a card disc; the others were just pulled up, secured and threaded on a thin cord.