Tiny Sewists: Teaching Kids to Sew :: Lesson 5

Today we’re on Lesson 5 of Tiny Sewists: Teaching Kids to Sew!  This is a series I’m sharing as I teach my four year old daughter Arden to sew.  Be sure to review the first lessons on setup and safety, getting familiar with the machine, practicing with a needle, and sewing on paper.

In the last lesson, we threaded the machine and practiced sewing on lined or graph paper to learn how to work with the threads: pulling the threads to the back of your work before beginning, and pulling the threads back and to the side to the thread cutter or using a pair of scissors to cut the thread.

Today, we’re sewing with fabric for the first time!  I thought the occasion called for some pink and turquoise dogs (with sparkles to boot!) – Arden loved sewing with this fun fabric.  I threaded the machine for her again, but this time I carefully described what I was doing and why.  The key points I covered while talking about threading were:

  • Follow the arrow guides on the machine
  • Keep a little tension on the thread with your right hand while guiding the thread with your left – this helps the thread follow the guides properly
  • Make sure the thread uptake lever is in the up position so the thread will feed through the guide at the top of the lever properly
  • Loop the thread behind the two thread guides above the needle
  • Thread the needle and be sure the thread is not looped around the needle
  • Remove the bobbin cover plate
  • Insert the bobbin into the bobbin case with the thread wrapping counter-clockwise as depicted in the bobbin cover plate
  • Guide the bobbin thread through the slot on the right in the bobbin housing and then slide it left so it emerges from the slot on the left.  With one finger on top of the bobbin, pull a few inches of thread out
  • While holding onto the top thread, lower and then raise the needle once to bring the bobbin thread up.
  • Replace the bobbin cover plate
The last five steps will be different if you have a front-loading bobbin withe a bobbin case.  I’ll be covering how I teach her to thread in a future lesson and will have photos to accompany the instruction.
Now on to the sewing!  I just let Arden sew whatever she wanted on that single piece of fabric.  Don’t worry about trying to sew more than one layer at this time – we’ll get to that in the next lesson.  This busy print ended up being a perfect choice as it gave her many options for goals as she practiced: sewing around the dogs, going from star to heart to flower, etc.

She decided to make a series of lines across the fabric in sort of a starburst design with a few curves thrown in.

And she kept sewing….

 

… and sewing for over an hour!

She became very proficient at pulling her threads up the the thread cutter.  Practice, practice, practice…

She was so pleased with her work!

Our next lesson will cover sewing two pieces of fabric together and I’ll have a guest here to share how she addresses pinning with small children.

Next up: Lesson 6

Photobucket

Pin It

Follow on Bloglovin

8 Responses to Tiny Sewists: Teaching Kids to Sew :: Lesson 5

  1. Melissa Huizinga January 28, 2014 at 6:10 PM #

    What a great idea! I love it!

  2. Janelle Youngstrom February 12, 2014 at 6:23 AM #

    I’m teaching sewing lessons to a couple of girls age 8. One is more advanced than the other, but I love this for my starting student! Thanks for sharing!

  3. Kathy Repak October 14, 2014 at 11:05 PM #

    How do I see the earlier lessons . Would like to see how to thread a bobbin.
    Thx

  4. Twrry September 6, 2020 at 9:27 AM #

    I’m a Grandma assigned to help teach my young grandkids how to sew on a sewing machine during this pandemic. Love the lessons but I can’t see all of them. Would be thankful if you would share. Thanks

  5. Andrea Howell July 18, 2021 at 4:41 AM #

    Unfortunately, I have missed lessons 1,2,3 and 4. How can I access these lessons please?

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Tiny Sewists: Teaching Kids to Sew :: Lesson 11, Project 3 | A Jennuine LifeA Jennuine Life - April 29, 2014

    […] familiar with the machine, practicing with a needle, sewing on paper, sewing on fabric and using Wonder Tape instead of pins, sewing a pillowcase, making a teddy […]

  2. Tiny Sewists: Teaching Kids to Sew :: Lesson 10 Threading the Machine | A Jennuine LifeA Jennuine Life - April 29, 2014

    […] familiar with the machine, practicing with a needle, sewing on paper, sewing on fabric and using Wonder Tape instead of pins, sewing a pillowcase and making a teddy […]

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Site by Spunmonkey