[ShannonCC]

My six year old is interested in sewing. Any ideas, or free online patterns for her?

Today she made the cat's Christmas present

I cut a square of fleece. She sewed three sides, stuffed it with catnip and then sewed it up. Then I cut out a mouse shape. She sewed it most of the way around, stuffed it with some cotton, stuffed the catnip square in, and sewed it closed. I used some yarn to make a tail, whiskers and eyes and there you have it!

She was so happy and proud of herself

Any other ideas? They need to be REALLY simple and not too big or she'll get overwhelmed or lose interest.

 

[boingo82]

What about a windsock? These are easy esp. if you have a serger. If I remember from sewing class, you get 3 colors of fabric, and cut 4 4x24 strips from each.

Then put 6 of the strips and sew them edge to edge like this:

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Take the other 6 strips, and on each, serge 2 long sides and a short side. (Or, turn and topstitch)

Then line them up along the bottom stripe you sewed before, and sew them on. Then turn the thing into a tube. Hard to explain in text, hopefully you get what I mean.

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[heatherdeg]

Potholders (yes, you can actually make these! Google search for what's in the middle, but I think wool works--just double check)

Doll clothes for a bigger doll (I did Barbie clothes at 7, but I was "into" the intricate stuff)

Curtains for her room? Big, but horrifically quick and simple! And what a sense of individualism and pride...?!

Pillow for herself... and maybe you can use some of that fabric that you can run through the printer to print out one of her fave pics onto a piece of muslin and use it for the front of the pillow? I think I got the paper-backed muslin for the printer through Keepsake Quilting, but I"m not positive.

 

[Queen Gwen]

Fleece hats. We got this from an old issue of Family Fun, so it should be at www.familyfun.com somewhere in the section of Christmas gifts kids can make.

It's basically just a tube of fleece. The only tricky part is making part of the seam on the outside so you can roll up a brim. After you sew the tube you gather it with a ribbon, string or I-cord.

Check out Family Fun for patterns for making dolls out of felt, too. They're handsewn, but still pretty fun.

 

[Kari_mom]

Just checking...are you asking for hand sewn or machine sewn projects?

Here are some ideas: sew trims on her jeans, make a jean pocket purse, hats, make tiny purses for dolls from ribbons, pillows, doll quilt, bean bags, simple skirt for dress-ups. If you want directions for any of these, just ask!

Here is a link for a page full of links for sewing projects: Sew News with tons of ideas.

HTH!

 

[ShannonCC]

Yeah, I should have mentioned I want hand sewing projects

I have some great ideas already from this thread though. Thanks!

I think we'll start with the fleece hat. I'll use Christmas money or gift certificates to get some fleece for her to make something then. Then if she's still interested, we'll work our way up to doll accessories and on from there. She is practically obsessed with baby dolls

so she should enjoy making stuff for them.

 

[Queen Gwen]

I think fleece is sort of hard to hand sew...when dd made the hats she used the sewing machine. But it sounds like your dd has already done alright with fleece, so maybe she'd be fine with the hats.

Klutz Press has a sewing book with thread and fabric. My mom gave it to dd one year, I think maybe on her 7th birthday. Anyway, she really enjoyed the book. It has patterns for a cat toy, a needle book to stick your sewing needles in, a pin cushion, etc.

 

[Kari_mom]

 

[Kari_mom]

My first project was embroidering a kitten onto a hankerchief. I still have it, it is precious to me.

Embroidery is a nice way to learn handwork. There are kits available or a stop by the local craft store will work. And maybe someday your daughter will embellish knit pants for babies and sell them for $240, lol.

 

[boingo82]

If she wants to try embroidery there are some really nice patterns here:
http://www.sublimestitching.com/
(Motto: No Geese In Bonnets)

 

[mama_daba]

synthetic felt can be very nice for making dolls and stuff with, it is super easy to sew by hand and you don't need to worry about it unravling, also it comes in pretty bright colors, i made xmas presents for all my friends this year cuz we are to poor to buy stuff, and i just made them animals out of the synthetic felt, it is also mega cheap and they came out really really beautiful and nice
i got ideas and inspiration from
http://www.goblinko.com/grunions/index.html
for my animals and dolls i made very simple shapes and just cut out two of them like pillow s but neat shapes and used a lot of stuffing for them, some of them look like three dimensional children drawings

 

[ShannonCC]

Oooo yeah, I forgot! We have two huge rolls of felt! Green and red. I think we also have little squares of different colors around. Maybe I can figure out a small doll she can make? As I said, she loves dolls so she'd be thrilled.

Thanks for all the links

 

[[email protected]]

finger puppets or hand puppets

small purse for herself

sachet pillows

maybe a simple vest out of felt?

 

[ShannonCC]

I actually thought of a sachet the other day! But then I realized I didn't have anything for her to put in it. That's a very good idea.

Her first (impromptu) project was a bag. She made it a few weeks ago with HUGE uNEvEn stiches all over the place and she was SO proud of herself

When she made the cat toy the other day I noticed that her stitches were smaller and closer than they had been before

It's so fun having a "big" kid

 

[littlest birds]

My dd did a "sampler" several years ago when she was five. She used embroidery floss and a big needle on felt, that was made easy to handle with a big embroidery hoop.

She stitched on buttons and beads and made stripes of different colors, along with her initial. It was all free-form.

It was really fun to show off, too.

 

[beckysboutique]

she can make herself a poncho with one piece of fleece and some yarn... She has to cut a rectangle roughly 50" by 20" fold top left corner down to match bottom right corner. Now fold top right in to make a seam. whip stich the seam and around neck if desired. Comes out super cute...

 

[kvan]

How'bout a tooth fairy pillow, if you do the tooth fairy at your house. Simple little stuffed pillow with a tiny front pocket.