ikat bag

Teaching Kids To Sew

2012-05-22T14:28:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!

This post is in response to many, many questions I've been asked about sewing with kids, along the lines of these:

My kid is interested. What can I do to help?
My kid shows interest. Should I start him on hand-sewing?
My kid wants to sew on my machine. What simple projects do you suggest?
My kid is interested. I don't want to miss this opportunity. Quick, what shall I do (before the moment passes and is lost forever)?
I heard your kid has a sewing tub/basket. What do you have in it?
I want to teach my kid to sew. Every one is doing it. What can I do? What's a good age to start?
I am an adult beginner and I want to (either) start sewing or continue sewing without giving up. What can I do?

Now, that last question isn't technically a kid-sewing question, but I get those Beginner questions a fair bit, too. I put that in the list because of the similarities, but I'll answer that at the end of this post. I'm also going to refer to the kid-who-wants-to-sew as the "Seamstress in Training", even though it might be a boy. And also for convenience, I will refer to the mentor-who's-training as "Mom/Grandma", even though it might very well be Dad or Grandpa, or an Aunt or Uncle. I would love for my kids to see my dad sew on our old treadle machine at home in Singapore, or ordering sewing machine accessories and notions on ebay, lest they think sewing - or shopping- is women's work (snort). Right now they only get to see me -and other women- do it, which is a shame. A few days ago I wrote a list of sewing things I want my girls to know by the time they leave my home as adult, independent seamstresses. You can go read that here. Today's post, however, is about sewing with them now, when they are little.

What motivates me and what do they want?

Let me begin by reading between the lines a little bit and hopefully reassuring you with a Hurrah for your seamstress-in-training. The first thing I'll say is not to be afraid that this is your one chance to get her hooked i.e. that if you miss this little window of opportunity, she will lose interest forever. As long as kids see you sew, they will always be interested. Kids have short attention spans, remember. It means there will naturally be long lull periods between their spurts of interest. It also means they will return again and again to bug you to teach them to sew. Many are motivated by watching your antics with your machine but some, especially as they get to about 5 and older, are motivated by actually wanting to make something for their toys - clothes for a doll, for instance. And that will keep recurring throughout their childhood, so you'll have lots of chances to teach them.

The next thing is to remember to teach them what they want to learn. So ask them. Many parents/grandparents like to teach their kids "from the beginning with something simple" and start with hand-embroidery, or just poking a threaded needle through an embroidery hoop. That's wonderful, and it's something the kids can do independently while you get on with your own knitting or whatever and occasionally look over and nod approvingly. However, some kids want to make actual products, and secretly want to do that on the sewing machine the way they've seen you do it. With those kids, you could skip the hand-embroidery lesson (or save it till later) and get them on the machine right away to make something simple. Set it on a little (sturdy) kid-sized table or a coffee table so they can reach the pedal comfortably.

When should/can they start? And on what projects?

Ah, you're trying to make me prescribe an age, the way the sewing world obliges me to prescribe a skill level to other seamstresses. Sneaky. Sorry, I can't. Instead, I'll suggest you might pick tasks based on the ability of the kid in question. Some tasks may not be sewing at all, but they look like what Mom/Grandma is doing, and are fun for kids. Here's what I mean:

Really little kids can do lacing cards and poking needles through an embroidery hoop. If you don't like real needles, use plastic needles. Use burlap or monkscloth for a fabric that's naturally holey. Use small colorful plastic embroidery hoops for littler hands; larger hoops for larger hands. Make or buy lacing cards with holes around the edge, or holes in an outlined shape in the middle of the card. Use plastic canvas for free-form stitching, or drawn on with a Sharpie for guided stitching. Older kids can whip-stitch plastic canvas shapes into structures like cubes, pyramids and baskets. Same in-out needlework, but they're making something 3D.
Kids who can handle the boost in motor skills can applique or sew on buttons or large sequins. Again, using an embroidery hoop keeps the underlying fabric taut so it doesn't frustrate little hands. Applique felt shapes using the whip stitch, blanket stitch or running stitch. Sew buttons free-form, or within the outline of a design like a mosaic.
Kids with better fine motor skills may enjoy actual embroidery stitches. Google "embroidery stitches" and you'll find plenty of tutorials. Sketch (or copy) designs onto fabric and let them do french knots, lazy-daisy stitches, running stitch, backstitch, satin stitch, and any other basic embroidery stitches.

Important: these are all embellishing tasks, so unless you're planning samplers of your kids' work, you will need to turn them into actual projects: a cushion cover, a pencil case, an apron, a skirt, a tote bag, a fabric bucket. You might have do the actual sewing of seams and lining and zippers and all that, but they will be able to say, "Mum/Grandma and I made that!"

If your kids are interested in stuffed toys, try 2D ones first. Like these. They can be whip-stitched by hand right-side out. Also doll pillows, which are 2D and stuffed. They can graduate later to 3D toys with gussets and thicknesses. If your kids are mentioning using the sewing machine, then use the sewing machine and don't make them do hand-embroidery. If they are too little to visualize how parts join together, or to handle more than one layer of fabric at a time, try these:

Unthread the machine and remove the bobbin. Give them paper and let them make perforations, then let them tear these apart. It's fun and you don't have to worry about tangled thread.
With a threaded needle (and bobbin), make little books. Stack paper together, fold in half to make a spine, and sew down the spine with long stitches.
Cut triangles from different colored paper and let them sew their top edges one after the other, to make a banner.
Make greeting cards. Grab random scrap fabric from your scrap bin and some cardstock, and let the kids stitch the fabric on the front of the cards.

Remember to toss the needle you used for paper, when you are ready to sew with fabric again!

If they are ready to try fabric projects, here are two simple ones the girls and I have made. They use only straight seams. Click on the names below each photo to go to those posts.

Small tote bag

Gathered skirt

Doll pillow and blanket

Here's a project that combined a little bit a curved seams (the head) and patchwork:

Stuffed snake

I have reservations about doll clothes. They are small, fiddly and thus hard to sew. Especially if you are 5 years old. They also require fasteners (buttons, snaps, zippers, velcro) or else elastic casings and/or knit fabric. For younger kids, try spaghetti strap dresses made with knit fabric, to minimize the need for fasteners or elastic. Avoid sleeves unless you don't mind something that fits badly. Avoid sleeveless armscyes unless you want to be left with doing all the bias-tape binding or facing.

Note that these fabric projects are all collaborative efforts, and require a lot of supervision. Your job would include designing the project, drawing lines (both for cutting and sewing) and pinning pieces together. The little seamstress-in-training can then choose fabric, do all the cutting (because you drew lines to help) and all the sewing. You can teach them back-stitching, lowering and raising the presser foot, cutting off trailing thread, following the stitching lines (some can even eye the edge of the presser foot to get straight lines), sewing-WS -out to hide seam allowances, then turning RS out. Set aside time to work with your kid on the project because you probably won't be able to do your own sewing while they do theirs. Plus you'll need to be vigilant all the time- watching, guiding, protecting, and so on.

Do kids need their own sewing machine?

Start them on your adult-size sewing machine so they get used to sewing-with-you. For most of their early attempts, they will understand that sewing is a teamwork thing. This is the most powerful thing to keep them interested in sewing because whenever they have an urge to "sew something", they'll know that they'll have a shot at actually finishing the project because they got your help. If they are given their own machine, and a box of fabric and notions before they are truly independent seamstresses, they will most likely never touch these. The truth is, kids will need help to do many of the stages of making a project, that have nothing to do with actual sewing, like designing, laying out, measuring, cutting, pinning, knowing where to sew.

As they get comfortable with sewing on your machine, you might want to get them their own machine. This is wonderful for making them feel "just like mom/grandma" (or dad/granddad) but remember that you will still have to help them sew with it. It is still teamwork, no matter whose machine you use. For that matter, get them a real sewing machine, not a toy. NEVER buy kids a toy machine, unless it's a real toy i.e like this. Even if it's cheap. It will end up in your garage sale before the year is up. If you don't want to make the investment in a separate machine, let your seamstress-in-training work on your adult machine. I never had a kid's machine as a kid. I used Mum's and Grandma's treadle machines till I was into my twenties and it never harmed my self-esteem or dampened my interest or anything daft like that.

Here is what my girls are using now:

And by "using" I mean that it sits on the floor in our sewing room 95% of the time. That's OK. It supports my point that kids, unlike their manic mothers, will not sew regularly. I bought it only a couple of months ago and not particularly because I was planning to get them a separate machine. I did a review of it in this post. Based on the interest that post raised on sewing forums and pinterest and whatnot, I got the feeling that people were fascinated by it as a beginner's machine. Read my comments in that post for what I think of that. Obviously IKEA's is not the only 3/4-size machine on the market. If any of you has or knows of 3/4-size models (any brand), please would you share/review them in the comments so everyone can start their own short list? Thanks!

I want to give my kid a sewing basket. What should I put in it?

Emily has a sewing tub with a lid (to contain the madness therein). It contains:

Fabric - fat quarters, craft felt
Measuring tape
Fabric marker
Pincushion with pins
Needles for hand-sewing
Embroidery floss
Embroidery scissors
Small fabric scissors (we just use one of those Fiskars kid scissors)
Seam ripper
Thimble
Ruler
Trims
Iron-on patches and gems
Small embroidery hoops
Small bag of stuffing
Her labels (see this post)

My kid is (whatever age) and showing no interest in sewing whatsoever. What can I do to get her interested?

Why? Because you think she should? Because she needs to learn useful skills? Because everyone else's kids (in blogland, friend, not in the real world) are like 2 years old and already sewing winter coats?

I'd say if you feel it's high time she learnt some basic sewing skills because they're useful, but she has zero interest in creative sewing, then teach her utility sewing. Stuff like mending a rip, sew on a missing button, taking up a hem. But don't push her to be the next sewing prodigy. Or him. Unless she's/he's 18 and moving out to college and still having you mend her/his clothes.

I am an adult and I'm a beginner. I want to begin to learn/improve/not give up. What can you suggest?

There are obvious similarities between a beginning child and a beginning adult, like going from 100% ignorance to increasing knowledge. But you have advantages over children because your motor skills are hugely better, your memory, attention span, coordination and capacity to visualize are superior, and you can understand delayed gratification, to name a few. This means many of the things children will find challenging as beginners will not be challenging to you and be more like, "Oh, so that's how you do it. All I need now is practice".

I personally feel that the fastest way to improve is to take classes. I don't mean e-courses in which you watch videos. I mean a real class to which you can bring your own sewing machine, and sew with it, and tangle the thread up and raise your hand and the instructor will come and detangle it and explain to you what you did wrong. E-courses, youtube videos and blog tutorials are wonderful if you already know something about your (and other) sewing machine and seams and things like that. And they are lovely for going at your own pace, or hitting the pause button while you head off to the bathroom or to cook dinner. But if you are a true beginner, you need a human teacher. Human teachers will help you improve like nothing else because you can stand at their elbow and watch them from 100 different angles, and say, "can you do that again, but sew from the other direction because I'm left-handed?" And you can ask them to show you, on YOUR sewing machine, how to do that fancy thing because your machine dials look completely different from theirs, no matter how generic they claim they are. Many sewing/fabric stores and sewing machine dealers offer lessons. JoAnn, for instance, even has sign-up-days when you can get classes at 50% off the usual price.

Does this help? If I've missed something out, or if you have other questions, just leave it in the comments or shoot me an email. I love that so many folks ask these questions because they've noticed their kids/grandkids showing an interest in sewing and they want to nurture that interest. High fives for you!

I'm going to add a link to this post in my FAQ section, so people can find this post easily in future. And now I must bake something in the oven, then head downstairs to sew something. All while trying to get Kevin Max's voice (he's the soaring tenor with the killer vibrato) out of my head.

Cardboard Magic Wallet

2012-05-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

The girls and I made magic wallets last week. We got the instructions here, but used some of our precious white cardboard to make cardboard versions.

Each girl got four pieces of cardboard to decorate.

Then we assembled the wallets with a bit of ribbon.

They are like those Jacob's Ladder toys, but with only two sections.

So how are they magic?

You open out the wallet to put your money in.

You slide the money into the left X section, with the blue sky.

Then you close the wallet

and open it by the other edge. Voila! The money has jumped magically over to the right side with the parallel straps, along with the blue sky!

The two younger girls were very magic-ed. Emily, however, raised a skeptical eyebrow, took the wallet and disappeared for a while, then returned to say, "OK, I know how it's done." Spoilsport.

10 Sewing Things I Want To Teach My Girls

2012-05-19T15:37:00.002-05:00

It's time for another list!

Jayme nominated me for this award several moons ago:

Very thrilled! It is always wonderful to be recognized by one's peers, and I've always felt that I am among great company in Crafty Blogland. Thank you, Jayme!

Here are the rules - I must share 7 things about myself and nominate 15 other bloggers. It is hard to choose just 15 bloggers, so I shan't. Instead I will share one of my rather daft lists, in the hope that you will forgive me for breaking the rules. Plus I have a pattern coming up for you soon. Is that an OK swop?

So onto the list!

I've often been asked what beginners should know about sewing. It's a difficult question to answer, because it feels like I'd be forcing different people, with different learning styles to follow some rigid, standard curriculum. I mean, I could make a list of different lists of things, depending on one's approach and/or personality. For instance:

A LIST of LISTS FOR BEGINNER SEAMSTRESSES (and SEAMSTERS)

Equipment and tools to have before you even make your first stitch
Equipment and tools to collect over time
Practical fabric for your stash
Ambitious fabric for your stash
Skills you need to have before even turning on your sewing machine
Skills you need to learn within the first week
Skills you need to learn within the first year
Skills you need to make a bag
Skills you need to make a garment
Skills you need to cook dinner while simultaneously hand-embroidering a scarf
Projects for beginners
Projects meant for beginners but that nobody really likes
Projects meant for "intermediate" seamstresses but that beginners could actually do
Books that are useful to beginner seamstresses
Books that are totally useless to beginner seamstresses
Good video tutorials for beginner seamstresses
Useful and sometimes pretty hand-sewing stitches

and on it goes.

My point is that you could start anywhere in this big, non-linear adventure that is sewing, and chart your own course. For some of us, Sewing 101 is following a tutorial on making a rectangular tote bag; for others, it's drafting our first skirt block. It depends on what you want to do with your ability to sew. It also makes it slightly ridiculous to standardize one's skill level - we each define "beginner", "intermediate" or "advanced" differently, often based on what we ourselves expect, or even what we are used to. What criteria do we use, anyway? Here are some examples:

Number of years of sewing experience
Number of projects sewn
Variety of sewing projects attempted/completed
Most difficult/took-longest-time-to-finish sewing project
Variety of fabrics/materials used
Worst/fiddliest fabric/material used
Number of different skills possessed (define "possessed"?)
Number of techniques mastered (define "mastered"?)
Whether you have sewn a quilt or not
Whether you have used a commercial pattern or not
Whether you have drafted garments from body measurements or not
Whether you can sew for other people or not
Whether people have bought your sewn stuff or not (and returned them in disgust)

Think about it: some people consider being able to sew piping and zippers "advanced" while others consider that you need to be able to sew a garment to fit (like an evening gown) before you graduate from "intermediate".

Skirt by Emily, age 5

And some people who've only sewn quilts think of themselves as "beginners" while others think that you're only a "beginner" till you've made your first quilt.

Quilt by Emily, age 7

The fact that we've invented such in-between definitions as "adventurous beginner", "ambitious beginner" or "advanced beginner" is proof that it's just hard to declare ourselves ready to jump to the next level.

Flower by Emily, age 5

So back to my goal: what advice might I give to beginning seamstresses? Apart from, "Don't let older, crotchety, know-it-all, one-track-minded sewing folks make you feel inferior about yourself"?

Here is a list of 10 things I hope my girls know by the time they leave my house and strike out on their own as independent seamstresses. Note that I allow for a time span of - what? - 10+ years, during which time I expect them to go through periods of acute sewing interest as well as distracted apathy.

Tote, by Emily (age 5)

I also expect them to learn, forget, act prodigal and invent their own rules. It's certainly what I did to my mother, at any rate (sorry, Ma!).

Doll pillow and blanket by Jenna, age 4

And hop on, launch and fall unceremoniously off, various sewing bandwagons.

Rainbow snake by Emily, age 6

And there's always the chance that they may not even want to sew. But if they do, I hope they take away with them, these 10 things:

1 Sew what you are interested in

People stick at what interests them. If it happens to be easy, they finish fast and get instant gratification. If it was challenging, they gain experience and are thirsty for the next big thing. Don't feel obliged to sew certain kinds of projects because it's what (ostensibly) more advanced seamstresses do. There are people who sew gorgeous tailored clothes and who can't visualize a bag. And there are people who make stunning bags and who can't sew clothes. And there are amazing quilters who can't handle princess seams, and expert pattern designers who've never sewn a Tshirt.

2 Press

At the start, as you go and at the end. Press sewing lines, center fronts and center backs, hemlines, side seams, darts. Makes it easier to match important points, gives a more accurate fit in the in-between stages and minimizes the need to mark with chalk, markers and blood.

3 Baste/tack

Sometimes, instead of pins. Save pins for the straight stuff, the bags, the craft projects; baste the curves, the necklines, the armscyes, the sleeve caps, the princess seams. Baste for good fabric alignment, easing in sleeves, trial fits. Baste because it's faster than pinning. Except for stuff that shows pinholes and needle-holes, of course. Like vinyl and leather. In which case, use clips, fingers, walking feet.

4 Choose the right fabric

Over print. Always. Apparel fabric for garments, home-dec and canvas for bags that need to bear weight, quilting cotton for quilts. And go easy on interfacing, because it shouldn't overpower the project.

5 Choose quality over speed

particularly when making clothes. Take your time, sweet girls. Whip up craft projects, little coin purses and gathered, one-size-fits-most garments but render unto tailoring, the time that is needed for tailoring. Taking time comes naturally with hand-sewing but a sewing machine gives a person license to speed. Remember that making a good garment is at least 50% measuring, drafting (or adapting), cutting, fitting - all of which are done by hand.

6 Redo

There is no shame in unpicking to make better. Especially if you know you wouldn't be able to sleep at night until you do. I do it all the time - ugly seams, unpicking ugly seams, sleeping and not sleeping. Been there.

7 Sew with good techniques, not gadgets

The best seamstresses never earned their reputations because of the fancy gadgets on their sewing machines (or the number thereof).

8 Imitate

Different learning styles notwithstanding, most people can visualize best when they can see a 3D thing in 3D. To learn to sew a zipper, look at a sewn zipper. To learn to sew a collar, look at a collar. Till this day, each time I sew a zippered fly, I have to look at a pair of pants, turn it inside out and deconstruct the sequence in my head.

9 Learn new ways to do old things

If it's an important enough skill or technique, many people will know how to do it. And many people = many ways to do the same thing. And many ways = some ways could better, faster, simpler, neater than my way. Just recently, after practically decades of sewing, I learned a new way to unpick stitches! Simultaneously duh and hurrah.

10 Stop

when it isn't going right. Do something else, and come back to it again later. I've often felt with my own sewing that I have moods "for" it and "not for" it. Some folks call it "sewing mojo" - part inspiration, part motivation. For me, the right mood translates to awesome fit, beautiful top-stitching, eye-catching designs, great fabric choices. But there are periods when everything I make is indescribably hideous, unfitting, and plain trying-too-hard. I've learnt the hard way that when that happens, to just not sew and take a break instead. My most memorable break lasted 10 years! It was great. And actually 10 years was not as scary as it sounds, since I was really young when I first started sewing and I was still young when I resumed. No loss, and all gain.

Messenger bag for Bearaby by Jenna, age 5

Um, that's technically three lists, if you were countng. It's hard to stop once I've started! Over to you, now. What are some sewing tips for "beginners"* you'd like to share? Or things that you, as a beginner, wish someone had told you?

* whatever that means