The holiday season is here! As parents, we know how valuable it is to spend quality time with our kids. This season, get your kids into the holiday spirit by helping them with these easy sewing projects. Being able to sew is an important skill and it’s easier than you might think!
Starting with small projects is fun and learning basic sewing skills enables kids to make items while adding their own design ideas. It’s easy to learn how to use a needle and thread and kids will be excited to create gifts for their family and friends.
You don’t need large pieces of fabric for these projects. Re-use scraps left over from other projects or fabrics you find in the house such as old pillowcases, out-grown clothing, old tablecloths and recycled fabrics or visit your local fabric store and look for offcuts and remnants, which are often affordable. The only tools you will need are kid-friendly large needles, pins, thread and scissors. Check out YouTube for short tutorials on how to do the running stitch.
Here are three easy holiday sewing projects to try with the kids this season:
December Bunting
Brighten up your house this holiday season with bunting (or banner)! Festive bunting is simple to assemble and can be made from scraps of green, red and white fabrics. Cut out fabric triangles with dimensions of 16cm for the top edge and 22cm for the sides. With a running stitch, stitch two edges of two triangles together. Turn inside out and finish stitching the third seam. Iron the triangles flat. Make as many triangles as you want. Sew your finished triangles onto a long red or green ribbon. Hang the bunting over the stairwell, across windows, on a wall for a party decoration or even over a bed.
Holiday Shopping Bag
Decorate a handy shopping bag with festive cut-outs. Find a fabric shopping bag. If there is a logo or decoration on the bag, turn the bag inside out. Cut out large snowflakes from white fabric, holly leaves from green fabric or candy cane shapes from red fabric. Arrange the shapes onto the outside of the bag and pin in place. Then, stitch the shapes to the bag using a running stitch. Decorate with sequins, beads, fancy buttons or glitter glue.
Snowman Sweater
Find a plain sweater or t-shirt, preferably red or green, that has no logo or design on the front. On white fabric or felt, trace two circles of different sizes. Trace around a tea cup saucer for the smaller circle, then a side plate for the larger circle. Cut out the two circles and stitch them on to the front of the sweater with a running stitch to form the snowman. Add a hat from black fabric, plastic googly eyes (or button eyes) and a nose and smile. Use your imagination for decorating the snowman.
There are many good sewing instruction books for kids at the library. My first Stitching and Sewing Book by Emma Hardy contains excellent easy projects and Stitch-by-Stitch: A Beginners Guide to Needlecraft by Jane Bull is full of useful information and projects.
Happy sewing!
