Have fun with this year's parade theme!

Pioneer Picnic

Costumes

We would love to see kids dressed up like pioneers, but costumes can be expensive.

With some inexpensive fabric, needles and thread, you can make some fun costumes that are easy for the kids to sew on their own.

I made these with kids age 5-12 last year.  The younger kids needed a little help, but could do it on their own with a little guidance.  They loved doing this and wanted to do lots more 
sewing!

Bonnets

This is a super easy sewing project that only requires sewing strips onto two corners.  There
is no need to sew the edges.  Raw edges make
it look prairie. 

Cut a rectangular piece of fabric, about 22"x15".
Cut two strips of fabric 22"x 1".

The strips should be sewn onto the corners.
Sew at least one inch of the strip onto the corner.
Sewing an X will make sure it holds strongly.

It's easier to get the right fit if you tie the corners
while the fabric is on the head of the girl who will wear it.  Be careful not the catch her hair in the knot.  OUCH!

Vests

This can work great for boys or girls. For girls, you can use matching fabric with the bonnet.

For boys you can buy a leather look fabric.

Again there is no need to hem the edges, just leave them raw.

You can measure for each child, but I found that 28" x" 17" fit most smaller children, and 30"x18" fit kids up to 6th grade.

All you will need to do is have them put the right sides together and sew a straight line where shown.  Make a couple of extra stitches at each end for strength. 

For girls you can cut a small slit about one inch in, on either side of the vest and thread another long strip through to tie the vest together in front

Practice the pattern with newspaper.

A pocket can also be sewn directly onto the front if they want to do more sewing.