This week I’ve published a series of tutorials to help anyone who would like to support the children in their lives to develop a natural love of sewing. At the time of writing, we are amid the COVID-19 crisis, which has left many of us juggling work, childcare and homeschooling. But this crisis won’t last forever, so my hope is that these tutorials will be useful to you now and for a long time to come.

There’s a developmental sequence to each post, starting with activities for pre-schoolers and going through to activities for secondary-aged children and beyond. But beginner sewers may also like a lot of these tutorials too, as they follow logical and simple steps to build confidence when using needle and thread. I hope they are helpful to as many people as possible.

To begin with, there is my Felt Heart Tutorial, suitable for pre-schoolers and younger primary children (and tried and tested by my daughter when she was three):

Moving on, we have my Simple Gift Tag tutorial, a next-step activity for pre-schoolers through to older primary children as it requires a bit more precision and opens up opportunities to introduce research and design into the process:

A lovey follow-on from this, probably more suited to primary aged children, is my Woven Shapes tutorial; another great one for starting to introduce creative research and design into the project:

For primary children of all ages, making an Embroidered Needle Case is a wonderfully creative and rewarding activity, because you get a really useful product at the end that can also double-up as a gift. These are great for refining mastery of particular hand embroidery stitches (I used to love making them as a child):

And I finished the week with a tutorial possibly more suited to secondary aged children, but a great beginner sewing project all round. And as above, my Handmade Tissue Pouches make a wonderful keepsake gift. They can be as pretty or quirky as you like depending on your choice of fabric and trimmings, so totally unique to whoever is creating them. Making them demands a little more skill, but they are still a great starter project because they essentially involve sewing squares.

Hopefully these five projects will give you some creative starting points to help the children in your life begin to develop their sewing skills, regardless of their age. Have fun, enjoy the process, and feel good that you are introducing your family to possibly one of the best hobbies around!

And if you are reading this because you yourself love to sew, then please do consider signing up to my Creative Sewing Challenge. Our growing community of wonderful sewists work to a different theme each month, and create projects using all types of sewing. I email out lots of ideas and tutorials over the year, and genuinely hope members benefit from fresh ideas and inspiration to nurture their own creativity. Find out more here or sign up today!

And feel free to share my pin on Pinterest – thank you!