My daughter was 6 when she used my machine for the first time. She wanted to use it several years before tht but I made her wait. She sat on my lap while I did things. She is now 12 and has made 10 quilts.

I bought my granddaughter (4yrs) a felt sewing project at Joann's. It has prepunched holes in the felt and she made a cute tooth pillow. I had to help her remember to go up or down sometimes and had to pull out a few stitches but she got the hang of it. I think we sat down 3 or 4 different times for 10 to 15 minutes each time. That's about all her attention span and frustration level would handle but she was very happy with it when done. I have since picked up a couple more kits and put away for Christmas.

Another thing I've done for 2 of my granddaughter's (same 1 and her little sister that's almost 3) is a got them each a display board (one of those project display boards that folds up into 3rds) and covered them with a vinyl/felted tablecloth. Now they each have a design wall of their own. I give them scraps and they go to town sticking them onto their design wall. When done I just fold them up and put them behind my cabinet. The older one (4 yr) had designed her own doll quilt. I gave her 6" squares and let her lay them out how she wanted them on my design wall. Then she sat in my lap and helped me sew them. I had my hands on the fabric first and her hands on top of mine. After she got comfortable with that we switched and my hands were on top of hers. Finally she held the fabric and I kept my hands close but not touching. During all of this I had my machine on it's slowest setting and I ran the foot pedal. She picked out the borders and the backing. I birthed it and we finished it by her picking out a decorative stitch and we "tied" it w/the decorative stitch on my machine. She then practiced her cutting by trimming the threads between the stitches. This project took us some time as again her attention span was 10-15 minutes at a whack. Sometimes I'd ask her if she wanted me to sew a bit w/o her and if she said yes then I did but mostly we did it together.

I bought a little Janome almost a yr ago and have been thinking of giving it to her for Christmas this year...

The Hello Kitty machines are adorable! I almost bought one for myself (just for the cute factor) lol.

i was encouraged at age 3 to sew buttons on a pc of fabric. i picked out antique buttons i liked and was able to keep them if i could sew them down. Boy, i wish i had those buttons now. i haven't stopped since. i waas lucky to have that neighbor Aunt Betty who taught me how to sew

I am sooooo glad I read this thread. My 11 yr old DGS bugs me all the time to let him sew. I don't have much patience, but he has been around when we have had sewing group and some of the other ladies are really good with him. I think this thread has given me some ideas to try and work with him. He is ADHD too boot, so not sure how it will go. He did make a pillow a couple of weeks ago and did a very nice job of it. Thanks for the encouragement!! I love this site!!

Awww, she is adorable! She did a good job too!

If she is interested, find simple things for her to do.

For hand sewing, I too, suggest plastic canvas to sew together. She can make a box out of 6 squares. Leave the lid hinged on only one side, and she can put stuff in it!

Have fun, and when she is tired, let her go. Don't try to finish something when she is tired.

Enjoy!