Child-designed projecst are my favorite hand sewing projects for beginners. Learn how to help kids design patterns with this simple beginning sewing project.

Hand Sewing Projects for Beginners That Kids Design

Two years ago, I wrote about how to teach kids to design and sew toys based on drawings. Today I’m joining Sew a Softie again to show you how this process can be used to create very simple hand sewing projects for beginners.

More Sewing Tutorials for Kids

My kids and I love to sew, so I’ve published a lot of simple sewing tutorials over the years. You can find all of my sewing tutorials here. Here are a few favorites:

• Tiny Felt Animals (even smaller than today’s project!)
• How to Sew a Friendly Felt Alien
• Sew a Whimsical Felt Doll

Now, on to the project for today!

Hand Sewing Projects for Beginners: Sew a Tiny Felt Bear

My five-year-old designed and sewed this bear. First, she drew a picture of what she wanted the bear to look like. She drew a lot of accessories, as well. She plans to sew most of these; a few (like the food) she will make out of polymer clay.

Materials Needed for Sewing a Felt Bear (also useful for other hand sewing projects for beginners)

This is what you need to sew a tiny felt bear:

• Embroidery needles with sharp tips
• Embroidery floss and/or sewing thread.
• Scissors
• Wool felt
• Pen (for drawing on a face if you choose to do that instead of embroidering)
• Option for a project this tiny: Stuffing (I recommend Cluster Stuff)

How to Sew a Tiny Felt Bear

Step 1: Trace the Drawing and Cut Out the Bear

I traced the outline of her bear, and cut it out of wool felt. I highly recommend wool felt for tiny sewing projects like this, because it is thicker and will hold its shape better.

Step 2: Stitch the Edges

Stitch around the edges of your creation. This requires a lot of concentration for a five-year-old, but Anna did it!

We opted out of stuffing Anna’s bear, and that made it even easier. It didn’t matter if there were big gaps between stitches. The felt is thick enough that, for a project like this two inch tall bear you don’t need stuffing.

Step 3: Add Details as Needed

Add a face and that’s it! Hand sewing for beginners really can be this easy! Anna drew her face on, making this project even easier than it would have been if she had embroidered it on. Note that it’s easier to embroider on features before sewing the edges together.

All four of my children use this technique on a regular basis. In the photo above, my 12-year-old is holding a tiny felt cake that she made by stitching two circles of felt together. Her project is slight more complicated since she added embroidery and stuffing, but it’s still quite easy, even for a beginner.

Do you have any easy hand sewing projects for beginners to share? Please post  recommendations on my Facebook page, or by tagging me on Instagram. 

MaryAnne Kochenderfer

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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.