Sewing has been used to create artistic crafts since ancient times. Expert sewing masters can create intricate designs and patterns on all kinds of material. These designs are good for getting instant attention. People love to wear hand-crafted clothing with unique designs. They are a great way to stand out from the crowd. A person with good skill in sewing can also earn money from selling their craft. Learning how to sew as a child is a great skill to have, which is why we’ve found the best sewing machines for kids.
Many people pursue sewing as a hobby as it helps them relax and keeps them busy. People also teach their kids how to sew and create wonderful designs in many parts of the world. While digital devices have taken over much of their time, kids who do take up sewing as a hobby tend to become more creative and good at crafting.
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In this blog post, we will cover reasons why you should encourage kids in your family to take up sewing, some amazing design patterns for beginners and some of the best sewing machines for kids.
Sewing As a Hobby for Kids
Kids have a curious mind and they are creative from birth. They like to express themselves, draw, write and create new things. It is no surprise that kids love crayons, coloring books, play clay and toys. These tools allow them to explore their imagination and create wonderful stories in their minds and on the paper.
Sewing is another inexpensive way for kids to test out their imagination and create great artwork. Learning to sew is a lifelong skill that stays with you even when you don’t use it for a long time. You use it to create great home decorations for your home to give it a unique look and even sell or gift your crafts to friends.
Here are five reasons why your kids would benefit from learning how to sew throughout their life.
Mend and Adjust Clothing
It is a really bad feeling if your favorite shirt loses its stitching or a button rips off while you were getting off the bus. Going to the shop to get it fixed can be more expensive than buying a new one. Most people tend to just throw it away.
If you know how to stitch, you can just fix your clothing at home quickly and easily. You can also alter your clothes if they get too tight or too lose. If your kids know how to fix clothes on a sewing machine, they can make their clothes last much longer.
Design Styles that You Want
Have you ever seen some shirt or trousers at the mall that you really like but do not buy because it is missing that one important design at the front that you wanted? Learning how to stitch will solve this problem for good.
You can buy the shirt you want and add the design to it later at home. You can even buy inexpensive shirts and give them great style by altering them at home.
Create Home Decoration
Once your kids learn moderate to good-level sewing, they can create beautiful home decorations for most types of furniture, walls and even appliances. We have seen everything from beautifully stitched cushions and pillows to record player covers, wall art and even mats covered with customized designs.
As you get better, the decorations also improve and more complex artwork can be created with the help of sewing machines.
Gifts and Crafts
Your home is not the only place that benefits from the artwork you create. You can also create designs on sheets, shirts, crafts, and decorations as gifts for your friends and acquaintances.
Imagine how much money can be saved on holiday shopping and think of all the gifts that can be made. Stitch designs can also be done on aprons, bags, welcome mats, quilts, and even home-made dresses. Beautiful handmade gifts can be created that everyone will love.
How to Start Sewing – For Kids
If your kids are new to stitching and sewing, then they will need guidance on design styles that they can use. We suggest starting with a soft fabric such as cotton cloth and using a cross stitch chart to understand how to read it.
We offer plenty of resources that can point kids and beginners in the right direction. You should start by picking basic design patterns, such as straight lines or zigzag patterns. You can buy embroidery hoops and frames to lock the fabric. This makes it easier for beginners to keep the fabric aligned.
Here are four tips on how to teach sewing to kids.
Evaluate their Skill Level
How you teach sewing to kids will depend on their level of skills. For kids who are completely new, it is better to start with hand-sewing. You can use a hoop to hold the fabric.
You should teach them how to improve hand-to-eye coordination. Let them practice on lacing cards and threading large beads to the fabric. Teach them basic stitches, cross stitches and embroidery.
Organize Projects into Parts
Sewing is an art form that requires patience. Different stages of sewing are interconnected. Instead of trying to finish the whole task in one go, you should teach kids to break the project into different parts and focus on doing the best for the part that they are working on. This will significantly improve the end-result once they bring the interconnected parts together.
Spend a Lot of Time in Practice
Kids who take up sewing have a lot to learn. Building expertise takes a good deal of practice. Mistakes and errors are part of the learning process. Kids should be taught how to recognize errors and what they can do to improve their sewing techniques.
If a child is struggling with one particular stitching style, give them material and knowledge to exercise until they get better.
Show Them How to be Great
If you want your kids to create really wonderful art, then common designs and art styles will not work in the long-run. There is a difference between a good designer and a great designer. A good designer is capable of creating wonderful patterns after seeing existing crafted work. However, great designers can visualize artwork from their minds and bring it on fabric in vivid colorful work.
A person’s unique and bright designs can leave people in awe but it takes time to develop that kind of expertise and creativity. Give your kids time to play with materials so that they can get better.
The Best Sewing Machines for Kids
Sewing machines have become quite easy to use these days. Sewing machine companies have designed them to maximize safety and ease of sewing. The needle works through built-in design function to create amazing patterns without much effort.
Specialized kids’ sewing machines are geared towards children as they are smaller, easier to operate and offer basic design pattern. Safety is the primary feature of these machines. Some of the best sewing machines for kids are listed here.
Singer Simple 3232
Kids will love this portable sewing machine. The Singer Simple 3232 is easy to use and has a simplistic design. It has 32 stitch patterns including 19 decorative stitching styles and an automatic 1-step buttonhole. It has a free arm for stitching cuffs and sleeves and a sewing speed of 750 stitches per minute.
The machine can sew several layers of thick fabric and the presser foot can be adjusted to a higher or lower position. It has the automatic reverse sewing option to reinforce the stitching.
Brother XM2701
This is a versatile, free arm sewing machine that is perfect for beginners. It offers 27 built-in stitch settings and 6 quick change sewing feet. It has a jam-resistant top bobbin, an LED-lit work area and comes with a 25-year warranty.
Here’s our full review of the Brother XM2701 sewing machine.
Juki HZL-F600
If you are looking for a professional quality sewing machine for the kids that will make sewing projects easy as a pie than Juki HZL-F600 will impress. It has more than 250 different sewing patterns and the largest variety of buttonholes that you can get. The workspace is quite big at 8.12.25”.
This sewing machine is ideal for kids that have a moderate-to-expert skill in sewing. It is strong enough to sew through thick handles. A must-have for advanced sewing needs.
Here’s our full review of the Juki HZL-F600 sewing machine.
Janome Arctic Crystal
The Janome Arctic Crystal is great for kids who have never done any sewing before. It comes with very basic functionality. It has 1 4-step buttonhole and offers 15 built-in stitch patterns. The machine is quite light and portable at 12lbs.
The most attractive feature of the machine is its design. It is beautiful yet simplistic with fun colors on the machine. It is quite easy to set up and the size is perfect for kids between 7 and 17 but older adults will also find it perfect.
The machine has the reverse button to lock in a stitch. The maximum sewing speed is 860 stitches per minute.
Brother CS6000i
The easily portable and user-friendly Brother CS6000i offers you a wide range of sewing options at a price that isn’t heavy on the pockets. This model has 60 built-in sewing stitch patterns and 7 styles of 1-step buttonholes. Weighing in at about 13lbs makes it easily portable.
This machine comes with a detachable, oversized table that can be used for bigger stitching or sewing projects. It also features easy-to-follow diagrams for threading and has an adjustable stitching speed control mechanism. The sewing area is brightly lit with an LED light, making it easy to sew on darker fabrics or dim lighting. It has an automatic needle threader that has been included to align threading during sewing.
Here’s our full review of the Brother CS6000i sewing machine.
Singer Start 1304
This compact and lightweight model is great for beginner adults or kids who are trying to get into sewing and want a sewing machine that is easy to use and understand. It has 6 basic stitches to choose from, selected with the help of a simple dial at the side. The 4-step buttonhole feature lets you add buttonholes for things like clothing, pillows, handkerchiefs and fashion accessories.
Threading the machine is very easy and even a kid can thread it from the spool to the needle’s eye in less than 10 seconds.
Here’s our full review of the Singer Start 1304 sewing machine.
Janome 2212
The Janome 2212 is another high-quality model aimed at beginners and entry-level kids. It features 12 built-in stitch patterns and has a 4-step buttonhole. Dials on the side allow stitch pattern selection and allow you to adjust the width and length of the job to make sewing incredibly easy.
It has a free arm and drop feed that makes it useful for stitching for all types of sewing. It has a reverse sewing lever to reinforce stitching, front loading bobbin, and a push/pull winder that makes threading and sewing very easy.
Here’s our full review of the Janome 2212 sewing machine.
Juki Pearl Line MO-654DE
The Juki Pearl Line MO-654DE is another advanced serger and great for those who have an expert level in sewing. It offers several threading options that can be combined to create hundreds of color-coded stitch patterns and thread tensions. It offers a variety of 2, 3 or 4 thread overlocks. Sewing speed is 1650 stitches per minute.
The machine has dial and options for tension adjustment, looper threading, serging precision, cutting-width adjustment, flip and roll feature for hemming, stitch length adjustments and differential feed adjustment. These options make the MO-654DE excellent for professional-grade sewing. It is ideal for kids who take their sewing very seriously.
Brother CS5055PRW
The CS5055PRW is a stylish looking machine that will appeal to kids and adults alike. It is a compact lightweight machine that weighs less than 11lbs and will easily fit into bags for portability. It offers 87 stitch functions with 50 decorative stitches and 5 automatic buttonholes.
This machine can go up to 850 stitches per minute, features a quick set drop-in bobbin system. You will experience effortless stitching on all types of fabric including denim, tweed and other thick material. A bright LED-lit work area and reverse stitching make it a good choice for both new and experienced users.
Here’s our full review of the Brother CS5055PRW sewing machine.
Singer 1507WC
The Singer 1507WC is a beginner-level stitch machine with a compact and simplistic design and features. It is good for learning and ideal for kids who are just starting their hands on sewing. It has 8 built-in stitch styles and a fully automatic 4-step buttonhole. When combined, they offer a good variety of settings for fashion sewing, creating textile art and home decorations.
It has an automatic bobbin clutch free arm with, adjustable stitch length and width and a metal support for holding the machine in alignment.
Decision Time: Which Kids Sewing Machine Appeals to You Most?
If you’re looking for the best sewing machine for kids that they can also grow into and use for the rest of their life, it’s the Juki HZL-F600. It also comes with a much higher price tag. If you’re looking for something a bit more budget-friendly that can still be used for years and years, the Brother CS6000i is always a top choice. Good luck!
