Liffet

Hello everyone!

I'm not a newbie at sewing but one thing makes me curious.

As a responsible grandmother, I took up the teaching of my granddaughter. We live together, and now she on a distance learning because of the quarantine. I want to teach her to sew but I'm not sure if my old Janome will be good for her. I'm not planning to buy a new sewing machine for myself but I can afford to buy a small unit for my granddaughter. How did you teach your children/grandchildren? Did you buy them small sewing machines? If so, which one? I'm thinking about buying Janome 2212 but maybe someone could suggest another brand or model.

Another issue is how is better to teach: by myself, show her some tutorials on YouTube (because her generation loves it) or combine these two options. What do you think? I've already found this good lady who explains very clear https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc3...bL3fGMQ/videos. Do you know other good YouTubers?

All suggestions, thoughts, and opinions are appreciated!

Thanks!

Fabric Galore

I taught my granddaughter how to sew when she was 5 years old. We used my personal sewing machine and her first project was an easy short set. I gave her one of my older machines to take home and she started making clothes for herself and her best friend. I would recommend you look at https://teachyoutosew.com/sewing-101/ as a starting point. I get a weekly newsletter from Mayra So Sew Easy which has free patterns and projects. The only problem with the patterns is you have to print them and then tape them together but she has some really nice projects. Good luck. My granddaughter is now 29 years old and she makes clothes for her daughter and she also does quilts. She still calls me for advice when she runs into trouble and it is a common bond between us.

juliasb

Welcome to the QB from SE Michigan! have been using an inexpensive Brothers machine to teach my granddaughter. She is 9 yrs old. We haven't had to many lessons and she is working on her first quilt! I sit right with her and have turned down the speed of the machine to as low as I can make it for her safety. I make sure she takes a bit of a break after each short seam. When she starts to get distracted we stop. (She tends to be a bit high strung).
I learned to sew on an old treadle and went to town making my own clothes back in the day. I think the Brothers electric is the way to do it for this generation. Again welcome to the QB and I do hope to see a great deal of you here.

leonf

I like to use hand cranks to teach small ones. They aren't nearly so scary as an electric and they can be very precise.

https://www.quiltingboard.com/member...38-611459.html click here for a picture.

leonf

Others .at events

ckcowl

My youngest granddaughter was 4 when she decided she had to sew- I bought an inexpensive Brother machine from Walmart ($89)
the best thing about the machine was it had speed control- I set it on ( turtle) speed and it didn’t matter if she became foot heavy it still just poked along. I set the machine up on her little Care Bear table so everything was set up for her size. Her daddy was being deployed and she had to make him a quilt to take with him so he wouldn’t forget her. She did every bit of that quilt herself- I even tipped a tall dresser on its side for her to walk on to longarm quilt it. 15 years later she still has that machine- makes purses, gifts, toys sometimes and her daddy took that quilt to the Middle East and is retiring this year- he still has that quilt- never leaves home without it

all the kids in the family started sewing on inexpensive Brother machines and I know at least 5 of them are still being used years later

quiltingcandy

You didn't say how old your granddaughter is, because if she were 4-5 I would start with the old fashion sewing cards. When I was 8 years old, my best friend had one of those Singer for kids machine. It was red and I thought it was the best thing ever. However, my mom said if I was going to learn to sew I needed to use a real sewing machine. She taught me on her Singer 15-91. It is in a cabinet - with a knee control. (I have that machine now.) I loved sewing then and now. But I did start off with the cards when i was 4 or 5, then I learned to embroider and made kitchen towels and pillow cases. I do not remember my mom ever sitting and embroidering - but she felt I needed to learn basics before using her machine when I was 8. I even made doll clothes by hand with scraps.

My best friend's mom must have had a fancier machine because Judy was not allowed to touch it. And her mom had lots of wonderful fancy scraps of fabric and lace. We had so much fun.

misspriss

I learned ti sew on my grandmothers singer treadle, and it didn't hinder me learning how to use the "fancy machines." I believe once you get the technique down you can sit at any machine. Like driving a car, I learned on a stick shift and now I drive automatics. Teach the dear ones on whatever you have. They will adapt.

Lady Diana

I would not purchase a "kiddie" machine. If she has sewn on your janome, I would go with a Janome. What model was she sewing on, Janome has so many machines for all levels of sewists. Will your sweet granddaughter be sewing clothes, quilts, pillowcases? This will help in suggesting a machine.

sewbizgirl

When my kids were little (4 or so) and began to express interest as I sewed, I started them on my old Bernina with no thread and a coloring book page. Their "challenge" was to let the needle poke holes along all the lines on the page. It works great for that eye/hand coordination they need in order to sew. Pretty soon they were sewing their own beanbags to play with.

There's no reason a kid can't sew on a regular sewing machine... just keep the machine simple.