Sewing for a fashion show takes a lot of planning and this past weekend the kids participating in the Cumberland County 4-H Fashion Review were all smiles the big event had finally arrived. L. decided she really wanted to make her own Raggedy Ann doll like the one my mother made for me when I was a kid. So for her birthday this past fall, grandma bought her all the supplies to make her own. It took L. a couple of months of on and off work to make the doll, which included embroidering the face and heart, making the body, sewing on the hair (the hardest job of all!) and then making the clothes. G. undertook an easier project because she really wanted a new poncho (the one I made for her for Christmas several years ago is looking old and ratty now) and she thought it would be fun to model at the fashion show. There were 16 kids participating in this year’s fashion review and every project was different and really great — from skirts and tops to scarfs and hats to a Medieval tunic to fancy party dresses. The show had it all. See all the kids on the ‘runway’. It really is great to have fun programs that teach kids to appreciate the art of sewing because I know a lot of adult women who have never done it. Plus, teaching kids early that sewing isn’t hard, you give them a life skill they can use (my mom actually sent me to college with a sewing machine and I put it to use for myself and my friends, which was a source of great amusement with obnoxious matching shorts but that’s a story for another time). There’s nothing like looking at the young, proud faces of a job well-done. <!– L. didn’t like giving up her doll for a week before the show so the judges could take a closer look at it. Since she plays in the school band, G. went with musical fleece. –>