It's all about pacing yourself.

I have mentioned before that,

in spite of being a mum and being crafty

and hoping that my kids will enjoy creating things too,

I just don't want to be the one to teach them.

I am not patient by nature.

I am a bit of a perfectionist, a "colour within the lines" sort of girl.

Teaching others does not come naturally.
I make things complicated.

But I like to feel like I give it a go
...every now and then (=rarely)

I have a small, slow sewing machine for just the occasion.
I have a book titled "The Best of Sewing Machine Fun for kids"
I dream of Walton-type moments
with comfortable laughter, huge productivity and warm fuzzy moments all round
as we use sharp instruments and machines that could electrocute or maim
or at the least puncture a fingernail.



So near the end of last year I bought some softie panels.

I thought "Take a deep breath, Tas, and jump in.
This could be a school holiday activity with the kids,
teaching them some of the very basics of sewing.
Go on.
You know you want to...

(...uncomfortably long silence...)

OK, then, well let's say you know that you should..."

It is now the last week of the school holidays.
I can't put it off any longer.
So yesterday was THE day.



We did the cutting and the pinning,
with only one minor cutting injury.
No-one even called for a Disney Princess bandaid
so I consider it a success.

I sat my hands, bit my tongue and counted to ten...over and over.

But time disappeared along with my patience
and I decided that lesson 2,
actually sewing with a machine,
should be designated to a second session.



However, today is my birthday
and the Official Handbook of Birthday Rules (239th edition) clearly states
(where I wrote in the back cover)
that I don't have to craft with kids on my birthday.

So tomorrow we will get back to it.
Unless I can find another reason.