10 Simple Sewing Projects for Beginners

I've been teaching sewing to beginners for a few years now and thought I'd share ten of my students' favorite simple sewing projects. 

If you're looking for some simple projects to teach to a new sewer, you might want to consider teaching them how to make one of these. These projects are cute, fun and about as easy as they come for beginning sewers! 

1.  30 Minute Stuffed Animal here.

2.  A Sling Bag is a fun beginner project, especially for tweens. Go to this post for ideas on how to make this bag and a link to the free pattern.

3.  Hot Pad Holder tutorial found here. This is a perfect project for learning to sew on bias tape.

4.  Doll Chef Hat here. A simple project for learning how to gather fabric and sew a band onto a gathered edge. Plus, if you're teaching a young girl how to sew, she'll love having a new accessory for her doll! 

5.  Simple Pouch Bag. Learn to sew a zipper into a little bag. You can use a linen napkin for the outside of the bag as shown here or cut a piece of fabric and sew a simple pouch as explained in this tutorial by Melly Sews.

6.  Simple Skirt here by sewVery Simple. This is usually the first project I have my students make. They learn how to make a casing, one seam down the back and a rolled hem. It's a quick project to sew but it'll take a beginning student at least an hour to 1 1/2 hours to make this kind of skirt.

7.  Refashion a Skirt into a Dress here. A super simple dress can be made by adding a skirt to a ready made top and with just one sewn seam, you'll have a dress. This project shows this simple technique. I've personally used this tutorial to make myself a few dresses.

8.  Make a Twisted Headband out of knit fabric. You'll find a simple tutorial here. A really resourceful way to make this headband is to use an old knit shirt as the fabric. Simply cut the shirt into 5" wide stripes and along the seam, cut the stripes into 19-21" pieces. This is another perfect project for tweens and teenagers.

9.  A Bow Tie is a great project to learn how to turn tubes right side out. This is especially a fun project if the student wants to make a gift for a little boy. Go here for the free pattern and tutorial. It's a darling, easy project! 

10.  Panel Dolls. Moda has some fun, easy pre designed kits called "Cut and Sew" like "Little Red" and "Queen of the Sea." You simply cut out the images (which include a doll, pillow, blanket, skirt and a little friend), sew, stuff and you're done. Even a 5 year-old can help with this project. See this post for tips. 

Sewing can be simple and fun, especially when you have a tried and true beginner project. Do you remember the first thing you ever sewed? I'd love to hear about it! 
xoxo Grandma

Make a Halloween Baby Carrier Shark Costume

Get ready to turn heads with the cutest baby in town on Halloween! 

Last year when the cute baby in the photo above was born to my niece, I asked my niece what she wanted or needed for the baby. She told me all she wanted was a baby carrier costume. Music to my ears! Costumes I can do! They're one of my favorite things to create! But a baby carrier costume? I was stumped. I honestly had never heard of such a thing. 

I asked my niece to share photos with me of what she had in mind. She showed me this image of a shark costume. Since the article only explained how to create this costume, but failed to offer a pattern or photos, I'm expanding on this Halloween Baby Carrier Shark Costume idea with a FREE pattern. Trust me, it'll make things a lot easier! 

So... here we go! Get ready to create the easiest, most darling baby costume in town!

HERE is the link to the free baby carrier shark costume pattern. Make sure you print the pattern without shrinking it. 

Let's get started!

Supplies needed

Grey felt

Black felt

Red flat bias tape

White pellon, 1/8 yard

Fiber fill

Grey thread

2 large googly eyes

Glue

4-6 Medium to large safety pins

Directions:

1. Cut out 2 of the bodies from grey felt. Cut a hole for the shark mouth in one of the bodies. 

2. Cut a piece of black felt a little larger than the mouth opening.

3. Cut out teeth from heavy white interfacing like Pellon.

4. Sew the teeth in place. 

5. Sew the black backing behind the teeth.

6. Sew red flat bias tape around the mouth mitering the bottom corners so you get a sharp pointed edge.

7. Right sides facing, sew the grey felt bodies together, leaving an opening to turn them right side out.

8.  Clip the corners and rounded edges.

9.  Turn the shark body right side out.

10. Lightly stuff the shark body with fiber fill.

11. Sew the opening closed.

12. Glue the googly eyes in place

13.  With large safety pins, from the back side of the baby carrier, safety pin the shark body to the carrier.

To complete the costume, dress in black, add swim goggles for you and your little one, and throw on a multicolored blue tutu skirt... you know... because your outfit is going to need a little splash too (pun intended)!  

Happy costume making! And Happy Halloween! 

xoxo Grandma

More costume ideas:

The Flintstone Family Costumes

SaveSaveSaveSave

The Flintstones Family Costumes

Are you and your family Halloween fanatics? Are you into choosing a theme for your family costumes? If so, and you love dressing up, you'll love this post. 

My youngest daughter's family loves Halloween and getting all decked out every year. She's a redhead and so is her daughter, so she thought it'd be perfect to choose a Flintstone family theme. To prep her young kids, she let them watch a few episodes of the Flintstones, since they had no idea who they were. Talk about making me feel old!  

The Dino costume was created by using Simplicity pattern #2506, view C. I used a light weight fuschia cotton fabric. If you live somewhere that's colder in October, I'd suggest using fleece. 

The Dino name tag was made out of felt. I cut out two bright yellow circles and with black floss, embroidered the name onto one circle. I added heavy interfacing to the circle and then sewed the pieces together. With black embroidery floss, I sewed the name tag onto a turquoise neckband. The neckband was 3/4" wide and hook and loop were used to hold the neckband together.

On the back of the Dino costume I added random back spots. The black strands on top of the head were made of black fleece. In retrospect, I wish I would have inserted pipe cleaners inside the strands so they would have stood up.

Pebbles shirt was made from a simple lime green cotton fabric. The pattern used was Simplicity #4927, view B. I cut out random black triangles and machine embroidered those onto the fabric before I sewed the top together.  With this shirt, she wore a blue shorts that she already had on hand.

Of course, a white bone is necessary for a cave girl's hair. I cut out two bones out of white felt. Then I sewed the bones together leaving a small opening to turn the bone. I hand sewed an elastic onto the center of the bone to make it easier to attach to hair. If you want to make a bone too, here is the free pattern for the bones I made for Pebbles and the Bam Bam costumes. 

For Bam Bam's costume, I used a basic boy's short pattern. Before I sewed the shorts together, I sewed onto the fabric random, black triangles. The best part is the shorts hem was cut randomly to give it a tattered look. I used a solid brown fabric and cut two slit like buttonholes into the bottom of the strap piece. I made two white bones to put into the slits. 

My grandson's favorite part of the Bam Bam costume was the club. My recommendation for the club is to use a good sturdy fabric. I used felt and felt just doesn't hold up well. I also inserted a dowel into the club before sewing it up, so it wouldn't flop over. The club has dark brown wood type lines machine embroidered onto it. 

Bam Bam's hat was purchased here. I hand sewed the black triangles onto the hat. Then I hot glued a jumbo white pom pom onto the middle of the hat. 

The parents were on their own for their costumes. 

Do your children or grandchildren know who the Flintstones even are? Happy dressing up! xoxo Grandma

Some of the items used to create these costumes can be found here:

  

Nautical J.Crew Knock-off Sundress

Before this spunky girl went on a trip with her family, I got a request to make her this nautical J.Crew "Knock-off Sundress." 

I made this same dress last summer for two other granddaughters after my daughter fell in love with this style at J.Crew. It was a bit too pricey, even at the outlet, so I figured out how to make it. 

It's summer weather around 80% of the year where my cute granddaughter in these photos lives, so even though it's almost September, she'll be wearing this for another couple of months.

Good thing I didn't wait too long to make it because this sundress arrived the day before her family left on their trip.

I loved and laughed at all the poses this girl came up with for these photos. And don't you just love her choice of shoes? She told her mother that the color matched the dress and who's going to argue with a 3 year-old if they are happy?

The free pattern used to make this sundress can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6zH2I5zjQYWelNlZEdqN3NSVVk/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-UPAcWnsb0Q5hVbiZGrlltA

If you haven't downloaded this pattern, you'll want to. It's pretty simple to make!

The nautical fabric is from Michael Miller and can be found here.

She's such a fun girl! Doesn't her attitude just come right out in these photos? 

How long does summer weather last where you live? Not long enough at my house! 

xoxo Grandma

Link to the fabric used:

Simple Baby Boy Gifts to Sew

Do you need a perfectly simple, yet cute baby boy gift? Today, I'm sharing with you two of my favorite gifts to sew. 

This bow tie and these baby booties both take around 30 minutes to whip up from start to finish, which makes them top contenders for simple baby boy gifts. Plus, look at them... they're darling! 

The free pattern called "Baby Booty" includes a photo tutorial. You'll find this on Michael Miller Fabrics blog. It can be downloaded here.  Once you download this pattern, I'm suggesting you do the following to improve the sewing process just slightly:

• Step three states to use a seam ripper to rip an opening for the elastic. I think it looks nicer to make buttonholes for the opening instead.
• Baste the top & top lining and the heel and heel lining before you sew them onto the sole.
• Add batting between the soles. This gives the soles warmth and cushioning.

This dapper bow tie always impresses a new mom or dad. You'll find the free pattern and tutorial here. For fun, if you have enough fabric, make a matching bow tie for the Dad to be.

Find an hour in your day, grab some scrap fabrics and sew up these two baby boys gifts.

You won't regret making a few extras to have on hand for the next baby shower you're invited to. xoxo Grandma

Teaching Children to Sew - An Easy Doll Set and a GIVEAWAY!

First things first... we have a GIVEAWAY happening here today! I know you all love giveaways, because I do too. Two lucky readers will have the chance to win one of these cute doll sets I'm featuring here on this post today. But you'll have to read this post in its entirety to find out how to enter. So, stick with me here. It won't take long, I promise.

Now, back to the task at hand... Have you seen these cute doll panels make by Moda? When one of my granddaughters visited us recently, I hoped she'd enjoy sewing one of these kits with me. Turns out, she really did! Keep reading to learn how you can win a few doll panel kits for yourself. 

The panel pictured above is called "Lil' Red Riding Hood." This is what the panel looks like before it's cut out. For this particular project with my granddaughter, I used the panel called "A Walk In the Woods." Before my granddaughter's visit, I cut out the Moda doll panel. Just trying to speed the process along a bit... 

I let my 5 year-old granddaughter be in charge of pressing her foot to the sewing machine petal. After we got a few of the pieces sewn, she sat in the chair next to me and I showed her how to stuff the doll, pillow and the bunny and bear friend with fiberfill. 

She did pretty well staying on task and as I continued to sew the rest of the pieces from the panel, we talked, laughed and I kept telling her to "add more stuffing."

Her little fingers were perfect for stuffing those small spaces.

When I came into my kitchen the next morning, her doll, Gretel, was tucked under her blanket on the kitchen table with her bunny friend, her head resting on her ruffled pillow.  Also at the kitchen table was my granddaughter. She was busy stuffing Hansel with a smile on her face. This of course melted my sewing-loving heart.

Isn't this doll set just darling? I fluffed the kit up by adding a few additions. If you want your kit to look similar, here's what I did:

• Cut out the border from the kit and use it to make a ruffle. Sew the ruffle onto the left side of the pillow.
• Tie onto Gretel's side braids red, organdy ribbon bows.

• To the bottom of the skirt, I sewed a little left over white trim.

• Hand sew pom poms onto the backs of the bear and rabbit friends to make a more realistic soft tail.

And there you have it. Your cute little doll (and all her friends) are complete! 

Now... on to the really, really fun part of today's post. THE GIVEAWAY! Thank you Moda Fabrics!

Two lucky readers will win several of these doll panels! So, enter away! Ready, go... 

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY:

• Follow me on Facebook at xoxo Grandma. 
• Leave a comment on Facebook. 
• For extra chances to win, tag a friend or two. 
• Winners will be chosen on August 1st.

The winners of this giveaway were Kelly Wood and Deanna Lynn.

Thank you to all of you that entered and joined me on my Facebook page.

These panels are an easy tool to teach others to sew - especially youngsters. But if you want to keep one for yourself, I totally understand. Enjoy!
-xoxo Grandma

Here are a few of these fun panels by Moda and designed by Stacy Iset Hsu, if you're interested in sewing one too: 

And fiberfill is a must for this project

Teaching Sewing - to a 4-Year-Old

Teaching sewing to a 4-year-old can be a lot of fun. Preparation is the key to teaching any child to sew. The first step is to ask the child what they want to sew and have easy sewing projects ready to suggest. The other night, I asked one of my 4 year old granddaughters what she wanted to help me sew when she comes to my house this summer. You can be sure that I'll have everything cut out and ready to go when she comes to visit.

When my grandchildren come to visit, they usually ask if they can help me sew. I let them put their foot onto my sewing machine's petal. Before they get this chance to help me, we talk briefly about being really good listeners and obeying quickly. I tell them that if I say "stop", they must take their foot off the petal. When I say "go" they are to press their foot onto the petal. This is a perfect first sewing machine lesson for 4-year-olds.


The first of this year, I went to visit my daughter in Okinawa. Her son, a 4-year-old wanted to make a toy for his little sister. I asked him what he wanted to make and he said a rectangle. So, we cut a simple rectangle out of white and blue felt. Then I threaded a large needle and I showed him how to sew around the shape.

He next wanted to add sequins to this rectangle. I explained that his little sister might put them in her mouth so if we added sequins, we had to sew them on so they would be really strong. Then in his mother's sewing box, I saw some jingle bells.  We sewed those into a small bag and put them into his rectangle. Then I let him add what he calls "fluff" or in others words, fiber fill to his rectangle.. 

He knew all about fiber fill from watching me stuff Christmas ornaments last fall at his house. He and his 2 1/2 year old sister would throw the fiber fill all over my daughter's living room and pretend it was snowing!

When his baby sister woke up, he gave her this toy.
She rewarded his efforts with squeals and smiles. 



4 Year Old Sewing Lesson Tips:

1. Ask the child what they want to make.
2. Let the child offer input on their creation.
3. Double thread the needle for the child so they don't loose the needle when sewing.
4. Help the child make a dimensional creation by stuffing it with fiber fill.
5. Add a bit of glitz by letting the child sew sequins onto their project.
6. Teach your child to make things for others. This helps the child feel the joy of sharing.

Teaching a 4-year-old to sew can be a lot of fun. It's good to see their imagination work as they learn to create three dimensional gifts. 

Additional post on teaching children to see go here.  xoxo Grandma

Supplies used for this project: