teaching children how to sew

My children always see me sewing and they are interested.

 I have been thinking of a way to teach them beginning sewing.

I remember as a kid spending many hours embroidering with my mother. She was a school teacher, so the summer was long, and living in the country side, there was not so much to do!

So we did a lot of embroidery!

I would say I am a good "cross stitcher", a decent "stem stitcher" and I am still working on some other stitches!

But the point is that I am not afraid to try, after all it is for personal enrichment, not a contest!!!

My kids did get the stitching cards, you know the ones with the shapes and the colored shoes laces, they are a great beginning.

And Miss C. has been trying making felt food with me, which also a great way to learn, and a lot more rewarding, in the end you have something cool to show! She used craft felt (sold by the yard or the sheet, about $0.25), a blunt needle with a large eye and some embroidery floss.

But today I found another cool project from Ottobre design. It is a free activity you can download and print from their web site.

Here is the link: http://www.ottobredesign.com/fi/kaavat/pdf/sew_and_colour.pdf

There are 4 dogs to stitch and color, if the stitching does not go well, they can at least color them!

I printed mine on cardstock.

I then punched some holes so it would be easy to see where to sew, it was a little tedious!

My daughter was quite happy and went right to work, perfect activity for a sunny and cold afternoon!

Here is the result:

Happy sewing.