Sewing is a basic skill that is fun and also practical. Although it’s not necessarily cheaper or even practical to sew your own clothes anymore, there is great value in knowing how to sew on a button or sew a sturdy seam. And, of course, sewing can bring great satisfaction and fun to your kids. But teaching them to sew might seem like a daunting task. That’s what this blog is here for.
I wrote a kids’ sewing book a few years back, and I learned from all of my research and testing some lessons that can help you teach your own kids how to sew, almost painlessly.
1. First, threading the needle. This may sound like a no-brainer. I thought so, too. I had all my projects ready and invited a bunch of 8-year-old girls and boys over one afternoon to test my instructions. I had them all thread their needles, tie a knot at the end of the thread and start on a project. We got nowhere and everyone, especially me, was frustrated. Why? Because I spent the whole time rethreading their needles.
Plan B. The typical way of threading the needle – sending the thread through the eye of the needle, leaving a tail, and tying a knot at the opposite end of the thread – resulted in the kids pulling their needles right off the thread when they took a stitch. What works is to double-thread the needle and tie both ends in a knot, like so:
Eureka! No more needles coming off the thread.
2. For first projects, choose felt, fleece or another fabric that doesn’t have edges that fray easily. Avoid heavy fabrics like denim that are difficult to push the needle through.
3. Pin pieces together. It may seem like holding two squares together and sewing a straight seam is an easy thing, but more often than not, the fabric will shift and problems result.
4. A straight stitch is the easiest and most versatile to learn at first. Send the needle through the fabric and pull it through snug to the knot. Send the needle in and out, making stitches as even as possible. Don’t worry if your kid’s stitches are a little wonky. Even sewing takes practice. Sew about 1/4 inch in from the edges of the fabric. Sewing too close to the edge of the fabric can cause holes to develop in the seams.
5. To tie a knot at the end of the seam, take a small stitch and pull the thread through just enough to form a loop. Loop the needle twice around the thread and pull sloooowly until the knot is snug against the fabric. Pulling the knot tight slowly is key–do it too fast and the knot might get tight before all the thread is pulled through, leaving a stray loop of thread.
So there you have the basics for teaching your kids to sew a seam. The next two blogs will be two simple sewing projects you can do with your kids.