Sew with children: Three in a row.

Sew an easy project for your (grand)children? They should help you. Sew with children: Three in a row is really funny to do an finishes in an afternoon. They will be so proud and you will be even more! Are you a novice sewist? Your fun project! Your child probably even likes to give it to a friend as a gift, or to his teacher at the end of the schoolyear?

This game is also called Tic tac toe.

The playboard serves as a bag for the pawns – lids, when the game is not in use.

Calculate the fabric:

Measure a pawn (any lid will do), add 1 or 1,5 cm and multiply by 3. Now add an extra 3 cm for the back seam. This is your fabric width.

My pawn (plastic lids) is 10,5 cm wide, so I cut the fabric to 36 cm wide. The length must be 36 x3 plus an extra 3 cm for the back seam.

Supplies for the game ‘three in a row’:

A rest of heavy weight cotton fabric (or recycle an old pair of jeans)
40 cm tape
Optional: 2 clamps to keep the bag closed when stored.
Mettler Seralon sewing thread in 2 colors (one matching the fabric and one contrasting to the fabric).
2 x 3 colorful lids, serving as pawns.
Sewing machine BERNINA 740
Take Open embroidery foot # 20 for a good view on the work.

Open Embroidery Foot #20

Perfect for sewing decorative stitches ✓ Creation of attractive appliqué designs ✓ Allows lines and patterns to be followed precisely ✓ An open form for a clear view of the project ✓ For 5.5 mm and 9 mm machines ✓

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BERNINA 740

With its stitch width of 9 mm, the new BERNINA 740 is especially suitable for sewing beautiful decorative stitches. With its built-in top feed, it can handle even the finest fabrics with ease.

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Start this project ‘sew with children’:

Fold one side over (preferably the selvedge side) as far as the fabric is wide. Bij mij is de stof 36 cm breed, dus vouw ik 36 cm om. Strijk deze vouw goed in.

Fold the 3 cm for the back in and iron.

Divide the front in 3 and draw the horizontal and vertical lines with a heat erasable pen.

Pin the lines through the 2 layers of fabric.

Sew over the lines with a decorative stitch (and same color bobbin thread).

I chose for stitch nr 407 with these settings:

Pin the tape under the seam on the back side.

Sew the back seam with thread in the color of the fabric (and same color spool thread) with a zigzag stitch. Sew another zigzag stitch along the upper edge.

Pin the ribbon to the back of the front side (fold over 1 cm as seam) and stitch it..

Finish the project:

Put the bag down, with right sides out. Pin it and stitch the seams on the right sides, with a stitched zigzag.

These were my settings:

If you wish, you can even add the decorative stitch on the sidelines, it gives a nice accent:

And your own version of ‘three in a row’ is ready.

Did you forget the rules?

You can easily find the rules on internet.

This game stimulates spatial knowledge, anticipation (think about the possible effects of an action), game strategy, etc…

Sew with children: three in a row is an ideal starters project. Please let me know in the comments what you think of this game? Do you have other suggestions to sew with children? I’m curious!

BERNINA advises you to provide a good supervision when young children start to sew with a sewing machine. BERNINA is never responsible for eventual damage at a sewing machine caused by a child without supervision.