Hand sewing is an excellent skill to learn for adults and children! I wish I had learned to hand sew when I was younger. As an adult, if I am sitting down my hands are busy sewing, knitting, or playing with clay, if your child is anything like me they might appreciate learning this skill to occupy their fidgety hands. If I had learned this skill when I was younger I could have used it as a stress relief much sooner! If your child loves to craft then let me give you a few reasons (8 to be exact) why they should learn!
1. Portable
I love that hand sewing is portable, whether you are traveling or at home with friends and family you can bring your sewing project with you, and you are not stuck at a sewing machine in a room.
If your child’s friends are interested in sewing too they can create a community of friends that sew together and talk about upcoming projects or help each other if they have a question.
2. Low cost and very few supplies to get started hand sewing and complete a project.
The supplies your child will need to get started are a needle, thread, scissors, fabric or felt, and the pattern and additional supplies needed for a specific project. Your child can start practicing the stitches today with just a needle, thread, scissors, and felt.
3. Low tech
There is not a lot that can break with the simple supplies you need to hand sew. You don’t have to worry about a sewing machine breaking and maintenance and upkeep. Hand sewing is a quiet craft that does not disrupt those around them. Bonus: kids are not on a screen when they are hand sewing!
Hand sewing teaches patience, we are all used to instant gratification, and when they have to wait and work on their final project for a longer period of time it teaches persistence and patience in this fast-paced world we live in.
4. Creativity and confidence.
Your child can express themselves with the projects they choose, the fabric choices, and the colors/shapes they decide to sew. They will get to use their Imagination and will look forward to each new project they want to make.
Your child will gain confidence when learning a new skill, and finishing something on their own. They will love the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing a project.
5. Sewing improves hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
When they are learning to thread their needle, tie knots, create stitches, cut their thread, when tracing/cutting pattern templates, and when pinning they are improving hand-eye coordination and their fine motor skills. They will feel fumbly at first but if they are patient and persevere they will succeed in no time, kids catch on really fast!
6. Lifelong skill
Hand sewing is a skill they can do daily and can use to make fun projects for decorative purposes or more practical ones like hemming, sewing a button, or creating a patch. There are so many things they can explore once they know how to hand sew. Examples could be English paper piecing, hand quilting/hand piecing, embroidery, cross stitch, and I am sure there are more.
7. Relaxing, calming, stress relief
Hand sewing or any craft that is repetitive and done with our hands (like knitting, or any of these courses we offer!) can improve our mental well-being and help us to slow down and have a mind/body connection. This can be a time that they reflect on their day, pray, or simply relax and enjoy creating their project.
8. Keeps busy hands occupied and as a bonus, they create something fun!
I always have something to work on when I am watching tv, traveling, or sitting and talking with friends and family. I am able to focus and listen better when my hands are busy, maybe your child is the same, it’s worth a try!
TIP: When your child is first learning to hand sew felt is a great way to learn because it doesn’t fray and is easy to find fun colors and is easy to work with for little hands.
In The Makers Club, there are hand sewing courses that include animal stuffies to make, your child will want to make them all, it will be coming out in the next week or so, I can’t wait to see which ones your kids make!
Happy Crafting,
