Before setting your girls free on the sewing machine, there are a couple of practice techniques that you can use to teach them to sew straight lines. Once they have mastered a semi-straight line they are ready to start their first project. Only time and lots of practice will fully straighten their lines.
***Adult supervision is required!
First, you can take a sheet of notebook paper and simply have your girl sew straight lines of stitches up and down the lines of the paper. (There is a straight line of stitches in the picture below to the left of the zigzag line.) Encourage them to sew slowly and to stay in control of the paper and the stitching line. Be sure to let them know that if they go too fast they may sew over their fingers, which is something they will want to avoid!
You can also practice zigzag stitches with this same sheet of paper, although the straight stitches are the most important and will be the ones they use the most.
Another helpful hint is to lay a piece of clear tape over your needle plate (the metal square in the picture) vertically. (If you look closely you will see the tape in the picture). Now take a Sharpie marker (make sure you use something permanent so that it won't bleed onto fabric) and draw lines at the 3/8" mark and the 5/8" mark. This will give your girl a dark, solid line to follow with her fabric:
3/8" line:
5/8" line:
Practice is the key at this point. At first when your girl starts veering off the line, she may find herself making things worse by trying to fix it herself. You can encourage her to stop if she starts slipping away from the line, and that way you can help her back to the right spot. Once she gets the hang of it, she will be able to steer herself in the right direction.
Happy sewing!
