Sewing her first Teddy Bear

We decided to dive into the world of sewing yesterday. This is a skill I admire in so many people (including my husband) but have never developed myself, though I have dreamed of it often. Jetta (age 5) has shown interest in it many times, but I felt like I didn't know enough about it to really show her since my sewing experience dropped off in middle school Home Ec. So when she asked me if we could make a teddy bear, I wasn't sure, but responded with a confidant "of course." I decided that, yes, I am sure that I can figure out some way to make a bear. So we headed off on a fabric hunt around the house.

We ended in the linen closet finding some old pillow cases we no longer use, then we found my little travel sewing kit that I had never opened, and finally we found some batting left over from another project from years ago. Yes, we were ready to make a bear.

Most importantly I wanted Jetta to feel like this was her bear that she created from start to finish, so I let her do everything for herself. To my surprise, she picked up the hand sewing really quickly, and learned that even if she made "mistakes" they were easily fixed or covered. "Hey, sewing isn't so scary after all." Her complete trust and calm confidence in the project was great to see. It allowed her to
learn a new skill and create something that she could be proud of and love. It was a great lesson for me to see that because I demonstrated to her that there was nothing to fear and that there was no right and wrong, she was able to be free to learn and explore. This was yet another moment as a Mother for me to erase some of the wrong thinking that I had imprinted on me during my childhood.


Here is her finished bear. She cut her pattern, sewed every stitch by herself and then finger knitted a necklace for him. She named him Help.