Beginners Sewing Kit – together with a simple project to start

Ever since The M children can recall, they have received love tokens from their Mum on Valentine’s Day and this year was no different. Master M received a ridiculously large slab of chocolate which made my mouth water just looking at it. Little Miss was gifted a more sensible portion of chocolate and her very own beginners sewing kit. “Oh Mum,” she exclaimed down the phone line “you are the best! It really made me smile to receive this, thank you!” Join me today to see my version of a beginners sewing kit complete with a special project to complete and treasure and of course a story, always a story…

I think I may have hit the “I’ve had enough of lockdown” point now, what about you? Don’t get me wrong, if we have to keep on going, I will. I just am soooo missing my friends and family and as a huge hugger, I think I may have forgotten how to by now. I know how lucky I am (again) since Little Miss and I can meet for a walk and don’t get me wrong I love every walk we manage; not squeezing her in half each time though, is excruciatingly difficult. I wanted her Valentine’s gift to be something she might remember as a happy moment in lockdown. She’s mastered the delicious cake baking for us all; my hips don’t lie. She’s recycled and painted a cabinet just like her old Mum would, she’s added a new front door to their home and she’s put together a flat pack shoe cupboard and only cried twice whilst she was doing it. Pretty impressive I’d say. She doesn’t sew though and I thought maybe she should have the littlest of kits in her home for when she’s ready.

Firstly, I gathered together the materials to make the bag and of course that included a piece of beautiful old French linen. I determined a finished size of 11 centimetres by 16 centimetres would work well and cut out a piece of gorgeous fabric, 13 centimetres by 34 centimetres allowing for hems and seams. I decided halfway through cutting, using my pinking shears might work well to minimise frayed edges.

Then, I folded over the two short edges – where the opening to the bag will be – approximately one centimetre each and creased with the iron.

Using my faithful old typewriter, I chose the message sew time and typed onto a snippet of linen selvedge saved just for this project wouldn’t you know. I do this by fixing the material to a piece of scrap paper with sticky tape and then feeding through the typewriter. Your material should not be too bulky and not too grainy either, otherwise you’ll jam your machine and the ink will bleed into the grain of the fabric. Work out next where you would like your label to sit on the finished piece and stitch in place with a small machine running stitch. I decided wonky labels just would not do for my beginners sewing kit and applied a little fabric glue before sewing the label in place.

Your next job is to pin the fabric, right sides facing – something I didn’t do hence the italics to stress the point – and sew along each long side, from top to bottom, about a centimetre in again thereby creating your side seams. Snip carefully across each bottom corner to remove bulk and offer sharp corners to your bag later.

Then with your iron, press open your seams flat against the bag. Master M was passing through at this point. “How’s it going Mum?” he asked. I explained that with a small bag such as my beginners sewing kit, it was proving difficult to do just this exercise. “Look!” I moaned, “creases every flipping where!” “I’ll fix that” he said nipping out to his fathers shed and returning with two clamps. After fishing around in the wooden utensil drawer in the kitchen he busied himself for a couple of minutes and would you believe it in no time at all, I had myself an extremely useful seam pressing gadget. Worked a treat.

Turn the bag back the right way now and using a poking instrument – mine came from a commercialised Christmas cracker way back when I bought such things, these days we favour these – poke the corners about until crisp and professional.

All that is left to do now, is sew a seam around the top of the bag, on the right side of the fabric. Correct first time; quick learner. My bag was too small to feed around the arm of my old machine, so I had to be extra careful not to sew any part of the opening of the bag together as I twirled it around whilst stitching. I’ve used my machine to make my beginners sewing kit because I have one: This craft could so easily be hand sewn in pretty and decorative stitches or simple running stitch perhaps with coordinating or contrasting threads.

My secret project took the form of a simple pink heart. I had a dabble at painting a heart on a scrap of linen with my water colours. First attempt; practice may make perfect. If your beginners sewing kit is for a little loved one, maybe your project would be simpler still and of course, accomplished stitchers might receive a more challenging and beautiful project. Surely the beauty in such a gift is to personalise your offering as much as can be.

I gathered together a few essentials Little Miss will need in her arsenal, you know the stuff, pins and needles, buttons and bows and a selection of colourful threads for flowers and stems should she go down the floral route. And with a gorgeous silk ribbon tied loosely to hold its contents safe on their travels, my beginners sewing kit was complete.

I suggested I could perhaps guide Little Miss on how to get started over the phone if she needed it. “I’ve got a much better idea” she said happily. “Why don’t we have a Zoom session? You could do it with me and we can share a cup of tea and some cake too?”

There’s no doubt about it. We will never forget this virus and all the devastation and sadness it has caused. Yet conversely there have been some wonderful moments that might not have happened without a lockdown. I think this might just have been one such moment. Until next time…x