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Talk to me about boy sewing resources!


violamama
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My 6 year old has recently learned to hand-sew. I do a little bit of finishing (and frankly I stink at sewing so these are VERY simple projects), but he's able to do just about everything else. He makes little stuffed animals and has one planned for each family member for Christmas. He has asked me to assign sewing time in his school day. (He is a mini me with taking everything seriously that way.)

I would LOVE a step by step book or blog or something. We've checked out tons of books at the library but haven't found anything that inspiring. 

 

I do have a sewing machine... but he's six and we're musicians. I worry about him breaking a finger with that thing, plus it's huge and loud and in my husband's office, and so far he is totally content with hand sewing. I even looked at some kiddie sewing machines on Amazon for Christmas but they were all pink and flowery... 

 

Have any of you taught a young bow to sew? 

Do you have recommendations for books, projects, etc? 

 

Do any of you know of good resources for us? 

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I don't have much time, but my sons first sewing project on a machine was a pair of pajama pants.  He Loved those pants so much, it was a happy memory to have flitter through my mind tonight.  Thank you  :0) 

 

We didn't use a program, I just started to teach him what I knew.

 

I think I bought a book one time called Sewing Machine Fun or Sewing Fun (bright red cover with spiral binding) or something like that.  I never used it.  LOL

 

 

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Peter helped me sew his Halloween costume this year.  He helped sew pants and a simple raglan shirt; we made them out of fleece because it doesn't fray, so you don't have to worry about finishing edges or turning seams under.  When he uses my sewing machine, we always work as a team.  Either he pushes the pedal while I steer the fabric or he steers the fabric while I push the pedal.  He was able to sew all the simple, fairly straight seams for the costume.  I think his favorite part was seeing his picture (which he drew to show me how his sea monster should look) turn into actual pieces of clothing.

 

Wendy

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Maybe:

A pillowcase, using fun (licensed?) fabric.

A drawstring bag to hold his GIJoe's clothes.

 

If you want to give him skills for the future, consider having him mend tears in his own clothes, sew on a button (watch a youtube--the button needs slack!).

 

We had a beginner's book which used the sewing machine without any thread at first--just driving the needle through a maze, as a first step.

But I think there's plenty to do with hand-sewing.

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When I was that age, my mother made up some papers that had straight lines with 90 degree turns, one that had zig zags and one that was a spiral. That way I could practice feeding it through the foot, turning and controlling the speed. There was no thread involved. Just remember when you do move on to fabric to change the needle as the paper will dull it fast.

 

So while not a project, this would work well to use as an actual lesson.

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I would start him on The Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sewing-Machine-Kids-The/dp/1571202544/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1416322433&sr=1-5

 

and a nice starter sewing machine, easy to use, light, and decidedly not girly...

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ITYM1BU/ref=twister_B00HYRDIXS?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

And later another sewing book just for boys (patterns are size 8-16)...

 

http://www.christianbook.com/buckles-bobbins-beginning-sewing-book-boys/joann-gagnon/9780971494411/pd/494402

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My biggest tip would be to pick a project that EXCITES him. Even if it is a bit beyond his skill set, that excitement will carry him through. I use this concept when teaching adults to sew, too.

 

I have this blog post pinned. "The big list of sewing projects for boys".

http://momvstheboys.com/2014/09/sewing-projects-boys/

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This is awesome, thanks so much all!

He is spending the night at Grandma's to work on a Christmas gift for me (!). He showed his first project (kind of looks like a tiny Totoro) at his homeschool group presentation today, too. 

 

After all the posts of kids working with a machine without any horrific scenes of gore (chain saws, ha!), I am thinking we might get him one of these for Christmas after all:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ITYM1BU/ref=twister_B00HYRDIXS?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

The book and project ideas will expand a lot with one of those, though I hope to still encourage hand sewing since we can bring it along anywhere. 

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After all the posts of kids working with a machine without any horrific scenes of gore (chain saws, ha!), I am thinking we might get him one of these for Christmas after all:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ITYM1BU/ref=twister_B00HYRDIXS?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

 

This is a good choice for your son's age! Janome makes good machines. If he sticks with it, prepare to upgrade when he hits the middle school years, but this is great to encourage his interest now. 

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  • 1 month later...

He got a blaze orange sewing machine for Christmas! We are very excited. He made 9 stuffed animals for family gifts. 

On our drive out to relatives, we stopped to see my favorite aunt and in our 45 minute visit she helped him sew a pillow with a monogram for his little sister with her machine. He's hooked!

 

Thanks again for the advice. When we get home and have our second Christmas with my family, he'll get the two Sewing School books and a bunch of other supplies. 

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My son takes classes at a fabric and sewing store. He loves it and is learning more than I can teach. A friend has offered to teach us both in the new year so I can learn along side him.

 

Joannes teaches but I really like the small local sewing store. My only complaint is that she insists student buy fabric from her. Her selection does not appeal to my son.

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My youngest son, now 18, never had much interest in sewing. A couple of years ago he was interested in making a vest for an outdoor trek. We made a first one for patterning, tweaking, etc. and he did a pretty good job, including button holes. It was supposed to look pioneer-like. He made himself another one without my help that was more for camping, and it was also reversible. He put pockets and buttons/button holes on it. I taught him a few basic things and he beckoned me when he needed help. I don't think he will get into it much more than that, but at least he knows how to get that far.

You must be very proud of your son for his skill and desire. My dh had a very old Italian man tailor a suit for him once. You never know what direction a sewing career could take him.

 

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My son takes classes at a fabric and sewing store. He loves it and is learning more than I can teach. A friend has offered to teach us both in the new year so I can learn along side him.

 

Joannes teaches but I really like the small local sewing store. My only complaint is that she insists student buy fabric from her. Her selection does not appeal to my son.

He says he wants to take a class but only if I do it with him. Sounds good to me, so now we just need to find one. There are a couple of little shops here and I thought I'd start there. My experience stopped with a skateboard pillow in jr high home ec.

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My biggest tip would be to pick a project that EXCITES him. Even if it is a bit beyond his skill set, that excitement will carry him through. I use this concept when teaching adults to sew, too.

 

SOO Important. Both by boys have picked up machine sewing the younger now 10 is really just picking projects he likes and if my skill set isn't there we learn together. He wanted to sew a raglan t and I had only done regular tee so I learned with him.

 

Also one important key is don't start with threading the machine as lesson one. This is boring wait for that on lesson two or three when they start losing the thread it will be more relevant then.

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  • 2 weeks later...

When I was that age, my mother made up some papers that had straight lines with 90 degree turns, one that had zig zags and one that was a spiral. That way I could practice feeding it through the foot, turning and controlling the speed. There was no thread involved. Just remember when you do move on to fabric to change the needle as the paper will dull it fast.

 

So while not a project, this would work well to use as an actual lesson.

 

:iagree:

 

My mother is teaching dd on the new sewing machine I bought her for Christmas. Dd is champing at the bit to be allowed to use fabric, but Mum said when she was learning to be a machinist, she has to do the papers all day for two whole weeks, so for a 7yo, 3 sheets isn't going to cut it. :D

 

Dd is also hand stitching a cushion, because morale would not cope with so much paper practice otherwise, lol.

 

Basically, I think Mum is going to keep her on paper until she's got overconfident, then corrected herself. :)

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