My son loves to sew And I have always encouraged him we have even taken classes together!Look how many men are Famous Designers!That goes the same for girls what may be consider a "man's" thing should also be considered for women or should I say young girls!

I never thought about telling them they can impress the girls by sewing till I read the other post. Can't wait till I can whisper that to my buddy at church that has expressed an interest! This kid can use some adult female attention anyway since his mother is not in the picture. Telling him he will be able to impress the girls may do the trick!

Remember a sewing machine is really a POWER tool!. Reminding the MALES of that fact could be the key. I mean think about it how many 7-8 (or older) boys can say they know how to use a power tool well? :)

I don't know if the pattern books still carry them or not but there used to be a pattern of pillows that were letter shaped. The boys could make a set of pillows for the bed spelling out their names. Or make a dog or cat bed or dog coats.

I taught my son,(the father of the little 4 yr old that wants to learn now) how to sew years ago,and he was a quick learner and did very well at it.He went on to make some of his own pants and shirts for a while.Now he doesn't have time(has his own business) but he still has his machine.
My dh also knows how to sew and used to make throw pillows for us.
Kathi

sister 51p--you hit the nail on the head. The boys like to use the sewing maching. It has a motor!!!! Brrrrrrrrrr!

When my son was 8 I helped him make a mini-quilt, quite small. He loved the sewing part. Easier would be sewing the seams for a pillow cover.

My son, now grown, also likes to carve the turkey with the electric knife.

I posted to this thread but I must not have hit the final submit button.

My 9 year old son has pretty free reign with his sewing machine. His latest projects are making wrist bands with strips of t-shirt knit. He sews a star shape on the strip with contrasting thread and then takes a seam to make his wrist band. He recently made a voodoo doll. A long story, but suffice it to say that he was having trouble with a kid at his school and really having to work at not popping her one. He also makes lots of little drawstring bags and small pillows.

I kinda like the voodoo doll thing, but isn't there such a thing as a "gris-gris" bag that you fill with all sorts of voodoo stuff? I think they're quite small. I can see big bags out of weatherproof material for guy stuff. But if he's making gris-gris bags, can he sell them on Ebay? I am so tired of throwing chicken bones in front of the managers' doors at work to scare the bejeebers out of them.
Sally

There used to be a company that sold kits for outdoor things. Frostline, I think. My mom had boys in her Home Ec class order things from them to make. Sleeping bags, duffle bags, slickers, ponchos. Stuff was made from very good material, had all the parts needed to complete project, sure didn't look homemade. Wore like iron. She made me a backpacking tent as a demo, had it for years. The boys also studied mending and all kinds of clothing repair. Class was much basic beginner stuff, but she tried to keep it interesting for boys, stuff they could use. None of the guys ever went on to be a designer, but many later thanked her because they could keep themselves neat and were not afraid to tackle detailed projects. Saved money on repairs instead of buying new. Made a lot of hunting gear!

Some non-feminine sewing projects for boys . . .(1) door pockets, those things that look like shoe holders, attached to the inside of a closet door with snap fasteners, but customized to hold his favorite things, maybe to include a 12 x 12" mirror, pencils, combs and his favorite accessories, using fiberglass screening as the 'pockets', (2) gym bag, his own design, (3) his own room curtains and bedspread, (4) matching cover for the chair in his room, (5) a glue-on here -- cover a piece of 1" styrofoam with fabric (use white glue) and hang it in his room where he can pin notes, photos, etc., on it.

When my son was little, I got camo fabric & he used to love to make hunting belts....to put ammo, etc. in. Also, extra pouches to go on his bet for stuff.

My kids and I made fleecy quillows, son was about 8 and daughter 12. I sat with him in my lap to make sure fingers kept away from the needle and turned the machine speed down. All he could say was can't you make it go faster, while pushing the pedal down with all his might LOL.

I am a high school teacher, and today in class I mentioned that I sew. A boy who is very well liked and considered cool told me hehad his own sewing machine. He said he hadn't used it much, but that after taking teen living class (used to be called home ec, he wanted to continue to sew, so his mom bought him a machine. He also told me he liked to cross stitch. His classmates were shocked.

My son who is ten is always asking if he can have any old scraps of material left over, and sits for ages hand sewing little wallets.

Several years back, a male childhood friend made the comment that his 2 boys did not have a single article that had been made by a family person to keep as an heirloom & pass on down. He wanted help. I got him started & he did quillow type quilts with the pocket only for feet not folding into a pillow. He did the tie quilting. He was a single fireman with custody of his boys..worked 24 on & 48 off. He worked on them while they we at school & kept his project hid until Christmas. Boy were they surprised but that didn't solve the problem. They wanted more.

I did a quilt top with their last name in the center block & gave it to the 3 of them jointly them when their father/grandfather died. We all worked quiting on it & the boys are both over 30 now with places of their own & they swap it back & forth during the year. They bicker over who the real owner should be....oldest or the baby of the family.

When I was in high school I babysat for some people that had three little girls. The dad sewed all their clothes. He made the cutest dresses and the most beautiful smocked dresses.
Those girls were always dressed in such cute things all made by thier dad.
Teach those boys how to sew...someday their wives may thank you!

my husband would never dream of sewing well, until a few years ago when we had no money and he decided he wanted a new punch bag, he was delighted when i said yes until i gave him two old pairs of jeans and pointed him in the direction of the sewing room,it took him about 2 weeks to do and he still uses it now,the punchbag and the sewing room.

I just came across this discussion from last spring, and had to add to it. A lot of adult males still think that sewing is not "a guy thing", so that can influence the younger ones. My brother was unique in that he was a regular Paul Bunyan, yet was not afraid to sit down at the sewing machine and make himself a pair of pants and a shirt. bggs

My brothewr in law looks like a young Paul McCartney,jogs, plays baseball and football, drinks beer and does hand embroidery.

Where were guys like that when I was young?! bggs

A guy I once dated was a great crocheter. His grandma taught him.