The Ten Best Sewing Books for Kids and Teens

Up until about 18 months ago, I taught sewing to kids and teens in my home sewing studio. I started when we lived in Hawaii and then continued when we moved here to Utah, but when my husband deployed, I knew it was time to wrap it up and focus on homeschooling and other priorities! I still miss teaching at times, but blogging is just as much fun and I’m really enjoying this current phase of my sewing life too.

I had over 80 kids, tweens and teens come through my studio in those few years of teaching and I have a stack of sewing books that were well loved by my students. I would set them out when we had extra time and they loved looking through them and finding our next projects. The market for kids sewing isn’t huge, but the books that have been published are truly beautiful and well-done resources for teaching kids to sew and for kids and teens to be able to make things on their own with minimal help.

So I want to pass these titles along to you! All of the following books have been put to the test by myself, my students and my own kids , and we recommend them all with confidence!

I've taught sewing to over 80 kids and I have a list of the ten BEST books out there for kids and teens who love to sew or want to learn. || PIn Cut Sew Studio #sewingforkids #kidssewing #teensewing #sewingbooks

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The Ten Best Sewing Books for Kids and Teens

Sewing for Children

This is the first book I used to start teaching my own children to sew and it’s still the one I recommend for the youngest kids. Many of the projects are sewn by hand, so it’s great for the little ones who aren’t quite old enough to use the machine. My kids made the sweetest things from this beautiful book! Even if I give away the stack at some point, this is one I’ll keep.

Sewing School

This book is another top favorite! With a good mix of hand sewing and machine sewing projects, it’s written so that kids can follow instructions and make these projects all by themselves. I recommend this one for up to age 10 or so, as some of the projects will seem rather juvenile to tweens and teens.

Sewing School Quilts

The sequel to Sewing School, this book includes projects equally easy for kids to accomplish on their own, but they’re all about quilting. Kids can build skills and even start a quilting club with their friends using the instructions and ideas inside. There are of course instructions for large quilts, but there are so many smaller projects included and they’re really creative ideas that I hadn’t seen in other books, so this is a good one with unique ideas.

We Love to Sew

This is the first in my favorite series of sewing books for kids! Maybe it’s because it’s written by another kids’ sewing teacher, the projects in this books really speak to kids and make them want to get sewing. The pictures and instructions are modern and fun too, so that’s a plus.

We Love to Sew — Bedrooms

The second in the We Love to Sew series, this book includes 23 ideas to sew “cool stuff for your space”. Memo boards, patchwork throws, wall decor and even a bed canopy are the kinds of projects you’ll find in this one. This series is great for teens too, these are all projects that will appeal to the older set as well as the younger sewists.

We Love to Sew — Gifts

Yep, another great book in the series! This one includes gifts of all kinds, for your parents, your friends and even your pets. More great original ideas for kids and tweens/teens. Younger kids might need more help with the projects from this series until they have some experience under their belts, but the instructions are written so that it’ll be easy for you to help them, even if you’re a beginner sewer yourself. We Love to Craft Christmas is the fourth book in the series, and while it’s not comprised only of sewing projects, it deserves a mention.

Girl’s Guide to DIY Fashion

This book includes some really cute ideas for girls who want to sew fashion items. It shows them how to embellish their garments, create some accessories and some simple clothing projects like pajama pants and a basic dress. I recommend for ages 8-11.

Project Teen

I LOVE this book! It’s definitely one of my top favorites and I recommend it even you’re not a teen! It has some really cool and creative projects in it, including how to applique words onto a pillow or bag, how to make a zipper pouch out of a paper map and how to turn your keepsake t-shirts into pillows for your bed. If you sew for teens or college students, this book has such unique ideas.

#OOTD

This is a really cool book for ages 12-16. Angela Lan learned to DIY her own wardrobe and shows others how she did it. Because she’s a teen herself (or was when she wrote the book), the styles are cute and trendy. My teen daughter loves the clothes inside this book and while the finishes aren’t necessarily professional, the instructions do make garment sewing more accessible for teenaged beginners.

Fun Dolls

This is just one of the many books in the series, Let’s Make Cute Stuff and I’ll be totally honest, I bought it long before I ever had kids, ha! Everything inside is just so adorably cute and the way the instructions are laid out is very visually fun and easy for kids. The pages of directions are laid out in step-by-step pictures with minimal words. I put no age range on this one, obviously, I recommend it for everyone who likes cute stuff.

If you know of any other great sewing books for kids and teens, feel free to let me know! And if you need help teaching your kiddos to sew, I have written a post with all my best tips right here.