When our oldest finally decided on a theme for her eighth birthday party, I wasn’t too surprised… just a little perplexed as to how to make it happen. She is very interested in sewing and in American history at the moment. So, when she requested a Colonial Sewing Party, I knew it would capture a part of who she is at this stage in her young life.
I searched online, asked for suggestions from friends, looked through colonial activity books, and sifted through sewing books for ideas. I then shared them with our daughter who helped to make the final decisions. Here is what we came up with to make a special Colonial Sewing day for her…
Beforehand, she sent out patchwork invitations. 
The girls made a colonial type toy – a ‘bilboquet’. 
She and her friends also made some colonial garb – mob caps and aprons. The ideas for these two projects came from Just Call Me Jamin. At her blog, she shares ideas that correspond with many of the American Girl dolls! 
The day before the party, our daughter even made a mini sized mob cap and apron for her miniature Felicity doll. 
She also helped to make these needle cases for each of her guests. The idea for the cases came from Sewing School.
The girls participated in two Colonial style games – ‘Hunt the Needle’ and ‘Hide the Thimble’. (Colonial girls would actually have played ‘Hunt the Ring’, but we were trying to keep with the sewing theme as well and so used a plastic needle instead of a ring.) 
For fun, they also used whip stitches to sew together felt bears. The idea and pattern for the bear is from My First Sewing Book by Winky Cherry. 
And of course, we had to have a sewing related cake. She wanted to celebrate with a patchwork cake. 
It was a joy to be able to plan the party and then watch her delight in the afternoon with her friends!
