My 6 1/2 yo nephew wants to learn how to sew. I asked him if he wanted to use my machine and he said no he wants to do it by hand. Does anybody have any suggestions on where to start him at?? His older brother has also showed interest and my kids as well but they are a little young yet. I want it to be something useful but I just don't know where to start... HELP PLEASE!!!

My daughter and son were a little younger than that when they wanted to learn ~ does he have a favorite stuffed animal that meeds mending? He'll learn how to sew w/needle & thread, and fix a treasure at the same time!

Then, for a "2nd project" I had my kids use my scraps to sew together a "quilt" for that favorite stuffie... it was a win-win! :) Go for it! My youngest son is now 11, and he designed his first real quilt for his bed at age 7 ~ 300,000 embroidery stitches, all Pokemon. He won't let anyone touch it, and I have to wait until he's at school to steal it for laundering :)

I learned at a young age back in North Wales, they started us on basic stitches using large cross stitch fabric. We made a bag to hold our PJ's in. (I still have it somewhere). Had to decorate with decorative stitching (******//////++++++\\\\\*******), all repeats so you get the gist of it. You could use a marker and draw out a design on it and then he could follow it too. Fold into 3rds and straight stitch/ running stitch---------, up the sides to create pouch and keep the flap from unraveling.

When my granddaughter was 5, I started her with plastic canvas so she could get the hang of threading and holding a needle. Then at 7, she wanted to start stamped cross stitch.At around 8 0r 9 she started picking out a simple pattern and cutting it,but was still scared to use my sewing machine.She is 12 now and still hesitates, cause she tells me the machine goes too fast. I showed her the foot pedal and how I made it go fast and slow.But I'm not putting any pressure on her. Her real passion is getting out a graph pad ,colored pencils,and designing a quilt for me to sew. She likes to hand quilt. One of these days she'll use the machine.

at guild a gal showed some squares of fabric on which her granddaughters had done running stitch appliques...they chose designs (snowmen), picked out fabric, traced the designs and cut out the snowmen then hand stitched them on. Grandma is topstitching them by machine to make sure they stay on, but the blocks are really cute and are being made into a doll quilt for each kid.

My kids would put together big blocks to make into quilts for stuffed animals. They also loved the cards with wholes punched into them that you put the string into that outlined a design (cat, dog etc) It always looked like shoelaces to me that you put thru the cards. I dont know if they make those anymore and he might be a bit old for those, but they had fun with those.

That is wonderful that they are showing an interest. Start with small pieces that they can handle.

My son learned to sew hand & machine by working with me then he took Home/economics in school for 1 semester sd "Oh Mom they sew different all their patterns have 2 match."I told well mine are one of a kind not like everyone else

You could start on cross stitch fabric. Or just draw lines for him to follow and reinforce if necessary. In teaching my boys, 7 & 9, I made the mistake of moving too quickly to machine sewing. Now they have little to no interest in hand sewing. If I had it to do over, I'd give them a solid start hand sewing before going to the machine. Btw, I bought them a Brother HS 2000, very nice for $200. Just got a Kenmore Mini Ultra for $50 + shipping at Sears.com on the advice of the pattern review posters. Haven't tried it yet. And they are already talking about who get which FWs when I die (I'm 38).

Oh that is just too funny!!! LOL!! Thanks for the advice!