steelecg

I am thinking of creating a beginner's sewing kit for my granddaughter who is 6. She has expressed an interest in sewing and so I think she is ready to do some simple things. She helped me guide the machine when I made a pillow for my husband to take to dialysis. What would you suggest to go in it?
I thought I would get her a stamped pillowcase to begin handwork, so needles, thread, small scissors - I am open to all suggestions because I also want her to learn some machine techniques as well. I have a Pfaff and a Janome - I think she would deal well with the Janome because of the variable speed feature. Thanks for your help.

Grama Lehr

That is a great idea! Make sure that she has someplace to put it, like a sewing box of some sort. That way she kind find all of her stuff. My granddaughter has her own sewing kit and loves it!!
Have fun! ;)

cdobbert40

I have a 5 yo granddaughter also, and she has decided her sewing room name is little scissors (she names herself according to what she is doing, her name is Izabella, everyone calls her Bella, but at soccer her name is Izzy. I have no clue how she comes up with this stuff). I have an old metal desk that holds my cutting matt and she has one drawer that is hers. It has a pair of small scissors, glue, paper, and markers. The paper and markers are for when she feels like drawing, cause "you never know when a picture will pop right into your brain". So I dump my larger scraps in there for her and she designs her own squares, I will give her a 12 X 12 square and we (I) applique on the scraps with decorative stitches. I have not moved up to giving her any needles yet, as I know this will create a blood donation of some sort, but have been keeping an eye out at goodwill for a sewing machine for her. She's very good at guiding material for me and for pressing the foot pedal. Oh and we glue little embellishments onto the sqare she's made. She takes them all home at the end of the day and uses them with her Barbies, I think as princess capes.

AngieS

That's a really neat idea.

Izzy sounds adorable cdobbert40.

I can't wait till my little girl gets a little older. She is 3 and loves to "sew". She likes to help guide the fabric through the machine. Oh, and she has to get her play iron when I am ironing. :0)

Annaquilts

I have taught many of my children on Janome and some other people's children. When we made gift sewing kits we put in a pin cushion, long pins, scissors, thread, ruler, tape, a sewing box or one of those bags to put sewing notions in,FQs, thimble, sewing needles hand, and machine, a simple precut doll quilt kit with pattern or a pillow case pattern with precut fabric.

bluteddi

I got all my grandtrs " lacing cards" to start off. they usually have a pic outlines and holes to put the lacing thru. The needle is plastic so no blood donations. when they have mastered this I move up to plastic canvas that I have drawn outlines of things on. Still with the large plastic needle. Then we move up to " the big girl" stuff... I have squares that I have serged the edges and again I draw ( with a laundry marker) an outline, put in some eyelets. For an occasional surprise, I dont outline a pic and just put the eyelets in... They come up with their own pics. Then we move up to plastic cavnas kits... usually by this time they have it down.. They love the printed cross stitch patterns! The know they are REALLY sewing then....

littlehud

My DGD sews on a Janome Sew Mini. It's great for her. She has a small stash. When we go to the fabric store she picks out fat quarters. Lately she has been eying the bolts too though.

amma

Bright colored threads and fabrics, and some plainer fabric for back ground squares, maybe some fusible so she can do some raw edge applique. Add manilla folders/cardboard pieces for applique shapes. She can embellish her applique work with all kinds of things and make little wall hangings for her room or gifts.
Then as she gets better on the machine you can increase her pieced work. :D:D:D

steelecg

Thanks for the great suggestions

hperttula123

last year my kids made stuffed bears. They just took a basic bear pattern(blown up from a wood working magazine) and they got to sew around the edges leaving an opening to stuff with fiber-fill. They got to hand sew it closed. I gave my (at the time)13 yr old some felt that I wasn't going to use and she designed clothes for her bear and hand sewed all them. She got to enter it in the fair we have here and she won 1st prize.
I think it's great to get her going on sewing. Even if she don't do it all the time, it's great hobby. I would just give her some thread for hand sewing, scissors, some needles, and make her a pin cushion(all depending on how she is at her age. I know my first daughter would be ok with that stuff, but my second, I'm not sure if I'd still give her anything sharp...she might try to carve her name in the furniture or something stupid like that).