Saturday, December 19, 2015

Stitchy Wish List: Sewing Kits for Children

andstitches december header 2015_

It's hard to believe that Christmas is less than a week away! Today I bring you a little tutorial on how to put together a little sewing kit for children. These kits are easy to put together and are great for girls and boys even as young as 5 (with a little parental supervision and support!)


flowerhoop1

flowerhoopsupplies

First up, let's gather up supplies. For threads, I tend to introduce sewing with this crochet thread that comes on a large roll. It comes in a variety of colors (including this fun rainbow blend) and it's only one strand. Pearl cotton also works great, but I find that it tends to fray quicker than the crochet thread does. Chenille 22 needles are my go-to because of their large eye which makes threading much easier and a needle threader works wonders too (not pictured, but the Loran needle threader rocks!) The hoop is simply a 6 inch wooden embroidery hoop. Obviously you could go smaller, but for little hands just learning to hold a hoop I wouldn't go much larger than 6 inches.

flowerstarshoops

When children are first learning to sew, I love to work with felt and regular craft felt works just fine. Felt provides a good amount of support in a hoop (versus flimsy cotton) and a needle tends to glide right through it. For the flower version I gathered up some white craft felt for the hoop (an 8 inch circle gives enough room for the 6 inch hoop plus some extra around the edges), these little die cut flowers, some buttons and I cut out letters for their initials. I've been trying to come up with another kit that might be a bit more "boy friendly" so I decided to introduce a stars version. Here I used black felt, some star cut outs of various sizes and some white buttons.


kitpic

When you are ready to gift your kit, wrap your threads around a little card (5 yards is usually plenty), put your felt inside your hoop and lay in your flowers and buttons. Drop it in a clear bag and you are ready to gift! A little how to stitch card is also a great addition.

What are you stitching? Please share in the &Stitches Flickr group. We'd love to see it!

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