quilting cat

Five yo hand sewn project: A sock puppet with button eyes, embroidered mouth,yarn hair stitched through the toe and knotted.
First quilt: precut squares -- let child choose layout, piece in rows; keep project small.

jitkaau

As long as you explain safety precautions and how to use the tools first, the kids do well. I have had 4 year olds cutting and sewing and seven year olds using the rotary cutters. The children are never left unsupervised, and reminded of safety rules. I believe the tools should be the proper ones as well as sharp and easy to use. I think the accidents happen more if one is struggling with blunt or inadequate tools that are not sharp enough to do the job. If you do the cutting and sewing the kids don't get used to using the tools properly.My sister and I used to cook family meals from the age of 9 and our practise came earlier than that, so I think sewing is the same.

Quilting Nonnie

My granddaughter, who was 7, and I made a quilt. I bought a charm square pack and let her play with the layout until she was happy.

She was able to sew on my Janome and iron. She was quite good with the machine. The first few times she didn't pay attention and really sewed large seams I picked them out for her. On the next mistake I told her that the next time she would be picking out the seam herself. She paid much more attention and her seams were better. She absolutely loved her quilt. I sewed on the binding. She helped tie it.

The same summer my grandson, 10, and I made a quilt. I went to a very easy quilt. He picked the fabric. His sewing ability was much worse than my seven-year-old granddaughter. He couldn't pay attention from the start to the end of the seam! I think every seam was sewn and picked out at least twice. He almost made it through the whole thing. He did love steam ironing. He steamed so much he ran my iron out of water!

Halo

You could even start them out on pillow cases. Just a few seams & their project is finished. Makes them proud that they can start & finish in a day.

Mattee

I love that idea!

Nona

I bought a machine for my girls when they were 7 and 8. It was (and is a Singer 99). I paid $25.00 for it in Waco Texas. For about 6 months they "sewed" coloring book pages. Needle but no thread. Then they sewed seams....I used a machine guide to keep them on a quarter or 3/8 seam size. I used a small block of wood under the foot pedal to limit the speed of the machine. It then could only go so fast and not run away on them. As they got better, I started them on clothing construction. Shorts, p.j.'s, T shirts etc. Something that could be completed in 2 or 3 days of their sewing. Kinda like sew and wear....As they got better, the complex nature of sewing outfits extended. By the time they finished high school, they were and are pretty accomplished sewers. Since both still have families at home or college, quilting hasn't become essential for either one of them, but they make the most magnificient Holloween costumes of their neighborhood.

Gabrielle's Mimi

I started several young kids on quilting by helping them to make Project Linus quilts:

Select a fabric that has a panel, or stripes or blocks and make a quilt sandwich. Baby fabrics often have designs like this. Have the children sew on the lines with a walking foot. It's kind of like driving a car, staying on or between the lines. The fabric we chose to start on was Phoenix Suns motif with lots of white lines in a grid and basketballs in the little "boxes." The kids learned very quickly how to stay on the lines, and they ended up with a quilt that just needed binding.

This is not a pieced quilt, but for a first project it was fun, and was about giving to others and learning to use the sewing machine. Because it was already a quilt sandwich it worked up quickly. Both girls have gone on to make other quilts made with charm squares and a simple border. The charm packs are fantastic in that they offer lots of pretty fabric choices and there is no need to use a rotary cutter. The kids loved arranging the charms into a pleasing design. One made a gift for her mom and was so happy to be able to give it to her, something she had made herself.