Making Tifo

One of the cool benefits of having kids is that you get to learn new things, either with them or because of them. Last year I added a new word to my vocabulary, thanks to Jake. Tifo is a word of Italian origin that refers to the staging and apparatus involved in putting on a display of fan support for a sports team, most often football (soccer). Tifo usually involves scarves, large banners and flags. Today Jake came over to make flags. He brought the materials and the designs he had engineered. I supplied the serger, sewing machine and the tools and technical skills. Jake had it all figured out in his head, but transferring that to my head and then to the actual project took some careful planning.

Just like a carpenter, measure twice, cut once.

I had practiced the stitch we would use before he arrived, but the actual fabric presented a few challenges. I made it work.

Jake spread the seams and lined up the next pieces to sew.

TA DA! It's a flag! We won't win any prizes - there were a few bumps in the road that are evident upon close inspection, but we learned a lot and had fun. We actually were quite compatible in our problem solving, which is saying something about both of us, given our temperaments.

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I have two more flags to finish off at my leisure. After about four and a half hours we declared we were done and the three of us went out to eat.