Teaching kids to sew is easier than you think, even if you don’t sew yourself. Sewing is a skill that can bring loads of joy and personal satisfaction—a huge confidence builder for sure! From practice sheets to beginner projects, learning to sew can be fun. These ideas will help you get started!
Learning To Sew!
A couple of weeks ago Bella, my 7 year old daughter, spent the night at a friend’s house. This little friend had received a sewing machine for Christmas.
The mom said that well past 10:00 p.m. she could hear the hum of the machine in the basement. The little girls were creating “clothes” for their dolls out of little pieces of fabric and simple straight stitches. Sure, they weren’t perfect, and some might not even qualify as clothes, but they were having fun and being creative—how wonderful!
My friend, assuming that since I sew and have this crafty blog, that I, of course, had taken the time to teach my daughter. She said to Bella, “I bet you sew at home.” Bella replied, “No, my mom is too busy!” OH MY, shot to the heart!
While her response was a bit embarrassing (mostly sad), it was also eye-opening! I knew what I needed (wanted) to do!
Passing on the Gift of Sewing
Sewing is something that I love and I am beyond thankful that my mom took the time to share it with me. It has not only has brought me hours of joy. It has also been a practical skill that has served me well. Thank you, mom!
I want to pass this gift forward. So today, I begin a little sewing adventure with Bella. I don’t want to miss this opportunity to share something with her that is so important and useful to me!
To make it fun and stress free, I have created several beginning sewing projects for us, and I hope you and your young crafter will join us in this learning adventure. Please show us what you are making, and give us ideas of things to make!
We would love to hear your tips and stories, and please feel free to ask questions! I do sincerely hope that you will share this special time with us. So grab a kid and let’s get stitching! It is easy to have a sewing class right at home.
Teaching Children to Sew (Worksheets)
First, even before we wound the bobbin and threaded the machine, was have some fun. I printed out a maze and dot-to-dot so Bella could practice handling the machine. Then we situated her at the table and I showed her how to use the foot pedal and bring the needle down.
These sheets really help improve working in a straight line, lining up the needle, and they provide practice with changing direction and feeding the material in smoothly. You might also like these inspirational practice sewing sheets.
Bella loved the dot-to-dot and trying out new stitches around the maze. Both these activities helped her learn to make the machine stop and go, to stitch straight and make a pivot stitch. The practice sheets are a great idea for low-stress, basic sewing experience. If you mess up a stitch, there’s no pressure, and no need to cut the thread or start over.
As she practiced, Bella became an expert at lowering the needle down into the paper and raising the presser foot to turn a corner and make a pivot. Notice her complete concentration.
Do you remember the first time you sat with your mother or grandmother and learned to sew? How about the first time you tried threading a needle and pushing the needle through the fabric? I can still remember the pincushion and sewing supplies my mom had stashed away. These are memories that last a lifetime. You are creating wonderful memories!
She thought it was funny what shape the dot-to-dot made. Shhhhh, we can’t tell! Oh how I have loved teaching her to sew.
Here are the sheets we used if you would like to have some fun! Download and print using the fit-to-page mode. Print as many copies as you need to, and watch your little one refine their skills.
Dot-to-Dot Sewing Sheet
Maze Sewing Sheet
We have more practice sewing sheets: Free Printable Practice Sewing Sheets
My Favorite Sewing Tools
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Sewing Projects for Kids
Finally, I want to leave you with some resources to check out! We have so many easy sewing projects to help your children develop their sewing skills. From toys and ornaments to pillows and functional projects, something in this list is sure to spark inspiration.
- Drawstring Backpack
- Teddy Bear
- Easy Tote Bag
- Bookmark
- Kids headband
- Doll Dress
- Hanging rainbow cloud
- Hedge Hog Ornament
- Carrot Pencil Holder
- Pillow
- Towel Swim Bag
- DIY I Spy Bag
- Sling Library Bag
- Zipper Pouch ~ this is a bit more advanced but you will be surprised at how easy it is to put a zipper in.
Tell us what you and your kids liked the most. What projects have you tried? Are there other cute ideas for introductory machine sewing that you have discovered? Please share your sewing tips for teaching kids in the comments!
Thank you for sharing your feedback and your love for teaching kids to sew! I love hearing that you are teaching it!
I have been teaching sewing to girls and boys in my home for 3 years. I find these two exercies very good for the kids. I start the kids at age 8 and go up from there. I also have some parents who want to learn to sew like their kids. (I love that) When I sit a child at the machine, I give them one of these exercizes to work on. Some of the kids can sew a straight line right off and then some have a really rough time. Just a little practice and encouragement will help though. My kids usually stay in my classes for 2 years and hate leaving. The reason for leaving most of the time though is that they go into middle school and they just don’t have time for sewing class with all their homework. But I know that the sewing bug has been instilled in each of them. I love all these kids and can’t wait til sewing starts each day. The smiles from a finished project always make me happy too!!!
I just started helping with a group teaching kids to sew and found your notice of the sewing sheets which I thought would be a great exercise for them to start with. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find a link where I can download the sheets. All I’m seeing is a third party ad to download a pdf converter – which I do NOT need!
Am I missing something?
Thanks for your help.
Barb
This is just what I’ve been looking for. My 10 yr. old grandduaghter has been asking me to show her how to sew and my intention is to start her out on her great grandmother’s old black straight stitch machine!
Having read this I believed it was really informative.
I appreciate you spending some time and effort to put this information together.
I once again find myself spending way too much time both reading and
commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!
My daughter printed the maze and dot to dot and helped her children get started with them — her son is 10 and her daughter is 4 — her daughter doesn’t want to stop
The answer to my granddaughter’s requests to “sew” while I work on my quilting and varied projects. She turns 6 this week and Mommy is buying her a machine so I can work with her while I do my own sewing. I thought she might be too young, worrying about poking her fingers with the needle. This site is giving me the confidence that she can learn to sew now, and I look forward to this special time with her while we “create” together!
I have a 4H sewing club and since each member does not own their own machine we tend to have quite a bit of “waiting for a maching” time. I have an older machine that I can’t seem to get the tensions right on that we don’t use at all. I think I will set it up and leave it unthreaded with a stack of these activities next to it. The kids can practice their stitching while waiting for a machine to open to finish their projects.
What a great idea!!!
My kids just love these printables. Do you have anymore or know where I could find some?
I hope it helps
Wow Fredrica that is a great story!
I still have my original Singer Sewing machine that I received 50 years ago. It still worked the last time I tried it (1999). I had broken the throttle off of it many years ago and my dad rigged it so that I could use it with a screw driver. My grandmother taught me so much to do by hand and with the little machine I had the best dressed Barbie doll around. I went on to sew my very first dress (with a zipper) which was what we called a tent dress and I wore this and it was handed down two times before I lost the location. So teaching children to so is so important. When my daughter was young her teacher said that it was so valuable teaching them to sew and cook because it taught them to follow directions. I still love (addicted) to sew.
I bought my step daughter a sewing machine 2 or 3 yrs ago for her birthday. She had seen me sewing & she wanted to learn too. She’s 15 now & from the beginning she didn’t like the fact that her machine made a lot more noise than mine did but, I didn’t want to give her my machine because I thought she needed to learn with a machine that wasn’t very expensive & then she could work her way up. Anyway, I just bought a Singer for $40 at an online yardsale (it’s only a few yrs old) but I had to fix the tension on it first. She’s gone to her mom’s for the summer but when she get’s back I’m going to teach her how to sew, I’m hoping she’s still interested. When I was little my cousins & brother & I learned how to sew with a newspaper, thread & needle. There were six of us & when we complained that we were bored my mom & Aunt would hand us a newspaper. I think every child should learn how to hand sew. I got my very first sewing machine one year for Christmas. It was a Holly Hobby sewing machine, I loved it. I still have it to this day & I’m almost 48.
Thanks for the cute practice sheets! I used them for the 8 kids in my sewing 4-H class.