{"id":3706,"date":"2015-01-15T06:57:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-14T19:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/five-things-to-think-about-when-teaching-a-child-to-sew\/"},"modified":"2020-12-31T16:48:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-31T05:48:19","slug":"teaching-child-sew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/2015\/01\/teaching-child-sew.html","title":{"rendered":"Teaching a Child To Sew: Five Things To Think About"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thinking about teaching a child to sew?<\/p>\n

My youngest daughter Yiscah first started sewing when she was three. I vividly remember how she used to peek into the room whenever I was teaching a class so she could watch the older girls sew. After every class she\u2019d ask me why she couldn\u2019t join in. Being the wise parent, I told her that she was too little just yet but she always insisted she wasn\u2019t. One day I decided to let her sew something simple and to my surprise, she did a pretty good job\u2026 and she altered forever my ideas about when you should start teaching a child to sew.\u00a0I still find people who believe, as I once did, that children have to be a bit older before they start sewing. Not true. So here are some tips to help you maximize enjoyment and minimize problems when you teach a child to sew.\"teaching<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

1. Getting them excited<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There are lots of ways to get your child excited about sewing. Showing them a book of projects and letting them choose what they wish to make is always a good idea \u2026 as is letting them choose their fabrics and the colors of their thread. The basic rule here is simple: the more they do by themselves, the more they\u2019ll enjoy it. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Even if they can\u2019t manage the sewing on a project they\u2019ve chosen, just watching Mum involves them more deeply than we might suspect and is a sure way to ignite their desire to sew something all by themselves.<\/span><\/span>
\n\"three<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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2. Using good quality materials<\/b><\/div>\n
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Good materials are essential for a good experience. Sewing supplies<\/a> are not expensive, so make sure you choose good quality felts, fabrics and thread. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Acrylic felts are the least expensive but they can feel a bit hard and scratchy to sew with. I personally love using wool blend felts as they\u2019re soft, easy to sew with and reasonably priced but you can find beautiful acrylic felts too.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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I prefer to use regular sewing cotton, and I recommend using a good brand as cheaper products tend to break. Recently I’ve started using Aurifil<\/a> cotton mako thread and love it.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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Using an embroidery or chenille needle with a large eye makes it easy to thread. Make sure your needle isn\u2019t blunt. Sewing with a blunt needle can be difficult and frustrating. \u00a0<\/span>And it\u2019s a good idea to first sew a few stitches yourself in order to check that everything works as it should.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\"teaching<\/a><\/div>\n
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\u00a03. Stressing safety<\/strong><\/div>\n
Explain to your child that scissors and needles are sharp and can be dangerous if not used sensibly. In classes I stress that needles have to be put back in containers and we always do a floor search to check for needles that may have dropped. Scissors are always closed.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
It doesn\u2019t really matter what safety behaviors you decide on, what matters is that your child sees<\/i> that you treat these things with caution and knows that this is what you must<\/i> do when you sew. I\u2019ve found that when children really want to do something that requires responsibility, they have no difficulty behaving as they should. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\"child<\/a><\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/span><\/span>4. Accepting that wonky is ok<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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Young children begin to sew with large, wonky stitches and their sewing lines are often crooked. With a little practice, however, their stitches rapidly improve. Don\u2019t do the work for them. Let them sew their own stitches and they will be proud of what they have accomplished. <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Sometimes young children\u2019s work becomes messy simply because they forget to look at what they are doing. A gentle reminder to look at their work while sewing can bring about a miraculous improvement. Hand sewing doesn\u2019t require excessive concentration and the modest demands it does make will actually help to improve your child\u2019s ability to concentrate.<\/div>\n
\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
5. Making the projects your own<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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There\u2019s nothing wrong with copying a project exactly as it\u2019s given but this never really compares with the feeling you get when you make a project your own. So don\u2019t be afraid to adapt things, to change them, and to make them to suit your own and your child\u2019s interests and wishes.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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If you’re looking for a simple hand project to make with your child you can try this quick and easy softie<\/a> your kids will love to sew.<\/div>\n
This post is part of a series done in conjunction with Lisa Press who blogs at <\/span>PhoebeandEgg.com<\/a>. You can read her post on teaching kids to machine sew.<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
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P.S If you’d like to sew some projects with your kids have a look at my book Sew Together Grow Together<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\"Sew<\/a><\/div>\n
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You can also drop in to Mollymoo<\/a> Crafts where Michelle has adapted Baby in a Pouch. The original project is small enough to fit into the palm of a child\u2019s hand but Michelle and her daughter wanted something that could be hugged, so they made the baby and her pouch much larger giving the project a very different feel.<\/div>\n
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Thinking about teaching a child to sew? My youngest daughter Yiscah first started sewing when she was three. I vividly remember how she used to peek into the room whenever I was teaching a class so she could watch the older girls sew. After every class she\u2019d ask me why she couldn\u2019t join in. Being … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,107,112],"tags":[157,127,136,256,161],"class_list":["post-3706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sewing-projects-for-kids","category-tips-for-teaching-kids-to-sew","category-tutorials","tag-kids","tag-sewing","tag-sewing-tips","tag-teaching-a-child-to-sew","tag-tips-for-teaching-kids-to-sew","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sewasoftie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}