Create a simple sewing basket for your toddler or preschooler to explore.
Given that I am regularly playing around with fabric and all manner of notions, Immy is always one step behind me raiding the drawers in my study for things to ‘make’ with. I have read about creating toddler ‘sewing’ baskets on a number of blogs and decided it was time to make Immy her own collection.
So into our re-fashioned basket went;
- A wooden embroidery hoop and plastic needle for ‘sewing’
- A cotton reel threading game
- A crocheted flower
- Small balls of wool of various colours
- Squares of fabric with a range of colours and textures
- Used cotton reels
- Some ric rac
- A chunky zipper
The threading game is based on a Montessori activity which I have seen around the blogosphere and utilises a Parmesan jar for storage and to hold the pipe cleaners upright whilst the child is threading onto them. It was also the first thing in the basket that Immy chose to explore.
Our ‘sewing’ utilises a non-slip drawer liner (another tip I picked up from an older post over at Filth Wizardry), plastic needle and wool. The drawer liner features large holes which make threading the needle through nice and easy for a two and a half year old. It is a good way for Immy to learn to pull the needle and thread all of the way through each time.
I have plans to extend the basket over time, adding;
- A collection of large buttons
- Chunky knitting needles
- Sewing cards
- Shoelaces for another threading experience with the cotton reels
- Some knitted pieces and more crocheted samples
- More sewing experiences, eventually moving onto using a metal bodkin and open weave cross stitch fabric
For more adventures into sewing with toddlers and preschoolers, visit these posts;
- The Further Adventures of our Toddler Sewing Basket
- Simple Kids Sewing: Sewing Flowers
- Simple Kids Sewing Project
But she definatlty needs her own sewing basket too.
What a fabulous idea. I'm totally making one of these for my niece for Christmas!
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Love the liner idea for sewing - must find something similar. Thanks for sharing this one.
x
Thanks a lot
thanks again.
I'm going to try to make this for my little one to practice his hand at sewing...the plastic needle is a great idea, too.
Thanks so much for sharing.
:) Colleen