my seamstress

She seems older than ever.  Who knew 8 could come so quickly?

Julianna already knows more than I do about operating a sewing machine.  More than she understands the stitching, I'm most impressed that she can really 'see' her end product, even when it's just in the conception stages.  She sees how the seams will flip when she's done stitching, how it's all going to work together.

At this point she's perfectly content with rough unfinished edges and a bit of jagged scissor cutting.  She is busy creating.  A little handbag (complete with interior pocket).  A sleeping bag for Isaac's tiger.  I love that her goal isn't perfection.  She's having fun, creating - often for others.

Grandma packed up piles of leftover fabric from her many projects and gifted the whole box to Julianna.  It's perfect!  She has piles of fabric to choose from and the scraps are plenty large enough for her smaller projects.  

She also knows her limitations :)  I asked her to stitch up the busted seam of my snow boot liners.  She had me slip my foot in, she pulled and poked the fabric.  She studied her options.  She thought about using a scrap of fabric to use as a patch.  And then she said, "I don't think I'm ready for this yet."  

Our home has an upstairs loft.  We used a table to divide it in half - the front half belongs to the kids crafting stuff, the back half is Matt's office.  Julianna's sewing machine is a constant fixture on the craft table.  And I'll often hear the tell-tale stitching sound coming down the stairs :)  So fun to see her enjoy this hobby of hers. 

I wonder how God will use this little girl of mine.  It's so clear to me that He put certain gifts, and certain struggles, in her life.  Some things come easy, some things don't.  

Isn't that true for all of us?