I recycled an old basket and some other on-hand household finds to make up a sweet toddler-friendly sewing kit for Clara. It’s been a big hit around here, and it was practically free to put together! I completely under-estimated how ridiculously happy she would be to have a sewing basket of her very own, and how proud she was of herself! Oh. my. goodness!!
Leftover pieces of shelf-liner and produce netting made for easy and interesting material for her to sew through with a large blunt-tipped yarn needle. She especially loved the netting from the top of a clementine crate! A small embroidery hoop made it easy for her little hands to hold.
She was especially interested in sewing on BIG colorful buttons — yay!!!
I pre-cut all of the yarn, tying a knot on one end and wrapping the other end with a bit of tape to make it easy for her to thread the needle on her own. She was so proud that she could thread it herself! I also tied a small knot near the needle to keep it in place while she sewed.
She also enjoyed the basket itself, and practiced taking all of the materials out and putting them back in over and over again!
We recycled cut up pieces of an empty cereal box to make the “spools” of pre-cut yarn.
Then she would take it out and start sewing all over again! I think it helps if you wear a colorful pasta necklace, don’t you?
Sewing is a wonderful activity for developing fine-motor control, pattern recognition, color identification, and so much more! I love that this simple kit made it easy for her to enjoy some early sewing success!!
Look, ma! I can sew!!!
Have fun!!
How fun! I got my first sewing basket when I was six years old, I think, and it’s still the one I use today!
That is totally awesome! I’m looking forward to lots of sewing fun with Clara! 🙂
Dear Valerie,
“You’ll
shootpoke your eye out, kid”Just kidding! She sure looks like she is having fun. 🙂
Love,
Mark
It was non-stop smiles all morning long!!
What fun!
Thank you, Anya!
Thanks for this timely idea! My daughter has been begging for a sewing kit, but thinking of my 3-year old armed with a needle makes me fearful for our 14 month old. This will be perfect for her!
How fantastic!! Have fun! xoxo
Oh, I want to make on for Hannah. You have such wonderful ideas!!
Oh, I bet she will love it! Have fun!!
This would be great for my little one and I have just the basket too.
Thanks for all your inspiring ideas, I always get from reading your blog!
You’re very welcome — so happy you’re enjoying our little bloggy blog! xoxo
What a wonderful gift! I would never have thought of the shelf liner, but it looks perfect.
Thank you, Frances! It is so nice for easy sewing, and Clara really loved it. 🙂
how cute!! she looks so happy!
Aww… thanks, Sarah! 🙂
What a fantastic idea! One of my twins has recently mastered tying knots, and I’ve been trying to come up with a craft other than bead-threading that might catch her fancy.
Wonderful! I hope she really enjoys this!! 🙂
So is that an old tea set basket? It’s way too cute
Wow, good eye, Ticia! It is an old tea set basket! I’ve seen picnic baskets at the thrift store that would work very nicely too. 🙂
Dear Clara,
I have a pair of pants that desperately needs the button replaced. Could I send them to you so you can adorn them with one or two of your BIG, colorful buttons?
Thank you fro your consideration!
Sincerely,
Wonder Mom
P.S. Congratulations on owning your very OWN sewing kit!
LOL — So sweet!! 🙂 We’ll add it to the mending pile.
That is the cutest thing ever. Fantastic!
😀 Thank you!!
I love it – what a great idea, especially seeing those big buttons that are actually not falling off.
The buttons were a big hit!!
STOP!!! I love this. Must have. So cute!
Hee hee!! Thank you!
Okay, this is a fantastic idea! I knew I was saving that netting from the orange boxes for something. Oh, and great tip about tying the knot near the needle – thanks!
I’m so glad you saved the netting — it’s perfect easy sewing material. Enjoy!!
I love this idea, I have a 5 year old who would love her own little basket. I am new to your blog and have really enjoyed it today
Welcome to FFFB, Pam! I’m so happy your 5yr old would enjoy this — it’s so much fun!
So clever and CUTE!!!
Thank you, Diane! xoxo
Absolutely love this idea. Kalyssa is always wanting to sew when I am, so this is definitely a must do on my crafting list! Thanks for sharing 🙂
How fantastic! Enjoy!!
Oh my goodness! This is so creative, love the green factor! Great for fine motor. 🙂
Thank you, Kristi! We love recycling things from around the house. 🙂
Great idea! I found some place mats at the dollar store that are just like that shelf liner. I cut them up for our kids to use in sewing – works great.
I know exactly which ones you mean, and I’ve seen them in all sorts of bright colors! Great idea!!
What an awesome idea! I love it!
Thank you, Kara!
Just had to say what a dolly Clara is! The last picture is SO cute!
Awww… so sweet, Jennie! Thank you! xoxo
She looks so happy as she’s working on her sewing project. Love it; great idea.
Thanks, Petula! Her smiles are contagious. 🙂
That is adorable and so much fun for Clara. What a great idea.
Thanks, Debby! She had a lot of fun!
What a great idea. Clara looks so incredibly happy and proud of herself. And I love how you recycled almost the entire gift.
Thanks so much, Anna! I couldn’t believe how happy this made her!
thanks valerie! so cute and so much fun! esp if it keeps them occupied 🙂 Where did you get the BIG colorful buttons?
I don’t remember for sure, but I think I may have gotten them at a teacher’s supply store??
This is the cutest idea ever! I’m so impressed. Wish I had a little girl to make one for!
Thank you so much, Molly!! 🙂
Wow! When you do a favorites for 2011, I can’t imagine anything topping this. It is really COOL! (But I loved the gumball machine, also.:))
Oh, that is so sweet, Susan — thank you! xoxo
This is SO cute! I still have my first sewing basket, and I plan on passing it on to Ava in another couple of years. I like the materials and small bits of colored yarn you have come up with to keep it fun. At my house, we use the hard plastic needlework material (like Grandma’s tissue box was made from 🙂 cut into manageable-sized shapes. We use needles similar to yours and Ava likes to incorporate large beads into her “sewing,” too. Thanks for the post. Very fun!
Oh, how cute! We have some of that plastic canvas stuff here — I think beads would be fun to add too!
Cute! When she gets older you can switch it out to embroidery thread and needles, and pieces of felt. I’ve got links to some cute thread cards that you can print on cardstock here: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/embroidery.aspx and you can see the sewing housewife that I made for my daughter (she’s 9) for her to keep her needles and embroidery thread together. I just have to figure out something for my boys, since they want to learn, too!
Those are amazing!! I love the thread cards — SO cute!!!
What a fabulous idea! I have a little one turning 4 next week and this would be a wonderful gift. Thank you!
Found you through Frugal Granola.
Oh, I’m so happy you found us, Elizabeth! Welcome to FFFB! I hope your 4yr old enjoys this as much as Clara does — it was a big hit here! xoxo
What a cute idea! I love it!!
Cheers!
Jen
Thank you, Jen!! 🙂
LOVE it! 🙂 You can tell by her facial expressions that she is on cloud 9!
I still can’t believe how happy she is to do her own sewing! It melts my heart every time! 🙂
Your child’s beeeeeaming smile says it all! I love the wonderful recycled materials and the neat little spools of thread! This would make a fantastic ziplock bag activity or sewing kit gift … Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much, Nadene! Clara has been taking out her sewing basket every day — For something so simple, it’s been a big hit around here! 🙂
She is sooo happy! I love it. I am so making one for my son, and you’ve given me some great ideas for things I already have around the house to use.
Hi there, just wanted to let you know I love your website, and have referenced your kid’s sewing kit on my blog. Hope that is ok. Cheers, Zoe
I’ve had my eye on this project forever, but watching my girls work on a school project involving yarn has made me decide to take the plunge. I don’t have any appropriate baskets, so I’m going to make plastic canvas boxes for each of them. I LOVE the idea of sewing elastic onto the lid. BRILLIANT!