Looking for a good activity to boost your child's sewing skills? Show her how to make a button hair band! This two-stage activity builds on early experience with lacing and threading toys. She'll gain confidence as she practices threading an empty needle through button loops. Then, she'll learn how to sew the button on the elastic all by herself. In no time, she'll have a beautiful new hair band to show off her sewing skills.
What You Need:
- 12-15" of natural cotton elastic, 1" wide
- Assorted back-loop coat buttons
- Optional watercolor markers
- Size 16 blunt tapestry needle
- Heavy duty quilting thread
- Tacky glue
What You Do:
- Start by getting the materials ready. Have your child choose five or six buttons. Trim the elastic to fit your child's head, allowing an inch for overlap. If she wants to make the hairband more colorful, she can color the elastic with markers before sewing on the buttons.
- Next, get your child acquainted with the needle. "Show and tell" the parts: the eye is where the hole is, the shaft is the body, and point is at the end.
- Now it's time to practice using the needle! Passing an empty needle through a button loop is great preparation for passing thread through the eye of a needle. Have her thread the needle through each button to make sure it can fit through all the loops. If a loop is too small, choose a different button.
- Now, give her a chance to try threading the needle. Cut a 12" thread and show her how it's done, then let her try two or three times. Help her out if needed, but encourage her to keep trying!
- Time to start sewing. Show her how to push the needle point through the elastic, then through the button loop, then back through the same side of the elastic. Have her double-knot the threads and snip off the ends.
- Repeat, allowing her to sew on as many buttons as she wants.
- When she's done, have her drop one tiny glue spot on each knot to keep them intact.
- When dry, overlap the ends of the elastic and stitch them securely together. Now, she has a beautiful hairband that she decorated herself!
These bands don't need to be used just for hair. They can be fun decorations for jars or flower pots. They can also go on hats or wrists! As your child makes more of them, she'll gain sewing practice, and she'll soon be ready to move on to even more advanced projects.
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