I live 300 miles from my granddaughter, but have on occasion when visiting, been helping her with a small table top project; I advised her to hand sew it together to get the feel for working with fabric, and since it is small floral all over fabric and some batiks, she does not have to mind the direction of the flow of how she puts the 2 1/2 inch squares together for starters. She does quite well with keeping her stitches small; I hope she continues to want to learn sewing; once she gets this one done - I'll show her how to sew with the sewing machine; her mom invested in one 5 years ago and is still in the box! So, will get it out maybe this summer and spend a bit of time with her on another project; I have lots of fabric, so she can pick what she wants and I set her up with a mat and cutting wheel, and ruler and etc. So, she is not lacking for everything she needs to make anything happen she so desires to start. She does beautiful crosstitch and embroidery work; her mother does Hardanger, and has taught her how to do it also. So, she has the background - now to find time with all the extra curricular activites in school to keep her interest.