Last summer I taught plush toy making for two afternoons at a summer camp.  It was tons of fun, the kids were great and we all had a good time.  I put together a little suggestion that this might be a fun club at my kids’ school and they took me up on it.  We’ve had two meetings so far and I am having the best time.  I’ve five members and as expected, it is about 90% socializing and 10% stitching. 

All of the girls (yes, all girls, but just because the boys who want to join have scheduling conflicts) know the basic stitches so it’s really about the projects that I bring them.  The first week we stitched simple chameleon key chains.  Last week, slightly more complicated tomatoes.  Next time we’ll be moving on to small animals and for Halloween they must bring in their own design and I’ll supply the materials.

I’ve also got the girls demonstrating other needlework skills that they have. This past week one of the girls bought us all crochet hooks, and taught us how to make a simple chain, and to turn around and come back on the chain.  It was so fun, she put together handouts, and brought us all lengths of yarn.  I think it gives them each a chance to shine and introduces the girls to other skills. Next week one of the girls is bringing in a dress that she designed and sewed herself at summer camp.  The camp was hosted by Made Sewing Studio in Seattle.  She said she’d bring us in fabrics so we can all try our hand at designing small outfits.  How cool is that?

Oh, and the first rule? No one talks about Plush Club.  oops.