Sewing With My Child: Eco-friendly and Fun Project to Do Together

Sewing with kids can be a fun and eco-friendly project! Good thing my daughter made me do it!

My daughter is five and the other day she came home from school with two holes in her tights. One hole was across her hole knee. Oh well, I thought. She said, "Mama, you have to sew these up for me." I said, "Or get a new pair." I thought the big hole was pretty big and it wouldn't really look cute with all the stitches that would show through her tights. "Sew it up," she replied. Her mind was made up. I still wasn't so sure.

I threw them in the wash and dryer and when they came out they had shrunk down in size like tights do and the holes also appeared a little smaller. I still thought about tossing them but then I thought well, it couldn't hurt to try and at least she could see how sewing works. I called her to see if she wanted to help and she was very excited to help sew. I let her pick the thread and she picked a bright pink for the big hole. I showed her how to thread the needle and she watched me. I showed her how to pull the thread even and try a knot since we wanted a double stitch for strength and she watched. I showed her how to pinch the hole in the middle to keep it lined up while you sew and I did the first couple stitches. Then I let her take over the stitching while I held my hand inside the tights so she wouldn't stitch through to the other side and kept the hole pinched. She did a great job. Every once in a while I would have to tell her to pull the needle back out because she was stitching too low or too high or missing the other side of the hole but she sewing until we ran out of thread half way across the hole.

Then she threaded the needle this time and I tied it off. I realized before we started again that while I was trying to keep all the stitching on the inside by sewing while it was inside out, my daughter was actually excited about the stitching and like the pink color! So we switched and she did the second half of the hole with the stitching on the outside. She was very pleased with the results and asked me if I could stitches that would show that shaped a heart. Well sure, I could. So I got out my embroidery thread and sewed a heart on for her. She watched the process. She loved it so much so wanted a flower. So this time I showed her how and she sowed the center of the flower all by herself. I finished it off with the petals. Then she stitched up the last hole.

All in all, I was impressed that we had saved her tights, made an eco-friendly move, and really had a good time together. I felt proud to have taught her such a useful lesson and proud of her for teaching me a lesson too! That is my little wonder! I love that she gave me a fresh view of things. My grandmother would be proud of me for stitching up those tights. She stitched up many things for me and I told my daughter how she used to make me all kinds of things. Maybe that will be our next project when my daughter gets a little older- sewing doll's clothes. She loves learning how to do things and the best part is that I don't have to be perfect when I teach her. I can learn with her!

Happy sewing! If you want to sew with your child but have not done so before, a great place to start is sewing buttons on. Sierra and I had tried this when she was about four and she loved that too. When I was in a Montessori kindergarten, I still remember that they had a station where you could chose different squares of fabric to sew and buttons and they helped you sew them on. It was tons of fun and they let you bring them home and you could make a pillow out of them with your mom. It really gives a great sense of accomplishment. After all, I still remember it fondly!

If you liked this family activity, you might also enjoy, How to Make Rolled Paper Beads, A Fun Kids Craft.