Friday, January 20, 2012

Some Great Sewing Resources for Children...

I am teaching a sewing class to our 2nd-6th grade students at our homeschooling co-op this semester. I am super excited about this class, because sewing (and domestic skills in general) are my passion.


In getting ready for the class, I utilized several of the books I own on sewing with children. These books focus on projects specifically for children, and most of the projects are very basic (although some of the books have more advanced projects for older children, say maybe tweens, teens, or even adults just beginning to sew.)

Here are a few of my favorites...

Sewing School: 21 Sewing Projects Kids Will Love to Make


This book has the easiest projects out of all the books I will be listing in this post. It has a section in the front that gives some basic sewing details, and then it goes on to give a variety of projects for your child to make on their own (or with minimal help from you.)



This would be a great book for those of you who have no idea how to sew. It really is very basic, but yet it still teaches your child (and you) the necessary basics. Most of the projects leave rough edges (rather than sewing right sides together and then turning out) so these project are pretty quick and easy.


I'm using the needle book idea with my co-op class this afternoon. I adapted their idea a bit to tailor it to teach the running stitch.

The kids and I tried the project out last night. The blue one is the one I made, Ian made the orange one (all by himself) and then Lily made a small pincushion (another project from the book) mostly by herself.


Ian (age 8) did not have problems doing this project. Of course, he has sewn in the past, but, still, this project is very easy and basic with only a running stitch and the sewing on of the button.



Oh, and I forgot to mention that this book comes with all of the patterns for all of the projects.

The next two books are actually gifts that we're giving Lily for her sixth birthday next month. She doesn't know about these yet, but I've been drooling over all of their goodness in secret. I can't wait 'til I can pull these books out and start working on some of the projects!

Sewing for Children: 35 Step-by-step Projects to Help Kids Aged 3 and Up Learn to Sew


This one has some super cute and fun projects. 35 to be exact.


And I'm talking drool-over cute projects.



Made By Me



This book is very pink. Very girly. Very much do I love this book. But this isn't just a sewing book, it also covers embroidery and knitting.




I could look at this book and the one above for hours, admiring all of the creativity and the bright, cheery projects.


Two other books we have and I've used with my kids are...

My Little House Sewing Book

My Little House Crafts Book: 18 Projects from Laura Ingalls Wilder's

The crafts book contains a couple of sewing projects and lot of other projects too. Both of these books contain crafts and projects that are written about in The Little House on the Prairie book series. These craft books were a great resource last spring when we were doing a unit study on one of the Little House books in our co-op. And they've been fun for personal use at home since my two younger kids both enjoy The Little House on the Prairie books.



And, of course, you can always find resources online for free. It just requires a little searching and some patience.

Have a blessed day and a wonderful weekend!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

What lovely books and projects! I love sewing with kids. My favorite is Mary Frances and her Adventures with the Thimblepeople -- timeless :)

Blessings!
Gail

Anonymous said...

You are so full of good ideas! I just found birthday presents for both of my little girls - one will be 5 next week, and the other 7 in March... These books will be so perfect!!! Thank you!!!

Miriam Brown

~katie~ said...

Oh, this looks like *sew* much fun! :) Blessings to you as you teach little hands to create beautiful things!

Thank you for stopping by my blog today too!

Pam said...

Those books are as enticing to me as chocolate cake!
I miss the days my girls were little and we did those kinds of things.. I didn't have quite as many delightful books to help... I am thinking one of these days I will have a granddaughter, and then I can indulge in the fun. I remember learning to sew in school I remember making a pillow, and later a skirt. I don't think they teach sewing in schools any more... such a shame; thank you Lord for Homeschooling.
Blessings,
Pam

Anonymous said...

So cute!! I have to check out these books...Hannah is the one who is always asking to bring out the sewing supplies. She would love to have a book. Thanks for sharing!