Some great ideas for children learning to sew (or adults!)

I am so often asked for ideas for things that can be made by children, or indeed, adults, who want to learn to sew, that I thought I should write up some of them. Here, I will be focusing on children, but many of the projects I suggest are equally appropriate for adults. There are one or two ideas here for things that can be hand-stitched - well, almost anything can, it may just take longer! But I would almost always suggest that children learn first to do some hand-stitching before attempting to use a sewing machine. That way, they will learn some techniques which will always stand them in good stead.

Of course children can be different ages and in different circumstances when the situation arises. It's different teaching a five-year-old from a ten-year-old. However, I'm not going to offer any advice about what age is appropriate for a child to use a sewing machine, or what machine to use - you know your child best. I personally think simple is better to start with. You might want to get a guard for the machine, though, especially if the child is young.

Constructing a sewn item can also teach several skills: mathematics, to calculate sizes and seams etc; design; following written or video instructions; taking care of safety; and of course fine motor skills. And there can be so much satifaction at producing a usable, wearable, or fun item.

So read on for some ideas that may work for you, whether you are teaching a young relative to sew, or students at a school.

I've endeavoured to think of things for both boys and girls, and different age groups. But I've divided these up into different types of project, depending on what the interests of the child or children are. What I am not going to do is attempt to say when ones are most suitable for very young children, or children with learning or sensory difficulties, or for boys as opposed to girls. Firstly, I'm not qualified to do this. And secondly, all children are different. I'm giving you ideas, and in most cases links to tutorials or patterns, so you can look at these and decide what works best for you.

Games and toys

Some children will be most motivated by making a toy or game for themselves, or perhaps, as a surprise present for a younger brother or sister.  So let's start with these.

Bean bags:

These are probably among some of the easier things to sew, being just two squares sew together and stuffed, and they readily lend themselves to all sorts of games. We made lots of these during lockdown - they can be played with indoors and out. You can read about our efforts here. 

If you'd need more details about how to make them, try this link from Peekaboo.

Juggling balls:

A similar idea, but a different shape, you only need three triangular or round juggling balls to start juggling. However, I'd suggest the difficulty level is a little greater than for bean bags. There are a couple of links to tutorials for juggling balls here and here. 

Sock gnomes:

Not my personal cup of tea, but lots of people love sock gnomes or other toys made from socks. So if you are among them, here's a link.

Finger puppets:

These have the advantage that they can be hand- or machine-sewn. And they lend themselves to lots of story-telling, too. I've written about finger puppets many times on my blog. The only link you need, though, is this one, which will lead you to all the others. 

Hand puppets:

Alternatively (and perhaps less fiddly) how about hand puppets? Try this link.

Memory matching game:

There are numerous ways you can create a memory matching game. Here is one, using dinosaurs. This might be too advanced for a single child beginner, but it might be a fun idea as a team project.

Similarly, other 'board' games can be constructed, such as tic tac toe (noughts and crosses), or snakes and ladders. This was a miniature tic tac toe I made in a Quiet Book, with a little pocket to hold the felt noughts and crosses. 

Christmas decorations:

There are lots of ideas for things to hang on the Christmas tree, with a quick search on the internet, which would be easy for children to make. Here's just one of many, that makes little felt lanterns. If you made these in a classroom context, you could make them in a lot of different colours and hang them up in the classroom. But I've also seen nice little advent calendars, using tiny Christmas stockings to hang, or simpler square 'presents', to slip objects in. Or for something more ambitious, how about these re-usable Christmas crackers?

Toys for younger siblings:

Some children learning to sew may have younger brothers and sisters, and would like to make toys or mobiles as presents for them. Here's one which is fairly easy, from which you can make something similar to the caterpillar in my picture.

Soft toys are another obvious choice, although some patterns may be too complicated. However, here's a nice tutorial and pattern from Shiny Happy World for a small teddy bear or pussy cat - could be adapted with longer ears to make a rabbit perhaps. Here's a free tutorial and pattern for a bunny. Another for some animal masks. And one for a baking set.

There are so many other ideas on the internet, but here are a couple to get you started.

First, another post on my blog on toys and games. And next, another website with lots of ideas. Sewpin.

Personal Clothing

Some children will be much more motivated by being able to construct something they can actually wear. Let's start simple.

Dressing-up cloak

A dressing-up cloak is very simple, unisex, and depending on the colour and embellishments, can work for a large variety of contexts. Here's Wonder Woman, and a witch

 

These were simple and fun to make - find out how here. 

Other Dressing-up costumes

You could also consider simple tunics for Robin Hood or a baker or Roman soldier etc. Just start with an long oblong of fabric, fold in half widthways, and cut a head hole. Then make some tabs or ties for the sides. You'd might want to put bias binding round the edge, or line it, but it can be as simple or complicated as you like.

Here are two other links for costume ideas. 

It's Always Autumn

Fleece Fun

Aprons

Always useful, and another piece of clothing that is simple to make. Depending on the style and fabric, these would also be suitable for boys or girls. Here's one simple pattern and tutorial from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom. You could make it suitable for baking, or art projects, or carpentry. You could add a big pocket, or a wide pocket divided in two, or a bib. They could even make a larger one for Mum or Grandma or Auntie. (Or Dad or Grandpa.)

Headbands and scrunchies

Let's face it, these are probably more suitable for girls, though boys might like making sweatbands, which would use the same method as headbands. There are several different You Tube tutorials and websites that will tell you how to make a headband, this is one I've found that works for me, and it has a video as well as a written tutorial. 

And a couple of ideas for hair scrunchies can be found here, and here.

While we are talking of girls, a simple skirt gathered with elastic is one of the easiest possible garments to make. A girl could even cut her own pattern for it. Only two measurements needed, the waist measurement, and the length you want to skirt to be. Add a bit for seam allowance and hems, and make a channel for elastic.

So in case the boys are now getting fed up with all these ideas for girls, what about a hat? Fleece Fun have lots of patterns for hats which children could probably do with supervision.

There are also some nice shorts patterns, suitable for boys or girls, but I'd say these are probably not the first things to try. Once children have tried some simpler things, though, shorts are not that much harder than the simple gathered skirt. Oliver + S have a lovely free shorts pattern and tutorial in lots of sizes.

Personal Accessories

There are just so many ideas here, and I know this will be my longest section. So I'm not going to give a lot of preamble to each, nor provide lots of pictures - just lots of ideas.

Simple cross body bag to hold a drinks bottle when out and about.

Tissue holders

Pencil cases, and coin purses - here I will give you a picture of some of many I've made for my grandchildren, and the link to my blog post on these. 

A couple more useful links to tutorials for these and simlar zipper pouches are here: Melly Sews; Mairuru

Lunch bags and sandwich wrappers

There are several You Tube and other tutorials for these. A sandwich wrapper would be particularly easy for a beginning sewer.  Here's one example tutorial for a sandwich wrapper (but there are lots of others). There are also many ideas for lunchbags, which would generally be a bit more challenging. There are some ideas here. Ones that could well be do-able for children are these two: Simple lunch bag, Button lunch bag.

Bookmarks

Drawstring bags

Below are some small drawstring bags I made when we were making supplies for hospitals during the first lockdown here. These hold one mask so it can go straight in the washing machine without being touched. But you can literally make drawstring bags in any size you like, to hold shoes, make-up, sports kit, book, lunch - pretty well anything. They can also be decorated or plain.

Tote bags

(Obviously, bags like these can be made in a variety of different sizes.)

Emoji felt key rings

For older girls, perhaps, re-usable make up wipes

Make your own Christmas stocking

Cross body phone bag

This is a nice pattern but a bit complicated for a beginner, perhaps, but this could easily be simplified. There's a simpler one here, though some people said they found the instructions confusing – I might make one and do my own tutorial!

Phone or tablet stand

I like this video for making a tablet stand from Teresa Down Under because it gives a slightly more upright stand. A phone stand can be made the same way but with different dimensions. I've yet to make any but plan to do so for Christmas.

Hand sanitiser pouch

A link to some free tutorials and some helpful videos - one, from Sewing Times, and another, from Anjurisa.

Face masks

There are loads of patterns online, including child size. Here's one from Craft Passion. And this one from Billette's Baubles is one that I have made a lot for friends and family, because it's pretty easy and quick, and it has separate elastics at each corner, so you have the choice whether to have the elastic round the ears, or round the back of the head, which many people find more comfortable. Note that I always include a nose wire in masks that I make now, not all patterns include this. The great thing about masks is that they don't take a lot of fabric, and they can be personalised using a favourite fabric.

Here are some I made for family members, using the Billette's Baubles method.The two middle ones are scaled down for children.

Book bag

You can use a simple drawstring pattern such as I've suggested above, or a more elaborate / stronger bag with a handle, such as this one.

Coffee cup wrap or carrier 

 You can make just a wrap coffee cozy. In the link I've given there is a pattern, but I also tell you how I made mine with a cross-body carrying strap.

Household Items (for self or as gift)

There are a variety of things that can be made for the household, which children might want for themselves, or to make as presents. Some of these ideas may not be for complete beginners, requiring techniques such as putting in a zip. But others are very easy, just requiring simple hemming or simple seams, for example, placemats.

Placemats and Coasters (presents for Mum maybe?)

The beauty of these is that they can be as easy as you like, but you can also be more artisitc (for example, quilting or decorating them, or adding applique initals etc.) Hello Creative Family shows you how to make the simple types of reversible place mats in 10 minutes! (Note these are decorative - and would not be suitable for protecting a table against hot pans. But a great idea all the same.) And Pretty Handy Girl shows you how to make coasters.

Baskets / Storage Boxes / Buckets

These are always useful items to have. I've found lots of patterns / tutorials for different types.

This is a really easy one from Blog Treasurie.

This is the first cube basket video I found and used myself, it is fairly simple if you don't quilt it as the lady on Sew Very Easy does, and looks great when made.

Dana of Made Every Day has long been one of my favourite  sewing blog writers and designers, and her enthusiastic and bubbly videos make these fabric baskets a really easy make, too. This uses a net, rather than a rectangle, i.e. a cross shape wit crners cut out. So, useful for children learning about nets!

Another nice tutorial here from Sew Totally Trisha. This English lady also cuts out corners and then French seams them.

Here is a written tutorial from Sew Simple Home, which also has a free PDF pattern in two sizes. It's a slightly different design, which you may like, and is made from fat quarters, though could use scraps. And finally, Hobbycraft have good tutorials for making square storage baskets, and round ones.

Zippered pouch

You can make these in various sizes and shapes, like the pencil cases and coin purses I showed you earlier, but also for make-up bags, travel wash bags, bags to hold toys safely.

Bowl cosies

Reading Cushion

Reading cushions are nice little cushions with a pocket, to hold a book or three, which you can then rest on the cushion to read. The link above is a You Tube link for a very basic and simple one, but there's another helpful tutorial here if you prefer written instructions. However, my personal favourite, only slightly more challenging, is this one from Stuart Hillard, which has a carrying handle, and also has a useful tip at the end for stuffing the cushion into its cover. 

For cushion covers in general, this from Hobbycraft is a nice way to make a cushion cover that doesn't need a zip. There are also some really cute owl pillows being used in a project with school children here.

Holder for carrier bags

Another great gift idea.

Other ideas

And a few other ideas which might be useful.

Bunting

This could be a seasonal project (like Christmas or Diwali), but it might also make a useful class / group project. Each child could make their own bunting flag, which could be brought together to make one continuous class/school bunting line.

Worry Eater

This is another great idea, which would be particularly useful if there are children suffering from some anxiety. They can make, or help to make, their own Worry Eater.

No-sewing-machine Projects

 If you need some projects that other children could be doing if they can't all get on a sewing machine at once, a hand sewing idea, and a totally no-sew idea. There is this hand-sewn needle case if you want an idea for something they can make for Mum or auntie. And my grandchildren (aged 3-6) succeeded in making these no-sew scarves for their parents for Christmas. A great idea, but does need some preparation, as smaller children could probably not do the cutting out required by themselves.

Finally, two other web sites with more ideas, if none of those I've given you appeal!

Happy Diying Easy Sewing Projects

DIY 'n' Crafts Projects to use up scraps

Happy Sewing with children!