Sewing with kids can be a fun and eco-friendly craft project. There are lots of easy sewing projects for kids to get started. I remember I first learned to sew when I was five years old. It was part of my Montessori kindergarten education to learn to sew buttons onto fabric squares. It is very basic but teaching kids to sew gives them great confidence. Sewing is a life long skill that your kids will be thankful to have. Teaching kids to sew is a rewarding activity.
Simple Sewing With Kids- Share Your Skills
My grandmother was a great seamstress. She made beautiful costumes for my mother and she sewed matching outfits for my siblings and I. However, I did not inherit her great skill. In fact, it is not something one inherently knows how to do but rather something that is taught to you. Which is exactly my point! Teach your kids to sew. They will be grateful.
Teaching kids to sew does not have to hard or require great skill. My own sewing skills are paltry at best but I am still grateful for them. I wish I had pressed my grandmother to show me how more. But I am glad to able to darn holes, stitch up seams, and raise hemlines.
Start with the basics. Introduce the sewing tools. Show them each tool and explain its use. Emphasize the importance of safety, especially with needles and scissors.
How And When I Taught My Daughter To Sew
Sewing was not something I had thought about teaching my kids but it came about naturally. My daughter is five and the other day she came home from school with two holes in her tights. One hole was across her whole knee. “Oh well,” I thought as I resigned myself to throwing them out.
However, she had other plans. She said, “Mama, you have to sew these up for me.”
I said, “Or get a new pair.” I thought the big hole was pretty big and it wouldn’t really look cute with all the stitches that would show through her tights.
“Sew it up,” she replied. Her mind was made up. I still wasn’t so sure. It is moments like those that my “mini me” reminds me how sure of myself I used to be. I miss that and so I want to encourage it in her.
I threw the ripped tights in the washer and dryer and when they came out they had shrunk down in size like tights do. The holes also appeared a little smaller. I still thought about tossing them but then I thought well, it couldn’t hurt to try and at least she could learn how to sew. Learning to stitch things together is pretty much the basics of sewing.
Teaching Kids To Stitch Up Rips
I called her to see if she wanted to help. She was very excited to help sew. I let her pick the thread. I explained to her that we could try to match the tights or we could use a contrasting color. She picked a bright pink for the big hole!
First, I showed her how to thread the needle and she watched me closely.
Second, I showed her how to pull the thread even and try a knot since we wanted a double stitch for strength and she watched.
Third, I showed her how to pinch the hole in the middle to keep it lined up while you sew and I did the first couple stitches.
Finally, I let her take over the stitching while I held my hand inside the tights so she wouldn’t stitch through to the other side and kept the hole pinched.
She did a great job! Every once in a while I would have to tell her to pull the needle back out because she was stitching too low or too high or missing the other side of the hole. She continued sewing until we ran out of thread half way across the hole.
We tied it off and I explained how you can tie it off on the side of the fabric that won’t show.
This time, I let her thread the needle and tie it off.
I realized before we started again that while I was trying to keep all the stitching on the inside by sewing while it was turned inside out, my daughter was actually excited about the stitching and liked the pink color!
So we switched and she did the second half of the hole with the stitching on the outside! Finally, she stitched up the second hole by herself.
Another Easy Sewing Project For Kids- Decorative Stitches
Sierra was very pleased with the results of her first sewing effort. She asked me if I could do stitches that would show up in the shape of a heart. Well sure, I could. So, I got out my embroidery thread and sewed a heart on for her. She watched the whole process.
She loved it so much that she asked for a flower too. This time, I told her she could help make the decorative stitches herself. She sowed the center of the flower all by herself. I finished it off with the petals.
All in all, I was impressed that we had saved her tights, made an eco-friendly move, and really had a good time together. I felt proud to have taught her such a useful lesson and proud of her for teaching me a lesson too! That is my little wonder! I love that she gave me a fresh view of things.
My grandmother would be proud of me for stitching up those tights. She stitched up many things for me and I told my daughter how she used to make me all kinds of things. Maybe that will be our next project when my daughter gets a little older- sewing doll’s clothes. She loves learning how to do things and the best part is that I don’t have to be perfect when I teach her. I can learn with her!
Looking for more beginner sewing projects for kids? Try buttons.
If you want to sew with your child but have not done so before, a great place to start is sewing buttons on. Sierra and I had tried this when she was about four and she loved that too. When I was in a preschool Montessori, I still remember that they had a station where you could chose different squares of fabric to sew and different cool buttons and they helped you sew them on. It was tons of fun and they let you bring them home. I made a little pillow out of them with my mom.
Sewing with kids really gives a great sense of accomplishment to the child (and the adult). After all, I still remember sewing with my mom and grandmother very fondly! They may also enjoy sewing small toys like this cute little whale sewing project.
Happy sewing! I hope you have fun teaching kids to sew. Let me see your simple sewing projects @familyfocusblog!
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