Many of the people who come to my Sew a Softie Facebook Group tell me, I’m here because I want to teach my kids or grandkids to sew. Well, the northern summer holidays are a perfect opportunity to get together with your kids or grandkids and go on a sewing adventure with them. My summer sewing camp is here to inspire and enable this to happen. And it’s free!
One of the commonest hurdles for people wanting to sew with their kids and grandkids is knowing where and how to start. Even experienced sewers have told me that they can struggle to find projects that are suitable. Well, Trixi’s Summer Sewing Camp 2024 is here to help. Below you’ll find three easy-to-sew, fun, creative projects perfect for kids, even if they’ve never sewn before.
And if you have any questions, come on over to the Sew a Softie Facebook Group. You’ll find a lot of people who are happy to answer them.
These summer camp projects are all softies, actually a unique kind of softie that I call a zenki.
Zenkis are perfect first projects. Made from just two pieces of felt, they enable kids to bring their imaginations into play and still complete their project within a fairly short time. And being able to see the results of their work is a big deal for kids! And because zenkis are softies, they become more than just projects. They become companions, playmates and friends with their own personalities and quirks. So let’s get started.
Oh, and if you’d like to meet more zenkis, have a look at The Zenki Way: A Guide to Designing & Enjoying Your Own Creative Softies
(This post contains affiliate links)
SQUARE ZENKI
Square Zenki is an old and very dear friend. He is the founder of the zenkis. He was the first. And he’s proud of his place in zenki history. He’s a square (naturally) which means that kids only sew straight lines and this makes the sewing very simple. And he requires only two pieces of felt and a running stitch around his torso. As Square zenki put it to me many years ago, That’s why I’m the simplest softie in the whole wide universe! (as i said, he’s very proud of himself!)
SQUARE CAT
I chose Square Cat as our second summer camp project for a reason. People are oddly prejudiced against squares. In the otherwise free-wheeling Sixties, being called a “square” was definitely not a compliment! But once you’ve made Square Zenki, once you know how simple it is to make a real live softie from nothing more than a square, then you can create a whole world of square softies using the very same knowledge and skills. And that’s great for kids!
When they move to their second project, they feel that they know what to do and how to do it. So meet Square Cat who will give us all a hint of the endless creative possibilities hidden in the humble square.
TOK
Our final summer camp project goes in another direction. This isn’t surprising. Tok appeared one day looking lost and informed me he had arrived here, on this planet, from Somewhere Else. He was looking for his way home but finding his planet was like trying to find a grass seed in a praire that seems to stretch on forever. Anyway, I’m glad he’s here. He shows us how we can use other simple shapes to create fun imaginative characters with our kids.
Tok also introduces something new: his belly button is a great way to play with simple decorative stitching. Apparently, everyone on his planet has a distinctively patterned belly button. It’s the source of his super power. Your kids can decide what super power their little alien possesses.
SUPPLIES TO GET YOU STARTED
The basic supplies for these projects are simple :
- Needle
- Thread
- Pins or Sewing clips
- Stuffing
- Scissors
- Glue
For more details, have a look at my Best Sewing Supplies for Kids as well as my Easy Stitches to Teach Kids to Sew.
And I have lots of tutorials on YouTube too!
Happy summer holidays and happy sewing with your kids, Trixi 🙂
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