Simple first sewing - making lavender bags

Harry loves sewing. He's come a long way from his first toddler sewing attempts. It was at Christmas when he made a felt Christmas decoration at school that I realised how competent he actually was when it came to wielding a needle and thread. Recently he's been obsessed with making lavender bags. I have a big bag of lavender that I collected from lavender bushes in our old house, and even though we moved from there over two years ago I still have plenty left which has kept the lovely scent.

I give Harry felt to sew with because it's sturdy enough for him to hold and yet still easy to push a needle through. I experimented with a blunt needle, but it didn't go through the felt very well so now I trust him with a normal needle and he's not injured himself yet. He can also be trusted with a pin to hold the two halves of felt together. For the sewing we use a thick cotton thread or a couple of strands of embroidery thread.

I let him choose a shape and a colour, then I cut out the two halves from the felt and he sews them together. Before sewing up the last inch or so he puts in a small amount of stuffing and a generous amount of lavender, then I help him to make sure that it is all sewn up firmly. I think he does pretty well with the sewing, sometimes he gets in a tangle and needs a bit of help, but mostly he manages pretty well, with some rather neat stitches.

I'm well aware that sewing isn't an activity that boys tend to do, but I'm hoping to continue it with him for at least a little longer. We were at his school the other night for parent's evening and there were some lovely examples of embroidery on the walls from the older children which gave me some ideas. I also have very fond memories of practising different stitches on that large scale Aida cross stitch fabric and I still have some of my attempts, so I might pull that out and see if I can get him to copy it!