Every year for the past few years I've put on my calendar: "Teach kids to sew". And every year I move it to the next year - until now! The twins are six years old and told me they were interested in trying it out. So, over the long Easter break we gave it a shot. Today I am sharing a few tips that made things a little easier.
1. Set Your Expectations Low - Keep it fun!
I let each kiddo do this one on one. I knew they would each have a different attention span. Henry made it about 20 minutes and Oliver made it about 10 minutes. I kept it simple and my only goal was to introduce them to the very, very basics. Once I went over the safety instructions I let them ask questions!
2. Use Precuts or Leftover Blocks
I had another project on my to-do list that you will see in an upcoming blog post so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I made the Half Square Triangles I needed and then let them choose the layout. These are going into a floor reading pillow for each of them so I let them lay them out however they wanted to! This is also where I briefly showed them the "right" and "wrong" sides of the fabrics.
Another great options would be the charm packs from Moda Fabrics or just some leftover blocks from your previous quilts! Some small easy project ideas would be: a throw pillow, doll blanket, Popsicle holder or a bookmark.
You Might Also Enjoy Reading:
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Five Beginner Quilt Patterns
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Free Playroom Pillow Pattern
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Quilts That Hold Up To Kids
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Henry, Oliver & Milo's Fabric Collections
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What I Wish I Had Known When I Started Quilting
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Tips for Beginner Quilters
3. Use the Start/Stop Button - Not the Pedal
I did not know my machine had this feature! For accessibility, my Bernina 350 has a start and stop button. This was so easy for the boys! They obviously can't reach the foot pedal and even if they could I think it would be too much coordination for them at this age. The start/stop button was perfect!
4. Slow Your Machine Down
Right above my start/stop button is the stitch speed slider. I turned it all the way down for this first lesson. It was super, super slow and gave them plenty of time to watch where their hands were on the fabric. Each of them were a little afraid of the needle so they didn't like guiding the fabric through at first, but I think the slow stitch let them watch and slowly gain some courage.
5. Pressing & Pinning
Both were very interested in the iron and pins, but for this first day I did the pressing and pinning. However, they were able to finger press the blocks open for me before I pressed them. And Oliver really enjoyed removing the pins and putting them on the pin cushion as we went along.
Like I said - this was only Day One. I let them decide when they were done and just let it be over. I'll check in and offer to do another sewing day with each of them, but if they aren't interested I won't push it. I hope they will want to try again! I think it's a good skill to have, plus I think it's great for them to see how things are made. I know each of them is creative in their own way so I'd love to see what they come up with in the future. This would be a great summer project to try with your little ones! I hope these tips were helpful.
Just for fun - this is when I knew I'd lost Oliver's interest. Happy sewing!
