How To Sew A Skirt When You Are 5 Years Old

I'd always wondered what sort of first sewing project
the girls would do. When I was small, I started out hand-
sewing tiny felt stuffed animals. I did not like dolls so I
didn't sew doll clothes. In primary (elementary) school,
we were taught cross-stitch, which became a pencil case
that fastened with press-studs. All the mothers/
grandmothers were obliged to sew the linings. I suppose
some of my classmates actually used their pencil cases.
I preferred my plastic-vinyl Little Twin Stars double-sided
pencil box with 1 million different compartments, that, in
a pinch could be hurled at the boys in the next-door school
who called us names at recess time. I never did, of course,
but it was good to have a contingency plan.

It got me thinking - when my girls are in sewing class/homec
/whatever it's called here, what sort of half-finished project
will they bring home that I might have to help them out with?
Our secondary (middle) school homec project was a fitted
A-line skirt and many of the zippers were sewn by the mothers.
I don't remember, but Mum claims she wasn't one of them.
Apparently, I was 13 years old and I sewed my own zipper.
Hurrah and all that, but I never ever actually wore the
skirt, you know? It was so uncool.

Fast forward several decades to 2009, and Emily is asking,
"Can I sew, too, Mom?" "Can I make something?" "When
will I be old enough to get my own sewing machine, Mom?"

"When you're 8 years old" came my answer, because that's
the recommended age printed on the boxes of child-sized
sewing machines.

Last week, she asked again. And again. And I remembered
Rowena's very thought-provoking post and thought, well,
who am I to say no?

So she sewed her first skirt yesterday.

And wore it to school.

Am I proud? You betcha.

Am I frightened? Hoo, yes. If I'm not careful, Jenna's going
to want to sew a winter coat next. And then Kate. And I'll
have to get in line to use my own sewing machine.
But I figure, well, it'll be worth it - if we do this right,
I won't have to lift a finger when she brings home
some homec thing. And maybe soon I'll be able to
growl, "whaddya mean, you have nothing to wear?
Go make your own clothes." With the same ease as
getting her own drink of water, or a snack.

Am I crazy? Why yes, in some new way every day.

But I'd like to share how we did it, just in case you too
have a young person in your house that is desperate to
start. Word to the wise, though: don't push them to start
just because you want them to. Let them wear you down
with their asking. Start with something they like. It may
not be as simple as something else (that they may not
like), but it can be simplified. A gathered skirt is
a rectangle that has one straight side seam. It doesn't
get any more basic than that. But it has a waistband.
And a hem. A beginner sewer can do it, therefore a
child can, with some help. But if it's simplified further,
the child can sew even more of it, with less help.


We used two layers - same width - the inner layer slightly
longer than the outer layer. We also used a big safety pin
and some 1" elastic.
Our inner layer is an eyelet fabric whose scalloped
bottom hem is already finished, and pretty, besides.
You could use that for the outer layer as well, and not
have to finish any hems! But two layers of eyelet fabric
was a tad too Rodgers and Hammerstein for me,
personally, so we just used one.

Two layers make a natural sandwich for elastic
without having to fold a waistband hem.
For how to make this waistband,
see my ancient skorts tutorial.
We also used a serger to finish the outer layer with
a rolled hem. This means no folded hems and no basting.
It took Emily about an hour to make.
She sewed three seams, serged two seams, did
one rolled hem, sewed the ends of the elastic together,
and one line of stitching to make the elastic casing.
I pinned the fabric pieces together for her, and drew
the sewing lines. She also needed a little help
threading the elastic through the waistband. I
desperately wanted to add patch pockets but it
shouldn't be about me - this was her skirt.

We first practised sewing straight lines and getting
a steady pressure on the foot pedal. She was fascinated
by how everything worked. She loved the backstitch
lever and the little thread-cutting knife blade.

There are no photos of her at the sewing machine
because I didn't take my eyes off her for even a
second while she was working. Two reasons: safety,
and I was just enthralled watching her sew.

So a recap of my lessons learned:

1. Let them tell me when they're ready to start.
2. Pick something they really want to make, not something simpler that they aren't interested in. Simplify. A tote can be a single rectangle folded down the middle with just two straight side seams. Substitute broad ribbons or nylon webbing for fabric straps and it can be finished in half an hour.
3. They may likely get distracted halfway and need to watch a movie, or eat a snack. Emily stuck at it because she was motivated by her desire to wear it to school that day.
4. I must be prepared to watch them sew crooked seams, draw thick ugly sewing lines all over the fabric, have the print not meet at the seams and not say a word.
   

And I love that it all began with, "So mom, can I make
a skirt to wear to school today?" Ah, if only it worked
that way when I have nothing to wear to work,
or the supermarket.