(camera phone picture ... for some reason my phone only takes great pictures at Target ... hmm ...)

Last week my kids joined their 4H group for a day long sewing session. We packed up three sewing machines, an iron and board, lunch and snacks, all the kids, and off we went.

The five children (yes, five, as the oldest, resistant-to-sewing, son quickly realized he wasn't the only teenaged boy there and the rest of them were sewing) completed seven pillowcases and a dress, and had a wonderful time. They really got the hang of sewing! One of the families had pre-cut and pressed the fabrics, so the kids could just grab a bundle of fabric and trim and go from there ... making it super easy to dive right in.

River sat on my lap and helped guide his chosen fabric for his pillowcase. He was as proud as any child in the room for his hard work.

The other kids discovered the "joy" of the seam ripper. Kaden was very unhappy about that until I pointed out that he was using my seam ripper, which I have because I need it and use it very often. Once he realized the other kids were using seam rippers too he lightened up and moved forward.

The dresses will head to children in Africa, the pillowcases to local victims of domestic abuse. I'm not sure how many items were completed but there were about 20 kids sewing that day, ranging in age from 3 to 17. What amazed me as much as the independence and talent of all the kids was the fact that they had no problem giving up a whole day (which was a day off from school for some of them) to give to those in need.

If you'd like to make your own pillowcases to fill a need please check out the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge at APQ.

And, to wrap this post up with something completely irrelevant, here's River "on stage" playing guitar and singing They Might Be Giants songs: