Maia is sewing up a storm these last few months. She started out by hand sewing simple pillows and doll accessories and now we’re doing basic sewing machine lessons together.
She now claims sewing is her second favorite hobby. The first is art or, from her 60 handstands in a row this weekend, gymnastics.
Here are her first sewing projects, along with a few tips and resources for sewing with kids.
Materials for Sewing with Kids
Here’s what’s in Maia’s beginner sewing box ::
- Fabric :: Any fabric is fine, but you may want to start with one that is thicker, yet still easy to run a needle through, such as felt or burlap. They’ll probably quickly progress to other fabrics, such as linen or cotton.
- Thread or Embroidery thread :: Maia found the thicker embroidery thread easier to use and keep track of for her first few hand sewing projects.
- Needles :: Again, a larger needle with a larger eye is a bit easier for beginner sewers.
- Fabric Scissors :: Kid-safe scissors just don’t work well on fabric. Maia is 7 1/2 and has been using my own, sharper scissors for a while now. I finally bought her a pair of her very own, smaller-size fabric scissors. You’ll have to decide what you are comfortable with. Your younger kids might want you to help them cut out their fabric pieces.
- Chalk :: Maia usually wings it with her designs, much as I do, but I’ve been showing her how she can draw her outline on fabric with chalk first. This allows her to visualize the piece better, is fixable (she can redraw the line if necessary), gives her a line to cut along, and washes out easily.
- Stuffing :: Polyfill or something more natural such as wool or cotton. This is optional, depending on what your kids like to sew. Maia is big into pillows and wants to try a rag doll and stuffed animal soon, so the stuffing is pretty integral to her sewing kit.
- Embroidery Hoop :: An embroidery hoop holds fabric or burlap taut while beginners learn how to sew a line, knot thread, or just play around. It’s also great for beginning embroidery.
Projects for Sewing with Kids
Simple sewing projects are best when introducing hand sewing to kids. Think pillows, bean bags, pockets, and the like. Also, anything that really interests children is fair game (such as clothes and accessories for dolls and stuffed animals).
Project #1. Maia’s little pillows
These were sewn using wool felt pieces from the craft store, embroidery thread, and a large embroidery needle. Then stuffed with polyfill. As you can see, they were sewn with the stitch left visible on the outside. I think this is the easiest for beginner hand sewers. Once they have a few projects under their belts, you can show them how to hide the stitches.
Project #2. Doll clothes & Accessories
Maia got a few pillows under her belt, she expanded her repertoire to include doll vests and accessories (blankets, scarves, and a pair of pants). Except for the pants, there was no sewing involved for these, just shaping and cutting. Kind of a brilliant no-sew beginner “sewing” project.
A child could always add buttons, decorations, or pockets while keeping the project super simple. Making doll pillows and accessories for her and her sister to play with was an easy and motivating way for Maia to get started sewing.
Project #3. Large Pillows
Maia quickly moved on from making smaller doll-sized items to wanting to make the real deal. So she sewed this full-sized pillow as a gift for her aunt. Then another for my birthday. And quite a large one for Daphne. Yesterday she even started a ladybug pillow for a friend. (Yes, we’ve been going through a lot of stuffing lately.)
Have your kids done any hand sewing? If you have any tips on getting started, please share them with us in the comments!
Resources for Sewing with Kids
- Beginning embroidery (and sewing) on a hoop at Maya*Made
- “Sewing School” book review and project, again at Maya*Made
- Sewing and Embroidery for Kids with Shelf Liner at Filth Wizardry
- Experimenting with different sewing stitches with Zilker Elementary Art Class
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11 Comments
bybido
May 6, 2013 at 12:52 pmMy almost 10 year old spent much of the summer 3 years ago learning to hand-sew better using the Mary Frances book. Reading and working on these projects/lessons is on the agenda this summer for my middle daughter (7 1/2 years old)…
A few of my posts tagged with this topic are linked below, though my oldest daughter made much more of the wardrobe (I just never finished taking photos of it all):
https://bybido.blogspot.com/search/label/Mary%20Frances%20sewing
Jennifer
May 6, 2013 at 9:04 pmThank you for this! Both my kids have been wanting to learn to sew, and since i’m not very good at it myself, I don’t quite know where to begin. THis helps, and I’ll check out the resources, too.
Georgine
May 6, 2013 at 5:29 pmMy six year old shows Interest in sewing on and off. She does like sewing on the machine and has made up stuff as she goes along. She also had made some no sew items as well (fleece is a great thing) . Along with tapefetti accessories. I am going to check out your links. I could use some help with age appropriate projects. Thanks for the post.
This girl loves to talk
May 6, 2013 at 10:24 pmI copied some of the ideas over at Chocolate on my cranium when teaching machine sewing to kids (she has like 7 daughters and they all get a machine for their 8th birthday and wrote out some beginner lessons)
things like sewing on grid paper (learn to go straight and turn corners)
sewing every stitch the machine does and playing around with length and tension of stitches
my daughter first thing she sewed was a tiny blanket for her stuffed dog (two pieces of material sewed, then turned out and sew hole shut) she has done some stuffed animals aswell. and we make Christmas pillowcases every year and each child helps me make theirs.
I love to sew paper (paper garlands for parties etc) so I think sewing paper could be a really good beginner idea too
Amy
May 6, 2013 at 11:04 pmMy daughter loves to sew and yes, we have lots of pillows too! My 8 year old has made a doll quilt, pillow case, bean bags, stuffed animals, and pillows on the machine. She likes to hand sew too. Right now we just free style, but I bought a pj pants pattern to try this summer.
kristin
May 7, 2013 at 12:28 amOne of my favorite sewing projects that i have the kids make at my preschool are simple wool mice the same pattern can be used to make a bird. https://kleas.typepad.com/kleas/2009/03/how-to-make-a-simple-stuffed-mouse.html
Here you can see the work that my 3, 4 and 5 years olds made. I just love them! https://kleas.typepad.com/kleas/2012/02/what-we-made-at-the-preschool-wool-mice.html
Mack
May 7, 2013 at 4:19 pmVery cool, looks like lots of fun.
louise
May 8, 2013 at 1:35 amI’ve been wanting to get my kiddo sewing and was wondering about needles. I’ll have to check out the embroidery needles! That’s a good idea!
Aileen
May 11, 2013 at 9:31 pmMy daughter was very interested in sewing when she was still a bit too young to do it without getting too frustrated. She started many projects (wish I had thought of the embroidery hoop to just let her practice and play around). Now, she is definitely ready to work on a pillow or the simple stuffed animal vests. Thanks for the inspiration!
Stephanie Park
May 18, 2013 at 7:38 pmThis is such a whimsical and easy activity to introduce sewing to young children. Thank you for sharing.
Leah
December 31, 2013 at 5:00 pmWe started hand sewing with my 4 year old using burlap cut into shapes and a darning needle with red yarn. Ended up making cute Christmas ornaments and was pretty easy for her to do on her own.