Sewing with children

Miniature Horse Talk Forums

Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Apr 20, 2005
Messages
10,350
Reaction score
11,416
Location
Southwest Oklahoma
My grand daughter is planning to come and stay for a day or two and learn to put in a zipper. The project she thought of doing was a shark pencil case. I tried the project and it is way too hard for a beginner. I got a jumper pattern and made it up with scrap fabric. Making real garments has never been my strong suit, so I wanted to practice on it. Good thing I did! She knows how to cut out already, so I will have the pieces all cut out to save time.

I sew quite a lot, but am basically a recycling crafter, so I hope they don't expect too much from me!

I was shocked at how expensive fabric and patterns are!!! No tolerance for mistakes with that investment.
 
I too look for things to do with my grandchildren other than watching videos/tv. They do love jigsaw puzzles and games.

When it comes to sewing, I've found that already cut out projects are best for learning. If she is wanting to learn how to sew in a zipper, I would suggest a tote bag tutorial or large size cosmetic pouch tutorial. Just search for tutorial tote bad with zipper or tutorial cosmetic bag with zipper. There are lots of videos also out there. Just choose an easy one and go for it. In a few years she will be teaching you!

One thing that is fun, but is a hand sew, are yo-yos . You cut out circles and then fold over about 1/4 inch and hand sew the edge on the right side in about 1/3 inch basting stitches then pull the threads to gather the fabric and tie. Add a button in the center and they look great on headbands, bags, pillows, anything you want to embellish. This is fun to do with kids. They will be embellishing everything.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Also, there are now patterns available via downloadable PDFs that usually cost less than buying at a local or a name fabric store.

You are a recycling crafter! Go to thrift stores and really look thru some of the garments. Cheap way to find usable fabric - both for practice (sheets and drapes work great!) and even for really nice clothes sewing. Some thrift stores or flea markets will have all the pieces/parts - in full unopened packages and bolts of real fabric, too. At much lower pricing.

Check Craig's list (everyone else I know seems to do better at that than I do, but I have "scored" a couple of deals, too) or classified ads in a local paper. EVEN put up a flyer/notice that you are teaching your grandchildren to sew and are looking for : ??? and see who/what comes "out of the woodwork".
 
I always check our thrift store for fabric and clothes!

We are well on the way with the state project. She is also making book markers to sell at her home school entrepreneur convention next week. Today we hope to find time to do the zipper. But the map project is priority.
 
We got the map put together. Whew. A rush job in two days. The tutorial was the inspiration but not really helpful. We spent quite a lot of time matching fabric to states--some is a little far fetched but we wrapped our brains and imaginations around it! She plans to embroider around all the states, so it isn't finished yet. I am thinking I will make one of my county as a small quilt wall hanging.

madilynnmap3.jpg
 
I absolutly love your map! Especially the ric rac river. Genius. You are so talented. I love recycling projects too, I like to think of it as "upcycling". You could have your granddaughter make a tote bag out of an old pair of jeans. You just cut the legs off of the pants a little lower than the desired depth of the bag, cut out the crotch inseam and overlap the pieces to sew it flat on the sides (as if you were to make a skirt out of the pants) then turn the jeans inside out and sew straight across the bottom edge to make a tote. I save the legs and cut out a strap handle and use whatever I have lying around to sew in a liner, she could even sew in the liner inside zipper.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Latest posts

Back
Top