It's far more stimulating to work on a real project than to do a series of exercises that teach you skills. For example a simple skirt, be it for a little girl herself or a doll, with an elasticated waist will involve measuring, simple pattern making, cutting out fabric, sewing straight lines, folding over to make a casing for the elastic, the stretching principles of elastic, inserting elastic and finishing off.
When teaching, remember to be extremely patient and to emphasis achievement not errors. It may be very frustrating to watch someone clumsily trying to thread a needle, but remember the old adage of teaching someone to fish rather than giving them a fish....
Home Sewing Association have a great range of fun sewing projects with printable patterns, from washcloth puppets and a toss-it bean bag game, to a bone pet cushion. They've also a section for teenagers "Teen Seams.
Crafts for Kids don't have many sewing projects among their fun projects, but do have one for easy tatting doilies. There's also a DIY colour wheel for when you want to open up that can of worms.
If you'd like to work on a project with your child that'll help other children, you don't need to join an official or organized group such as ABC Quilts. This an American volunteer organization that distributes quilts made for children under the age of 6 who are infected with HIV/AIDS, affected by drugs or alcohol, or abandoned (boarder babies). Over 390,000 quilts have been made since 1988. You could still make a quilt to donate to your local hospital's childrens ward. Or preemie gowns for premature babies.
Teacher Heddi Craft has a lengthy list of links of quilting projects with kids, both her own and other school projects, as well as group projects and ones you could do with your own children She's also got useful techniques and resources pages for working with children, for example making picture blocks using fabric crayons (with a nifty tip of using freezer paper to stabilize the fabric so drawing on it's easier). What could be more fun than drawing your own quilt blocks and then putting them together so you can sleep under it?
Go To Page: 1 2
