An Easy Sewing Project Kids Will Love

People are always asking, “Can I sew with young kids?” The answer is short and sweet: YES!!! You definitely can! And if you’re wondering, “What’s an easy sewing project for kids?” Well, Amelia is.

She’s a cute bouncy jelly fish softie full of personality (as well as some rice grains and stuffing). And she is simple enough for even young kids to complete by themselves as well as giving them plenty of room to be creative and have heaps of fun.

If your kids are very young, around 5 or 6, and haven’t sewn before, they can glue (rather than sew on her eyes) and leave off her colourful running stitch markings. And if they really want those markings, Mum, Dad or Grandma can sew them on. They only require a simple running stitch. And if you can’t do a running stitch, just go to my quick running stitch tutorial and in five minutes you’ll be stitching away. Or if you’re looking for some tips to help you sew with kids then my 5 Golden Don’ts of Sewing with Kids is a must

That’s the thing with Amelia. She’s very adaptable and easy-going as well as being easy to sew…and that makes her lots of fun to be with and play with. And she loves being played with. That’s why she has her elastic. It reminds her of the ocean tides and allows her to happily bounce by your child’s side wherever they go.

Oh, and before I go, I designed Amelia as a softie project to accompany an article I wrote on “Can Young Kids Sew?” The full article can be read on Aurifil’s blog.

Aurifil are an Italian thread company who have supported Sew a Softie from the very beginning. They’ve sent boxes of amazing threads to me and sent more boxes as prizes for Sew a Softie kid ambassadors and never once asked anything in return. I can’t thank them enough. They have been generous and supportive and just a very warm group of people to work with. I hope Amelia does a good job of showing off their wonderful thread. She does too.

What You Need to Sew Your Softie

8″ x 6″ blue felt

7″ x 5″ pink felt

white felt for eyes

12″ hat elastic

needle

pins

thread (Aurifil Mako 28)

embroidery floss (Aurifil cotton floss)

stuffing

weighting material (rice)

How to Sew Your Softie

Download and cut out the template Trace the front of Amelia’s body onto pink felt and cut out. Trace the back of Amelia’s body onto blue felt and cut out. Trace the eyes onto white felt and cut out.

Use a french knot for the pupils to sew the eyes into place. Use a single stitch to make her mouth.

Use the embroidery floss to give Amelia her colourful body lines. Make sure these lines remain at least 1/4″ from the edges of Amelia’s body. Leave about 4″ to 6″ of thread hanging down to create her tentacles. Use the image above as a guide.

Tie a knot at one end of the hat elastic. Position the knotted end at the top of Amelia. Sew a few stitches just above the knot to hold the elastic in place.