Kids Can Sew Too!!

24/06/2020

Sometimes good things come out of boredom. And that’s exactly what happened by us last week. I have a 12 year old son who can’t stand being bored. He always needs to be doing something. But for two months now there has been no routine and no framework and we can’t leave the house and it doesn’t look like school is starting again any time soon…

Last week I took him aside for an intimate face to face coversation and informed him that either he stays bored quietly or he finds himself something to do. And to start off he should write a list of 5 things that he can do under the current circumstances.

An hour later he came back and announced that he decided to join a sewing course. And that he had already signed himself up for our “My First Stitch” course on the website.

He spent the entire afternoon in front of the computer learning how to operate the machine, how to thread it and how to sew hems. By the evening he had already let me know that there are a few corrections he thinks I should make in some of the lessons…

The next day he sewed himself a pillow and a pencil case and informed me that he is going to sew himself a pair of pants.

I, in turn, informed him that he is going to do it on his own! Because if he already is getting into it, at least I can now have a subject for my study- to what extent is it possible to learn to sew on your own, over the internet, and from what age. And does the gender of the person bear any significance?

Pants are one of the easier things to sew, though at first glance it looks complicated. And since he prefers pants with an elastic waist rather than a zipper anyway, it made the entire sewing proccess simpler. I told him that the most important thing when learning to sew new things is to work precisely, go over the stages in the correct order and not skip anything.

He began with drafting a pattern, moved on to cutting out the fabric and then to sewing the pieces together. What most surprised me was his accuracy when drafting the pattern as well as when he was cutting. I never imagined that a 12 year old could be so precise. There was even a point when I told him- forget it, you can skip that line. And he simply reminded me that I was the one who told him that he shouldn’t skip anything…

The only thing that I was willing to help him with was the pockets. Because that is really something a little more advanced and I didn’t want it to delay him. So I sewed the pocket itself and he attached it to the pants.

Aside from that, the kid sewed the pants all by himself!! And he was so excited about it that he decided to save them for Saturdays and special occasions 🙂

But what is my main conclusion from all this? First of all that anyone can do it. If a 12 year old who had never touched a sewing machine before in his life managed to sew himself a pair of pants in three days, nobody can say that it isn’t possible. And also, that sometimes we don’t need to be afraid of boredom, but rather think about how to channel it correctly in order to create new things.

And maybe the most important thing- that kids can also have tons of inspiration and motivation!

Here are a few tips so that you can sew pants more effectively and easily!

1. Pants, in contrast to skirts or dresses, are a garment that sits pretty close to the body and the stitches can therefore tear much more easily. Therefore, the best way to sew them is by running an external stitch over all of the pant seams. Yes, all of them. Including the crotch seams, the inner leg seams and the side seams (though for the side seams it’s enough to sew just to the hip line).

2. In order for you to be able to sew an external strengthening seam along the inner leg seam, I recommend first sewing the inner seam and only then the side seams.

3. Pockets are something that are very significant in pants, more so than in any other garment. And certainly for children. My children, for example, aren’t willing to wear pants that don’t have pockets. So don’t skip that stage.

4. If you chose to sew pants with an elastic waist, my recommendation is not to sew the elastic directly onto the fabric, but rather to thread it in. It might take a little more time but it will allow you to much more accurately assess the amount of elastic that you need, which is important!

5. Even if you are sewing pants from stretch fabrics (mostly with leggings), you should still insert elastic at the waist. It provides stability and the pants sit much more nicely on the body!

Waiting to see your success as well!

Rivka