Sowing While You Sew is such a great series, I'm so glad Sally invited me to contribute. You know, when I was growing up I learned many types of sewing skills (hand embroidery, cross stitch, machine sewing, quilting) during 4th and 5th grade summer school (which was free). I also took some sewing classes during Junior High School. Nowadays I don't think many schools offer these types of classes anymore, so if we want our children to know some basic sewing skills, like how to sew on a button, for example, we have to teach them ourselves. And what a perfect opportunity to do to some sewing projects together would be during those 3 long months off of school during the summer, just something to keep in mind when you're making those plans for the summer.
Anyway, today I'm going to share with you what I've done to teach my son how to sew.
Back when he was 4.5 years old, I cut out a piece of burlap from an empty rice bag, and placed it into an embroidery hoop.
The whole goal was to start out simple and teach him how to sew a straight line on the sewing machine ~ he started with a very easy instant gratification project called: canvas loose-leaf paper project. It's such a great little project, it is simply sewing one red, then many blue straight lines on a small size rectangle canvas fabric. In the end you have a piece of fabric that looks like a piece of loose leaf paper!
The first couple of lines I placed a strip of yellow tape that he used as a guide...
To add to the fun factor I made a teeny tiny sized drawstring backpack for his favorite tiger stuffed animal.
LEGO sewing machine!
- Make A Bag Chapter 3D: Drawstrings @ Ikat Bag
- Make A Bag Chapter 7: Unlined Flat Tote @ Ikat Bag
- Candy Corn Backpacks @ Ikat Bag
- DIY: How To Make A Drawstring Backpack @ Momtastic
- Drawstring Backpack DIY @ Punk Projects
- How to Sew a Drawstring Backpack @ Prudent Baby