It started with Friendly The Echidna.
A few months ago, we went to one of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s fantastic school holidays programs where the project was to sew a felt animal. Honestly, I did the better part of the sewing on Friendly, but Miss 5 was excited enough that when Trixi from Coloured Buttons asked if she would be interested in continuing to learn how to sew by becoming a Kid Ambassador for Sew a Softie (#sewasoftie) month in July, her response was, “YES, YES, I WANT TO DO THAT! YES!”
Her mission as a Kid Ambassador was to teach a friend to sew sometime during the month of July. I’d been a little dubious on the outset, wondering if we should have said we’d do it the following year when she was a little older, but how could I disagree with her enthusiasm for learning something new? So, we started working through a few practice projects in preparation for July.
We both had a few lessons to learn on our sewing mission.
- Let the Ambassador Decide – We started off by browsing through simple sewing projects on the Coloured Buttons site to get ideas for a project to start with. I thought I knew which ones she’d be interested in, but I could see her shutting down on the whole idea my suggestion of something she wasn’t interested in was too pushy. I realized quickly that she needed to have plenty of control over her projects. Our first outing was her take on Trixi’s “Zenkidu” – a fun and simple project with straight lines. She had *very* clear ideas about how she wanted to design the colors, face, limbs, and every detail!
- Patience! – While she did have to work on her focus on sitting still long enough to finish a portion of a project, honestly, patience was an even bigger lesson for me. She didn’t just pick up a needle and start making perfect, straight stitches. She’d get tangled up. She’d do stitches three fingers wide. She’d land her needle someplace in the middle of the project. “Just follow the lines and do little stitches!,” I’d get frustrated and tell her. It didn’t take long for this sewing business to become quite a chore for her with me giving her attitude like that. Things went the worst when I was trying to multi-task, stepping aside to fix dinner while she sat at the dining room table. She really needed my full attention as she learned. A running stitch may seem like a pretty simple thing to master for an adult, but it is a serious fine motor skill for a 5 year old.
- Add Some Humor – Related to above, a change in my attitude to make things a lot more fun went a long way in bolstering her confidence. When she started sending her needle off to some faraway location in the middle of her project, I began saying, “Oh, are you taking a trip to China?” She’d laugh and say, “No, Tokyo!” And, before long, I could hear her quietly instructing herself, “don’t go to Tokyo…”.
- Don’t Underestimate the Kid – When we started our Zenkidu, I thought she needed a giant needle and yarn to sew with. Because she’s a kid, right? I’ve always seen little kids sewing with those huge needles and yarn, so that must be the way to go… Except, it’s really hard to push through felt with such bulky tools, and she found it frustrating. Even I found it hard when I tried it. Thankfully, Trixi saw my Instagram story and sent me a nice message suggesting a smaller needle and thread. We switched mid-way through (you can see that in the picture above!), and it turns out a 5 year old absolutely can manage a regular sized needle and normal thread, and they are much easier to work with.
- It’s more fun together – I guess it’s pretty universal with young kids that they get much more interested in things if you sit down and do them, too. Thankfully, we had almost all of school holidays before our sewing party, so we took a couple of mornings for a little mother-daughter sewing circle. We worked next to each other on separate projects, and between her growing confidence, me calming down, and the fun of sewing together, I finally saw her truly enjoying it. She designed and completed this popsicle all on her own, while I sat next to her and made a little purse.
Finally, on the last day of the school holidays, we invited several friends for a craft play date, including Miss 5’s sewing lesson. We didn’t pressure any of the kids to join the lesson, but to my delight, five out of the seven kids present (all 5 and 6 year olds) were keen little beans. A couple of the parents mentioned that they’d tried to get their kids to sew previously, with little luck; but together, they were all enthusiastic. It may be fun to sew with your mum, but it is waaaay more fun to sew with your friends. Miss 5 (with a little help from me) gave them some basic instructions on how to stitch, and then the kids were off!
Every kid finished either a little purse or a coin purse of their own design. Another mum and I helped with the needle threading (though, some managed on their own) and end knots, but the kids did all of the stitching themselves. Of course, they loved decorating them when they were complete (I put the hot glue gun to work for the finishing flourishes). I was so proud of their work!
So, if you’re wondering if a child as young as 5 can learn to sew, I’m happy to provide the proof that they surely can. Bring the patience, humor, (and little needles!), and leave your ideas of how things “should” be done at the door, and they’ll build their confidence on a skill that will serve them for their entire lives.
PIN IT
I loved your article Cristin and i think you just nailed one of the biggest problems of kids learning to sew…their mums. I see it in the workshops when mums are there with the kids. Many of the mums tell their kids how to decorate their softies, what their stitches should look like and everything in between. I was asked by one child at a workshop if next time mums could not be invited!!
I loved how your daughter chose Zenkidu, that is the perfect beginner project for new sewer… and i love the Tokyo story!!
Thank you so much, Trixi! And, you are so right – in retrospect, I can see that I hindered as much as helped in the beginning! The cool thing was that when we taught the other kids, there just weren’t enough mums present to offer as much “help,” and the kids got on with it brilliantly.