Meet my little sister

I'm the oldest of seven kids.  This means that to my littlest siblings I was almost like a third parent at times.  My youngest sibling, E, was born when I was 14 years old.  But that's not the purpose of this post, just a prerequisite to help put things into perspective for you.

E is much like I was when I was young.  She's extremely creative and crafty.  For years I would get handmade gifts from her--painted ornaments, sewn little pillows, jewelry of some sort--she's got the eye and she is absolutely, 100% confident of who she is.  This is probably due to the fact that she is the baby of the family and was is the most spoiled of our little clan. 

Well, shortly after I discovered I could sew using a machine, I realized that E would also similarly benefit from a machine.  I found this little guy in the toy section of Walmart:

 Yes, it is Bratz brand, but who cares! It works!
I bought if for her along with a pattern for pajama shorts.  She loved it.

We went to Walmart in the days that I was visiting my family (they live about a seven hour's drive from me) after the holidays and picked out some pretty flannel to use for the pattern.  Then, with instructions and little intervention (I'm a teacher by trade so I've learned how to teach without doing for others), she made her own pair of pajama shorts--including an elastic!  (Not zig zag stitched--it was strung through the waist band)

 

 

My little girl was so proud of her self (That is a sticker she placed on her forhead) and she had a very sucessful little pair of pajamas that she promptly grew out of. 

In the years that followed my mom saw her sewing progress and bought her a more advanced machine (it was the $75 Brother at Walmart).  

I don't have pictures, but do you know that she made her own pattern and sewed little teddy bears for all the little kids in her church?  They were so popular that people just kept asking for them and she was finally so tired of making them that she put her foot down!

When I was expecting my little precious Bunny, this is what she gave me at my baby shower:

 

She even included a scripture from Luke that goes with my nursery theme (which she spelled incorrectly--ha ha!):

"Rejoice with me.  I have found my sheep which was lost." 

Oh yeah, my theme is the Parable of the Lost Sheep--the story Jesus tells where the shepherd leave his 99 sheep behind to go looking for that one which is lost.  I want my little girl to know that God will always go looking for her no matter how far she strays and that she is precious to Him.  I painted a full room mural on my walls of--no lie--100 sheep including the lost sheep being brought back by the shepherd. 

 

But I digress.  

This is really a spotlight post for my little sister E and I'm just slightly ADD.  Sorry.

When E was only 11, she decided that she could sew.  And she did.  Does she make mistakes?  Tons.  She is the most impatient seamstress I know and prefers not to read instructions or take time to do mundane things like pinning (much like her big sister).  But because she's confident she produces some pretty awesome stuff! 

I wish I'd made that decision at 11.  Who knows how mature a seamstress I'd be at this point! I'm still learning and I have LOTS to learn!

Anyway, I'm really proud of her.  She's my little girl, all grown up and in the 10th grade now!  I can't believe how time flies.