Say no to rainy days indoors with nothing to do, and yes to teaching the kids to sew. Boys and girls will love to learn to sew with this new book. Sewing Skills for Boys and Girls is packed with fun projects.

The book is by Alison McNichol, the founder of Stitchclub. Stitchclub teaches thousands of children to sew through its network of clubs, and Alison’s experience makes her an expert at teaching crafts to kids.

The projects are appealing, and cute characters Daisy Doublestitch and Billy Bobbin add to the fun as they offer their help throughout the book. There are 20 projects to inspire youngsters to begin to sew – it might be the tissue monster, or it might be the flower brooch which finally gets them hooked.

The summer holidays are looming so buy this one early, and plan rainy day projects that the kids or grandchildren (and you) will love.

Who knows, if you can get boys stitching at a young age, maybe they’ll take up their own trousers when they grow up. We can dream.