Need sewing advice for dgd

I second the suggestion for the books 'Half yard Heaven'. She can start with small things like a pincushion or place-mat.
You can also get basic starter kits for sewing equipment from Amazon and E bay.

Get her to make masks for her family to wear when out shopping. I am about to do a project like that with DGD, who is a competent stitcher. Go online to get a pattern for such masks. the patterns print out onto A4 paper and you sellotape the sheets together for larger than A4 pattern pieces

I would buy her some dress weight fabric. When we started DGD sewing, we started with a simple A line skirt, moved onto a gathered one with a waist band, then a shift dress and then a blouse.

There is a marvellous site called www.lekala.co/. They do a range of standard patterns all of which print out onto A4 paper and work as described above, but they also have a 'Design your own garment' section where you can decide every element of your garment. DD made me a dress using this and we decided everything: neckline, type of sleeve, length waist position, type of skirt. The resulting dress is lovely and because I fed all my own measurements into the programme, the pattern was customised to fit me, with all my body shape inconsistencies.

Pinterest would be a great place for her to browse

Thank you all so much for your suggestions, off to spend happy hour shopping!

At 14 she may be very particular about what she likes. I think I’d hold off the trimmings till you know, though younger children do love them!

Oh yes! And as Anoia says - a seam-ripper!!!

What do you think she’d like to make?
Could you point her towards a pattern catalogue and ask her to choose from the “easy” section?
If she likes one then you’ll know what to buy.

I was given a sewing kit by my mother which included fabric and embroidery scissors, some dressmaker’s pins, quilting pins, tailor’s chalk, a pincushion, some spare bobbins and threads.
Hope this helps.

Have a look at the Half Yard series of books by Debbie Shore. One of those might give her both inspiration and instruction.

This is the link to one of them:

www.amazon.co.uk/Half-Yard-Heaven-Projects-Left-Over/dp/1844488926?tag=gransnetforum-21

One of those little stitch unpicker things, not expensive but so useful if you get the stitching slightly wrong.

Fat quarters are a good start as there are suggestions at patterns for things to make on Pinterest.
A pair of good quality fabric scissors would be good, with a reminder never to use them on paper.
Decent cotton is a must, cheap thread will break on the machine.
Some bead topped pins are useful, also some embellishments, such as ribbon, flowers, motifs or buttons, to add interest to her makes. Perhaps some wadding to stuff animals, hearts etc.
All these should be cheaply available on line on eBay.
You could cut up old cotton sheets, curtains etc. For practice pieces. I hope she has fun, my GDs love sewing.

Any more questions please ask.

Get her some guttermann sewing threads, they won’t break under tension in the machine. You can get patchwork squares that are smaller about 4 to 5 inches which she can sew first in strips and then sew the strips together to make a quilt. There are also some simple dressmaking patterns. She could sew a skirt quite easily. Just follow the detailed instructions and diagrams.