Guest Post by Julie Anne Eason
It’s that time again, the fall leaves are crunching underfoot and kids thoughts turn to Halloween costumes and sweet treats. But you can turn trick-or-treat into a learning experience for little ones with this easy learn-to-sew craft. It’s a great way to keep impatient little ones busy until the big day.
Materials:
- 1/2 yard piece of colored felt for the bag
- various small pieces of colored felt for the applique
- Halloween cookie cutters or stencil designs
- Embroidery floss
- Large eye needle
- Some yarn or extra felt for handles
- Straight pins
- glue stick
Note: This project is appropriate for most children over the age of 6. However, you know your child best. So please use good judgment and provide supervision as necessary.
Step One: Prepare your design
Trace the cookie cutters, stencil or have your child freehand their own design onto the scrap pieces of felt and cut them out. Then arrange them on the bag however they like. Using pins or a glue stick, secure the cutouts on the 1/2 yard piece of felt. (You’ll be folding it in half to make the bag. So, help your child find the best placement.)
Step Two: Sew on the design
Once the design is secure, use the embroidery floss and large-eye needle to hand stitch around the outside of the piece. This is called applique, and you can use a running stitch (in-out-in-out) or any other decorative embroidery stitch your child likes.
If they want to embellish the bag further, try adding buttons, sequins, tassels or glitter to jazz things up.
Step Three: Stitch up the bag
Take your long piece of felt and fold it in half so you have a bag shape with the fold on the bottom. Pin the sides closed and hand stitch up both sides. Just a basic “in-out-in-out” running stitch is fine. Try to keep the stitches close together. If your child is old enough, they can sew up the sides of the bag on a beginner’s sewing machine.
Finally, add the handle. You can braid up some yarn or just use extra felt. For this bag, we cut a 3″ by 36″ strip of leftover felt, folded it in half lengthwise, and stitched the open end closed. Then pin the ends inside the bag opening and stitch down. (Be sure to test the handles for secure sewing.)
Step Four: Praise your child’s creativity
Tell your child what a great job they did and encourage them to try other sewing projects. Resist the urge to “fix” things or help them too much. After all, this is a learning experience. They should feel proud of their efforts. If they want to make more than one of these quick bags, why not make one for classmates. Smaller versions of these bags work great for small treat bags for school parties, too.
Helpful Hints:
- Place your knots on the inside of the bag where they won’t show.
- To finish sewing a seam, just pull the needle to the inside of the fabric and tie a square knot with the strands of embroidery floss.
- Use a sharp large-eye needle, not a tapestry needle or blunt point.
- Felt is easy for kids to work with. But you can make this project with almost any fabric you like. Why not recycle some old clothes for the project?
- Don’t hassle your child about perfect stitches. That will come later. Right now, let them enjoy creating something of their very own.
Julie Anne Eason is a full-time mom and freelance writer. She spends her days dreaming up craft projects, writing sewing machine reviews and talking to her sewing dress dummy a bit too much!
Recent Comments