Lacing the Letter "Z"

Good Morning and Happy Monday!

Eli likes to watch me sew and always wants to try himself.  Once I let him push the pedal of my sewing machine and then quickly vowed to let some time pass before we tried that again.  I have also let him pull needles through fabric, but it is just a matter of time before blood is drawn, his or mine.  We needed something safer.  Introduce what we affectionatly call...KID NEEDLES.  I purchsed these kid needles at Joann's by the pony beads.  They are big, plastic, and have a blunt end.  Perfect.

I had been holding on to this piece of stryfoam long after the watermelon that came on it was gone.  I poked holes in the shape of a Z, threaded a kid needle with yarn, and taped the end to the back of the styrofoam.

Eli then threaded the yarn through the holes.  He said he was "sewing" and loved it!

Once you reach the end, go backwards to make a complete line instead of one with spaces between the stitches.  We went back and forth over our Z a few times.

Done!

I am partial to the letter Z, as I have been called Sarah Z for more than half of my life.  To that end, we displayed Eli's sewing project on the mantle.  A few days later I found it broken into pieces behind a chair.  Styrofoam does make a very cool sound when cracked in half.

This could be done with all letters, shapes, or designs on cardboard, an old filing folder, a cereal box, etc.  Probably looking into your recycling bin would yield something on which to sew.  Eli really liked this and it took me a two minutes to do the prep work.  Really easy clean-up too!  It was fascinating to watch Eli work on this.  He really had to concentrate on his hand-eye coordination.  We were working those fine motor skills!

Here are a couple printable lacing cards I have seen out in Internet-Land.  Enjoy!

Printable Sewing Cards at Mini-eco

Shamrock and Rainbow Lace Ups at Chalk in My Pocket