The 4 year old can operate my sewing machine.

I am like a proud mother hen. Do you know what this is?

It's the first bit of sewing Elliot's ever done completely on his own. He doesn't nap anymore in the afternoon so after his quiet time is over he wanders upstairs and (go figure) I'm almost always in the sewing room. Often I keep him busy while Clementine finishes her nap with games on the tablet or coloring or cutting or we play a (real) game. The other day he told me he wants to "sew something." I gave him this scrap of fabric and put the pedal on a box so he could reach it with his foot and this was the result.He did it all himself. There isn't a bit of this that I helped him with. Here's a little video so you can see for yourself:If the embedded video isn't working, click here: http://vimeo.com/30909143I have to admit that as a mother of two young children, I usually feel a bit envious when other bloggers show off crafts they do with their kids. The craftiest I ever get with my kids is painting or play-dough. Wait, I think last winter we dyed noodles. Somehow though the creativity I feel when it comes to my own sewing never seems to translate into crafty activities with my children. So let me walk you through our process so you can see if this is something you think you might do with your own children. And if you've had success sewing with your little ones, please share!It started with him sitting in my lap while I sewed, probably as early as two years ago. He has always been fascinated by the needle going up and down and after I put the proper amount of fear in him regarding the needle, he would watch and we'd talk about what the machine was doing. The next step was me I guiding scraps of fabric under the needle while he pushed the pedal with his foot. This always elicited much giggling and excitement as he learned what happened when he pushed the pedal down really hard or not so much. We made a simple two-layer blanket together a couple weeks ago, and I let him lift and lower the presser foot. I let him cut the thread with the little thread cutter or a kiddy scissors. And then last week he made this, all by himself.

I'm a bit frustrated at the prospect of trying to buy him his own machine. If this interest continues there's going to be a wait at the sewing machine unless I can find him one that he can have all to himself. How annoyed am I though that the only truly functional "kid" sewing machine (i.e. one that is not a toy) that is on the market right now is the Hello Kitty one? When I showed a picture of it online to Elliot he thought it was really cool, but it irks me enough on principle that the Hello Kitty and flowers are meant to be girly that I really can't get behind it. Sewing in and of itself is not girly. So why can't we make simple beginner machines for girls and boys? We have plenty of stickers here if bling really is the issue. There's also the issue of getting a machine that can handle a little abuse. Most beginner machines aren't built very well; I don't want him to get frustrated if the thread starts jamming up all the time. Ironically he's probably better off just using my Bernina.

Anyway, now that he can pretty much sew a line, I think he could sew something more practical and fun. He gets a little bored with the cutting out part of sewing, so it think it will have to be something small and simple. Any ideas?