My apprentice

I loved reading Beverly Cleary books when I was young, and my 5-year-old really likes having them to read to him now. We’ve gone through all the Henry Huggins books, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and the Ramona Quimby series multiple times. After listening to a chapter in “Ramona and her Mother” that featured Romona using her mom’s sewing machine for the first time, Parker very sweetly asked if he could try mine if he was really careful. Of course, his first plan was to make some pants for one of his stuffed animals, despite the fact that in the book, Ramona is crushed when the “slacks” she tries to make for her stuffed elephant turn out awful, and she ends up storming off and squeezing out an entire tube of toothpaste in the sink. (“Slacks” always makes me think of my grandmother, who also says “dungarees.”)

So I gently suggested an easier project, and we settled on a pillow for our cat and a little stuffed cat for Parker made out of two of his old t-shirts. I set my sewing machine on the slowest speed and had him stand up so he could press the pedal and guide the fabric. He did a great job on the pillow!

I did most of the work on the kitty, which is a variation on the Mooshy Belly Bunny by Holly at Chez Beeper Bebe. I was pushing for a bunny, but Parker looked at the picture and said “That’s too CUTE!” Emphasis on CUTE, with a bit of a disdainful tone rather than the way I would say it, “That’s TOO cute!”