Sewing with Grandma = more flaxseed pillows.

This past month's "polar vortex" that forced dangerously cold arctic air into our region had many of us longing for warmer temperatures.  My abundance of flaxseed and lavender buds gave me the idea to offer the first joint-sewing class for a few of my grandchildren.  The invitation went out for a sleepover and sewing class for the three oldest girls.  


Lorelei was the last one to get out of bed, but the first one to finish her flaxseed pillow.   Before this joint class she had one-on-one sewing machine instruction.  I had her trace lines on felt without thread in the machine and then with thread so she could learn to control the machine speed and the material under the needle.  She practiced how to thread the machine and wind the bobbin.  Finally, she began work on a stitch bible -- a cloth booklet to highlight the variety of stitches on her Brother sewing machine.  

Back to the flaxseed pillows.  Each pillow has an inner bag made of muslin to hold the flaxseed and herbs.  The outer covering can be removed if you would need to wash it.

Lydia was first out of bed and second to complete her pillow.  She did well considering this was her first time to sew on a machine.  She needed a little tutorial on threading the machine and on how to guide the fabric under the needle.  It was a good thing that her mother was also here to help with the class.  We ran into a few problems with the donated machine and later discovered that it will need to go to the shop for repair.

I asked all three girls to pose with their pillows after they heated them in the microwave.  They were rightfully proud of their work and appreciative of the warmth.  

While my daughter made supper, I made two more pillows for gifts.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the beautiful material that I used for them before I gave them away.  Maybe next time I'll remember to take the photograph.

Six more weeks of winter and I predict more flaxseed pillows in the works.  They are wonderful for heat therapy during these long cold nights.

The girls followed a Crafty Critique tutorial with a few revisions.  We cut the two shorter main pieces slightly longer so we could have more overlap.  The first flaxseed pillows that I made had a mixture of lavender buds and cloves.  I didn't have enough cloves for these pillows so they have about 1/4 cup of lavender buds mixed with the flaxseed.