my youngest granddaughter was 4 when she made her first quilt- i picked up a small ($89) brother machine at walmart that had speed control on it- set up her small care bear table & chairs & turned the speed to the slowest the machine would go- she layed her fabrics out on the floor- arranging as she wanted- the only things i did for her was cutting & ironing. (she did some of her own cutting with a pair of kids safety shears but did bring me a few pieces to cut for her. some of her seams were 1 1/2" wide- few were anything close to straight- but she was Thrilled with her quilt- and sent it to her dad who had just deployed- it meant everything to him & to her- and now- 8 years & 3 more deployments later he still carries that quilt around the world where ever he goes. at no time have i ever told her- 'no-you can't do it that way' and over the years her skills have improved- her love of sewing has grown- she believes if you can lay it out & invision it-you can make it
as long as safety is always practiced i think if they are old enough to have interest-they are old enough. our only rule over the years has been---no one under 18 can go near a rotory cutter- scissors work just fine- and you have to be enough (& over 12) to use the iron- and they can not just cut up fabric for the sake of cutting it up- they always have to have a plan-and use what they take. when my granddaughter's come to visit they sometimes spend hours just (pawing) through my fabric shelves...the oldest one loves designing purses for herself & her friends- and some other clothing/assessories---the youngest prefers quilts & pillows-