Sewing machine for a child?

[Phineyj]

My DNiece will be 8 in October and is showing lots of interest and skill in sewing. Does anyone know of a machine that it would be safe for a child to learn on? Or any books that are particularly good for patterns for hand sewing for this age range? She enjoys making dolls and soft toys and clothing them. Her grannies are both very good at sewing and knitting but her mum now knows less than she does, so resources that can be used with minimal support would be best.

There are cheap machines in Ikea (about £60?). I'd say get her an adult one as childrens' ones can be a bit.... 'crappy' (for want of a better word!).
Having said that, the ones in Imaginarium are pretty good - do you have that shop near you? (Not sure they're in the UK).
She'll need supervision with anything that's electric and has a needle, child's toy or basic Singer.
Pop to John Lewis or a Singer/Alfa shop - or any fabric shop - and they can recommend one.

I have an Alfa and love sewing, starting from when I was a child and sat watching my DM make us clothes and clothes for my My Little Pony

The John Lewis Mini is brilliant for children. It's easy to use, reliable, comes in funky colours, and is under £50. I bought it for me but my dc (11 and 9) use it all the time.

I learned on my mum's machine - depending on how you feel about it, you can get second hand proper machines for bargain prices if you look around.

Little ones might feel too restricting if she really gets into it (and I loved that my mums had all these cams with different stitches to play with)

I would second the John Lewis one.

My daughter (8) has the same model, and it is very good for kids. Solid, easy to use, not too fast etc.

I looked at lots of mini models which are much cheaper, but really they are not designed for kids, and are not steady and stable.

Once i taught her the basics, she uses it on her own, very sensibly and has great fun making bits and pieces

At the same time we gave her a sewing box with different fabric scraps, and different coloured threads, scissors and pins etc

Ooh I like the sound of the John Lewis one. The sewing box is a great idea too. That's bday and xmas sorted, thanks everyone!