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I would be afraid that sewing on paper would muck up the works.

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Reply to
Angrie.Woman
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In article , Angrie.Woman of SBC

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uttered>>I would be afraid that sewing on paper would muck up the works.>

Just blunts your needle

Reply to
She who would like to be obeye

Me too - which is why I found out the magnetic thing was useless to me! now for REAL gadgets, I like my buttonholers and my pinking machine...

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Na... Just blunts a needle and is of very limited use when it comes to real sewing.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Well, since everybody seems to concur, perhaps it is the best way for me to teach #1 son. I always change needles after every project, so it would not hurt to let him sew with an old one.

He will be estatic!

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Reply to
Angrie.Woman

I taught James and his classmates on fabric. Sometimes they do just like to whizz about, making random stitches all over the place! They love to use the patterns. Once happy that they can control the machine, we start on real items.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Thanks, Kate. I've been trying to teach him from a pattern, but this might give him a nice break from me. :)

How old was your son when you started letting him toy with the machines?

An

Reply to
Angrie.Woman

If I can answer as well... I have a 4 year old niece and a 7 year old nephew that live in the same house as me. The 7-year old is hand-quilting his first quilt right now, and has made clothes for his dinosaurs on machines, as well as other projects. (I asked him if the reason he made clothes for the dinosaurs was because he didn't have dolls like his sister, and he looked at me like I was an idiot and informed me that they became extinct because of the ice age, and thus were COLD.

The 4-year old is enamored of my serger. We unplugged it and tried like heck to get her fingers in around the needles...not possible. We showed her where the blade was, also pretty inaccessible. She has probably destroyed 5 yards of fabric by stitching/stripping it at full speed...one of her favorite things to do.

They come by sewing naturally though. My mom is past president of the NQA, and a Master Certified Quilt Judge. 2 of my other nieces had quilts in a travelling exhibition that was even exhibited at the Smithsonian and Colonial Williamsburg. They were 5 and 8 when they completed their quilts...we're kind of born with needles in our hands whether we want to be or not!

Jeanne

Reply to
Jeanne Burton

Reply to
romanyroamer

Not at all!!

Jeanne who thought she was done with kids till these 2 arrived...they keep me busy!

Reply to
Jeanne Burton

He was nine when he first showed a real interest in doing it himself. I let him whizz about for a few hours over several days, and then we chose fabrics for a quilt or two... What he wanted to do was hard on the machine he wanted to learn to use (the featherweight), so we swapped and started with a collection of charm squares, which he stitched together. Now the top is finished, it's sandwiched and pin-basted, and we quilt it this week. He's got another quilt top on the go (applique shapes), and several more planned in his head!

Soon we'll tackle clothing.

I was seven when my mum did much the same with me: an hour or two whizzing about, some scraps sewn together to practice seaming, and then a skirt with a zip! I've taught kids from about seven up: age isn't a problem so much as size! They need to be able to reach all the necessary parts of the machine. This is why I have a collection of little machines: the Featherweight, the Elna Lotus, my mum's Singer 99, and my Frister & Rossman Cub 8 which is awaiting a fix. Having a table and chair the right height is important too. If the sewing bench is too high, fix the chair height so they can reach all parts of the machine, and put the foot control on a box!

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Well, thanks so much for those suggestions. It seems so logical now to let them play with it first...duh.

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Reply to
Angrie.Woman

I treat it like teaching kids to write: play with crayons and paper first! Here we just play with thread and sewing machines! I do warn them SEVERELY, DRAMATICALLY, AND WITH *GORY DETAILS* of the unpleasant consequences of stitching a finger! And also that my sewing scissors are big enough and sharp enough to cut off fingers... But, I add, we have plenty of sewing machines, and we can soon sew them on again - with fancy patterns if they promise to keep still! ;) So far they have heeded the warnings and my mending skills have yet to be put to the test!

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Kate Dicey wrote: we

Very hard for little ones.

I told them tonight that I had learned a new technique from you guys, and that tomorrow they were going to be able to play with the machines just as soon as their room was tidied up a bit.

:)

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Reply to
Angrie.Woman

(I asked him if the reason he made clothes

OK...................TOO FUNNY!!!!!

Don't you just love kids? Do you mind if send that one off to my mothers and grandmothers?

LMAO!

Thanks,

Michelle Giordano

Reply to
Doug&Michelle

Great! :)

Reply to
Kate Dicey

James says this is an excellent and perfectly rational explanation for making clothes for dinosaurs. He has plans to do lots of quilting this pm.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

In article , Angrie.Woman of SBC

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uttered>>I told them tonight that I had learned a new technique from you guys, >and that tomorrow they were going to be able to play with the machines >just as soon as their room was tidied up a bit.>

Cool - my two learnt on a handcrank aged 3 and 4 - several hundred miles of crazy patchwork later they are attempting clothes, son is about to embark on GCSE Textiles.

Reply to
She who would like to be obeye

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