My 12 yr old would love to learn how to sew, and she does own her own sewing machine, which she has played with a little,so i have decided that on fridays we will take time and sew, (her sewing lessons) Now, I need some suggestions on what to do: This is what I have in mind: take her to the store, (walmart closest around me) and have her pick out a fabric she likes, then go though my patterns (boxes of them) and let here make a skirt.(i think that my be the easiest to begin) Ok where do i go from there!!! I am stuck as to what to do from there. Any suggestions?
4-H has wonderful beginning project books for sewing. I let the gal at the Rec Center borrow Faythe's, and she had me buy her a copy. She now uses it for her beginning sewing class there. If you do have her do a skirt, be sure to start with an elastic wasteband. No zippers, etc., at first! Bags are easy to make, too!
I taught myself to sew using "Sewing for Dummies" patterns. You might want to look at the types of things they offer to get an idea. I started with a sleeveless dress pattern for my daughter, and then I made the elastic waist pants that were included in the same pattern envelope. Then I made the hat that was also included. After I finished all those patterns, I was able to move on to shirts with sleeves and buttons. I'm still learning, but I can read "non-dummy" patterns now. There are also some easy and free patterns online for small projects like baby booties at http://www.newconceptions.com/free.htm and http://www.ottobredesign.com/en/print/index.html has free, fun patterns like a dog or cat purse and animal shaped backpacks -- you have to use the arrow to the left or right of the pictures to see them all.
I found this website a couple years ago, when I decided that I, MYSELF, need something like this. you'd have to google "future Christian Homemakers" to find it. Now it's been published as a real book (how exciting for them!!) but they still have all the info free on their website! The sewing section pushes hand sewing, but then recommends a good book on teaching kids real sewing. When I googled homemaking curriculum trying to find them for you, another good one came up too, but now I lost it... If you know anyone having a baby, pouch style baby slings are incredibly easy to make, and make great gifts. pretty much just straight-line sewing. or they can be made for dolls too...if your girl still plays with dolls. I sew pretty well, but don't use patterns. I wish I had taken time to learn a lot of things from my mom, including sewing with patterns. I was not the kind of kid who wanted to listen to anyone else tell me how to do something...especially mom....even though she's an awesome homemaker...
I would suggest looking for the very simple patterns, like "Sew Easy", etc. Those are very basic and have a lot of different things you can sew.
thanks every one, i can sew very well myself,and do make the girls clothes some of the time, skirts mostly, but how to explain it and do simple things are my problem!!
I bet that they will be able to do a lot just by practicing. My girls have just tackled it and I am amazed at what they can do. I am there when they need me. I do help them with cutting things out they get nervous about it. They have sewn their own swimming suits with a little help. Just be prepared to have lots of mistakes so get them their own seam ripper. I bet it will be lots of fun.
My girls are 4 and 6 and I have them practicing sewing straight lines by hand. I started them out with a piece of cardboard with holes punched in it and a shoelace so they could understand how sewing works. My 6 yo now sews with a blunt(ish) needle and I mark dots on a piece of fabric and she has to sew along those dots using yarn. She is doing well, so I think in the next few weeks I will start her on sewing buttons on shirts. Then I will move to mending clothing by hand. I think it's just as important to know how to sew by hand as it is the use a machine. Once my girls understand and can sew by hand then we will move to a machine. Some might call me old fashion, but I have a friend that only learned on a machine and even though she is amazing and can make anything, when her machine goes into the shop she calls me to sew buttons on because she doesn't know how to do it by hand. I even tried to show her how, and she just didn't get it. I found a free e-book only from the early 1900's about teaching girls to sew. It has some pretty good information in it.
I was looking through youtube.com. If you type sewing lesson, you'll get a series of lessons from basic to advance. I might try it for myself and my daughter.try it and see. Good luck.
Minthia, do you garden? If so, have your kids sew a Sit-Upon (as the Girl Scouts use to call them, lol!). http://www.momsminivan.com/extras/situpon.html I had the kids make them a few summers ago when we were going camping, and I didn't want any fussing about having to sit on the ground. I still use them regular to kneel on when I weed the garden. They really are practical things, and cheap, too!
Doyou have a Jo Anns fabrics near you? They have classes, they also have online lessons on somethings so check thier web site out.. juts google the store or ad a .com at theend of Joanns.com ? Like that. Lol My dd has learnned a lot from online and i taught her to make straight stiches, still need to instruct on when is the right time to do what other kinds of stitches, but grab some scraps of fabric and let her practice the different kinds of stiches ? Does she hand sew yet? I think it is important to teach this first myself.
Speaking of JoAnn's, their Teacher Appreciation Day is Saturday, Aug. 15th. Save 20%, and hs'ers are included.
I have been so busy these last few days I didn't have to time to think! Yesterday I had 13 kids at my house and only 5 of those were mine! Dalynnrmc- Here is the link to the sewing book http://www.archive.org/details/handsewinglesson00krolrich Jackie- yes I garden, well I mean I try to garden....but my garden usually fails. However I think I will have my girls sew those sit-upons because they look so cool and I can see numerous uses for them!
My dd took sewing lesson, the first few classes they had her sewing color book pages, following the lines. then she made a bag or purse, pot holder, and apron... then they had her pick out a sewing easy pattern and make a shirt.
Thank you for the thread - I am teaching my 12 yr old this year as well. It is a part of her "Life Skills" class (kinda like home-ec). Also, thank you so much Minthia for the link That was exactly what I was looking for!!
