A Stitch in Time: 4 Steps to Teach Your Child How to Sew

Sewing is an enjoyable hobby. Not only are you doing something that's fun, but you're also creating something useful. If you have children, you want to pass that hobby on to your kids. Teaching a child to sew can be a fun way to get some quality time with them in. Here are four quick and easy tips that will make it easier to teach your child to sew.

Start Out by Hand

Now that you're going to teach your child how to sew, don't have them hop right on the sewing machine. Let them start out slow by practicing with a basic needle and thread. Teaching them to sew by hand first will help them learn hand-eye coordination. Give your child a piece of fabric and a threaded needle.

To prevent frustration, pull the thread through and tie both ends together in a knot. This will prevent the needle from unthreading while your child is trying to sew. Have them practice sewing in a straight line. Once they've perfected the straight line, have them sew two pieces of material together. As soon as they've mastered that, they'll be ready to move on to the sewing machine.

Practice Without the Needle

Using a sewing machine for the first time can be frightening for both you and your child. To ensure safety, have your child practice without the needle a few times. Remove the needle and have them do a test-run with a piece of fabric. As soon as they can move the material along without getting their fingers near the needle apparatus, you can replace the needle and begin sewing.

Stick with the Basics

When you're proficient at sewing, there are a lot of rules that you need to know, such as the specific type of thread to use on different fabric types. However, when your child is starting out, trying to remember all those rules can become frustrating for them. If your child gets frustrated, they might not want to continue learning. To reduce frustration and encourage enjoyment, at first stick to the basic rules, such as never stick your fingers near the needle, or always place the right sides of the material facing each other when sewing.

Choose Something Small

Now that your child has practiced sewing by hand and has the sewing-machine basics down, it's time to create something. Have your child start with something small for their first project, such as a pillow. Pillows require four straight lines and some stuffing. After your child has mastered the pillow, it will be time to move on to bigger and better projects.

Learning to sew is something that will provide your child with hours of enjoyment. It's also something that the two of you can do together. Use the suggestions provided above to make teaching your child to sew enjoyable for both of you.