What sewing supplies for a 6 year old?

[boheime]

My daughter loves to design and work with my sewing stuff any time I have it out. I keep fabric and stuff in the kids' art/craft supplies, but I think she would really like her own sewing kit. Her birthday is next September. She'll turn 6 then. I'm thinking about making a quilted sewing bag and stuffing it full of supplies. What should I put in it?

Small, quality scissors
needles, maybe a needle threader so I don't have to thread her needles?
hand quilting thread
embroidery floss
fat quarters

What else? She has also pointed out the little kids sewing machines. Are they worth buying or do they just take up space? I don't have a problem with her using mine.

[ms.shell]

my sister went through some trouble recently trying to get a little machine for her dd. First she bought one marketed for children by Singer at toys r us.....it is supposed to really work, but doesnt have a bottom thread; so its a toy and wont sew. Then she bought a purple small model from Wal-mart, called the Pixie, i think, that caused them both a lot of frustration. I have had great luck with Janome, so when i saw the Janome Sew Mini advertised at Hancock for $39, i suggested they switch to that and now finally my niece is having fun learning to sew. Hancock runs this machine on special frequently, btw.

[Therese's Mommy]

My dd got a Janome Hello Kitty sewing machine for Christmas. She loves it. She only uses the hand crank, but it is working well and seems like a nice sturdy machine, totally worth the money (I think it was a little over $100). I think my mom got it through Target online.

Here it is.

[LaughingHyena]

I would add
Some felt pieces (so far DDs sewing has been sewing felt shapes onto a background)
Buttons
Large embroidery hoop (I put DDs fabric in one when she is sewing as she finds it much easier to hold)


I would look around at some of the kids kits in the craft shop. DD was quite taken with one to make lavender sachets. They were just 2 heart shaped pieces of felt, one of which had buttons sewn onto it for decoration. We had all the stuff to make those at home and a lot cheaper than buying the kits. I think putting something like that together would be a nice addition to a sewing gift.

[sapphire_chan]

Definitely felt.

Marking pens/pencils.

A couple kid-friendly patterns, like a small bear/doll stuffie, a pretty applique design, or a small bag.

Extra needles and full bobbins for whatever machine she ends up using.