Lizette Greco has an active life sewing and creative crafting with her son, age six, and daughter, age seven, who began sewing in earnest three years ago - that is, at the ages of three and four, respectively. She is one of several plush toy designers featured in the just-published Plush-O-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults. We caught up with her in an email interview to ask her how they do it.

ZRecs: How did you first get started working with your children on sewing projects?

Lizette Greco: The kids were drawing thank you cards, birthday cards, and other greetings for friends and family. I started sewing and making sewn gifts such as bags and totes to go along with their homemade cards for their little friends. I didn't feel like my kids were involved enough in the process of creating the gifts aside from making a greeting card, so I started incorporating their drawings into the bags and totes. Later I began turning their drawings into stuffed creatures.

ZRecs: What was the learning curve like? How did they take to sewing? How involved are they now in the sewing? Do they like that part, or prefer to focus on the drawing and planning and have you do the sewing?

Lizette: At the beginning I was afraid the kids would hurt themselves sewing with needles when they were 3 and 4 years old, but I realized that by giving them clear instructions and warnings, they seemed to understand and were careful. At that point my daughter was sewing with big fat yarn needles and my son was threading a shoe lace through some cardboard shapes with holes in them.

Now, when we have a gift to make for a friend, we (the kids now 6 and almost 8 years old, and I) brainstorm ideas and talk about what our friend likes (animals, games, cars, etc.). Then we start making several drawings or little booklets (several white sheets stapled together) filled with drawings. Sometimes the kids feel motivated to make a pouch for pencils, decorated wristband or something similar that will go along with the bag, tote, or doll I'll be making for their friend. In a few cases they have decorated the packaging that the dolls are in - something akin to an action figure box. The kids also draw on a big piece of paper to create wrapping paper for the gifts. In the end we are all happy to give something we worked on together. Their pride really shows when they are pointing out features of the "product" after it has been opened by their friend.

When I need a drawing for a non-gift project like a softie, I go through the piles of their drawings that have accumulated in their room and pick one up, or I choose from the hundred that I have filed away through the years. If I don't find what I need, I ask if they can draw "something" (a particular animal or creature) for me. Sometimes the kids share their ideas of what an ideal softie should look like (color, size, how many limbs) or what my next one should be, such as another fish to accompany the first one I've made or an octopus, squid, turtles...

ZRecs: Do you or they sell things that they physically make?

Lizette: On a regular basis, the kids make presents for friends and family. Sometimes, they are eager to make things for craft fairs when I participate in them (two or three times a year). However, the kids are not interested in making things to sell on a regular basis along with mine. They would rather play. They do make the little books and magazines that go along with my wee characters, and sometimes they help me decorate the packages I send to clients. They always enjoy doing that. Other times, they don't want to let go of their creations, like my daughter who preferred to keep her Owlys when I told her someone wanted to buy them. (My daughter has her own Flickr account and she posted a tutorial to make a stuffed Owly. It describes step by step instructions for using a drawing and making a 2D pattern out of it.)

ZRecs: Can you tell me anything about your success with soliciting drawings for custom orders? Have you had some good experiences with that?

Lizette: I really appreciate the fact that people trust me with their kids' drawings to turn them into something. The few custom orders that I have taken, have given me a lot of freedom to create and my clients always seem to be happy with the results. Other times I have requested drawings from friends when their little ones are having a birthday party. My friends (the kids' moms) are usually happy and eager to do something with their kids' drawings, especially when their kids draw a lot of great pieces and they just pile up at home.

ZRecs: What has your experience translating crazy kids' drawings into 3D sewn objects taught you about sewing?

Lizette: I've had to learn to imagine a drawing into a 3D sewn piece. Sometimes what seems easy in theory or even on paper, doesn't necessarily translate into a sewn project. Every creature I make is a new drawing and a new pattern, thus they are all one-of-a-kind. At the beginning I was turning drawings into 2D shapes, like pillows. My husband made me see the potential of adding another dimension, like real animals and creatures. My husband is wired to think that way, so we often work together drafting a new pattern. He also has a good eye for matching a piece of fabric to a particular creature. Some fabrics lend themselves to one form or element of a softie better than others.

I've had a lot of practice trying to visualize what I have on paper into a 3D object: 84 softies, 57 bags (the act of designing the bag itself, not just the decorative elements), and other miscellaneous sewn projects.

ZRecs: What have these experiences taught you about your kids?


Donuts by Lizette's daughter, a gift for a friend

Lizette: I've learned that kids in general draw and see things differently from each other. My daughter tries very hard to create exact representations of what she sees. She also likes to draw comic strips to tell stories and she is a major Calvin and Hobbes fan. She takes on projects in a very calculated way: planning ahead, researching, becoming frustrated (sometimes too easily), etc.


Trinosceros

My son is much less concerned with precision, at least when he draws. His tools seem to flourish about the page and he draws things as he imagines or re-imagines them without concerning himself about comparing them often to the source of the inspiration. He'll often intentionally add a crazy twist to leave his mark on a character or creature. He tends to use a lot more paper as he explores different variations of the same drawing.


Lizette's son with his "White Whale." The six-year-old sewed half of it by hand and half of it using a sewing machine.

ZRecs: Do you look differently at what they draw? Do they?

Lizette: They still show surprise when they see a finished softie for the first time, even more so when it's been a night-time project and they haven't seen it develop in any way. Perhaps it's partly because I often change the scale of the drawing or use settings that they haven't considered when photographing the softies. Lately they have been creating some stop-motion animations and have been hinting that they'll be using softies for them as well.

I started looking at kids drawings in a different way. I look at them and figure out which ones can be (or should be) turned into a stuffed creature or if they are more suitable for an applique or embroidery on a bag. However, I also appreciate them for what they are: a sample of their thoughts and imagination and a representation of the world around them as seen through their untrained eyes.

ZRecs: As a creative person who engages your kids in your work, do you feel there is a need to take time "off" from that creative process, or is it "always on"?

Lizette: Not everything my kids draw is part of my work. Sometimes I see something - a drawing - that I can use in my work, and I set it aside and file it away when they are done with it. We go through a lot of paper drawing maps, imaginary cities, big greeting signs for birthday parties and holidays. We draw and we make things because this is how we experience our surroundings. We get our hands dirty, try new materials, and explore new techniques together. I don't think we could take "time off" from doing all this. This is how we experience everything. Sometimes we read a story book and a theme sets up in our minds, so we make projects, draw, visit exhibits, search on the internet, and look up other books that allow us to learn more.

Lizette Greco and her family live and create in Southern California. Visit her website, her Etsy store, or her Flickr photostream to find their work, or visit her daughter's Flickr set of instructions for creating your own Owly dolls here. You can also purchase the new book of stuffed animal design and construction, Plush-O-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults, which features her designs.

This post from the ZRecs Archives was originally published on November 24, 2006. Photos by Lizette Greco.