The pleasure of a new generation

Summer holidays are there: it's time to craft. I love it when my nine year old picks up knitting or sewing sometimes. At her age I was already a textile fan, but she seems more of a paper girl.

From 'Het grote zelfmaakboek voor meisjes' she chose to make the wrist cuff. She loves it because it's cool, but also knows exactly how to make it her own way.

It's great to see how she chooses the materials, how she decides she wants to alter the size and construction and how she picks different buttons. Quite mature and well thought-out.

Of course I helped her along the way, but she can only learn by doing and she does as much as she can herself.

Stitching the last opening together by hand is meticulous work. But she did it patiently and impeccably. I think she was very happy to make this cuff.

And now she's proud. Just like me. I'm curious to see what she'll make next.

Tonight is the night

Christmas dinner is one of the big and best events for my daughter at school and tonight is the night. For the first time she wants a special dress for the party and this is what she'll be wearing.

About a month ago she showed me this drawing of a dress she designed. Can you please make this for me? is what it says. It's got an extra big smile to try to convince me to do it.

Sewing is not a problem for me, but making patterns is another thing. A T-shirt that she'd just outgrown gave me an idea. It was fun: we cut bits of fabric and sewed as we went and my nine year old did whatever she could by herself.

Her summer shoes go better with the dress than her boots. The flowers are from 'Het grote zelfmaakboek voor meisjes'. She imagined they're great shoe decorations. And so they are. My daughter's very pleased with the result. I am proud of her and hope we'll be doing this much more.

The big DIY book for everyone

With some waste paper and cutting gear I just made these cute and colorful little notebooks. They only took me a couple of minutes each.

The notepads measure about 6 by 10 cm (2.4 by 3.9 inch) and are made with paint color strips from the DIY store. In fact this is all you need.

It's one out of many ideas in the book Het grote zelfmaakboek voor meisjes (literally The big DIY book for girls) by Kristel van Genugten.

It's a great book. It's very contemporary, it's clear in its descriptions and it is packed with a wonderful variety of ideas. From plaster casting to cutting stamps, from knitting to sewing and from printing to recycling. It's excellent for girls, boys, adults ... everyone.