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There were many people on our lists this year. moms, dads, friends and several children and babies. I thought I’d share some of the handmade items we made this year.
Got a traveler on the list? We did. And what better thing for a child while traveling than a pillow:) At least I was always hoping that mine would eventually fall asleep. We never left for a trip without ours!
This was a travel pillow set with a play mat quilt panel with a road scene backed with flannel. A great idea to keep that little boy busy on the floor with all those Hot Wheels!
A baby set including an Owl, Minky Blankie, Ouchie Bag and a Bag for the new mommy to enjoy.
The kids will enjoy toting their own bags to the library to check out all those books with their new Library Bags and a Color Book for baby sister.
And the last giftie is a soft blankie for baby made with a cute puppy panel.
Did anyone else out there make some cute children’s gifts this year? We’d love for you to share some of your ideas too!
I have a new handmade item to add to my Christmas decorations this year. A Framed button tree!
I saw this in a holiday magazine and it only requires a few items to make it, which I already owned. If you have buttons, scraps of Christmas fabrics, embroidery floss and an 8×10 frame you’re all set! I only had to purchase the frame and ,of course, I couldn’t find a red one, so I painted it.
I seem to be on a button/embroidery/tree theme this year!
Here’s an easy gift to make. A button tree pillow. I make these easy little pillows and give them as hostess gifts, to friends or someone special. Give your pillow with a box of chocolates tied with a pretty ribbon.
Supplies:
pattern
White background fabric 9-1/2” x 9-1/2”
FQ for the backing
Buttons
Embroidery floss
Fiberfill
1-1/2” wide scraps of fabric
Trace the tree design onto your background fabric. Embroidery using 3 strands of floss. Add your buttons.
Just like making a log cabin block, piece the strips of fabric around the background until your satisfied with the size of your pillow. Mine was about a 13” square.
Lay your backing FQ fabric right side up. Lay your tree face down on top of backing. Cut out the backing fabric to the same size as the top and pin. Sew around all the edges leaving a space for turning, about 4 fingers length. Clip your corners and turn right side out. Stuff with the fiberfill and sew the opening closed with a whip stitch.
I’ve made several of these before. Here’s one I made with a leftover applique block.
And a couple of embroidered Santa pillows..
Have you been busy as elves getting ready for Christmas? I have my tree up and and my house decorated, a bit of shopping accomplished but I’m still working on those handmade items. There’s still time though, don’t panic! This is what I tell myself daily:(
We did manage to make this super cute Christmas Elves table runner.
The runner is made from the pattern Which Witch by Crazy Old Ladies.
Both are available in the Etsy shop and at SewModDesigns.com. We’re having a Christmas Sale this week on all handmade items at SewModDesigns.com and the Etsy shop, 20% off. Don’t miss it!
Another great gift idea for those co-workers, teens, or your BFF is the Little Wallet. We recently finished these up for a friend who plans to share the handmade love with her co-workers.
We have kits available with the crochet flower or buy the pattern and make them from your scraps. They whip up easily and fast!
We can’t forget our favorite friends can we? Daisy adds so much joy to my life, I can’t even imagine not including her in the festivities of Christmas.
An easy gift that you can make with your leftover fleece scraps is a doggie rope.
You will need 3 pieces of fleece cut 3″ x 22″ for a smaller dog or 3″ x 40″ for a bigger dog.
Tie a knot in one end.
Begin by braiding the strips, which I’m surprised at how easily I remembered to do this. It had been so long!
After you completed your braid, tie another knot at the end.
Next…play with your pup! Daisy loved it! I made 2. One for her and her BFF!
I also ordered her a doggie toy from a shop in Etsy. Her very own Ipod! Isn’t that just the cutest?
Enjoy your weekend everyone!
Looking for an easy Hostess gift to impress your neighbors and friends with at your next Holiday party? How about Christmas Tree Hot Pads! Whip these up in no time, then add your favorite recipe to go along with them.
Finished size: 9″ x 9″ Download the pattern here, or find it in our Tutorials at the top of the page.
This is a great stash project – combine festive fabrics for the trees with contrasting backgrounds and tree trunks. Use easy paper pieced blocks and finish with binding, quilting and simple embroidery.
Add some wooden spoons, mixing bowl, and your favorite cookie recipe with these hot pads for a great gift!
And they even look great as mini quilts for my hutch decorations!
Here’s one of my favorite cookie recipes. I found this in the Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book 9. Sooo yummy!! Enjoy!
Vanilla Dipped Gingersnaps
2-1/2 C. Sugar-divided
1-1/2 C. Oil
2 Eggs
½ C. Molasses
4 C. All-Purpose Flour
4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 TBSP Ground Ginger
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Salt
2 11-oz Pkgs. White Chocolate Chips
¼ C. Shortening
Combine 2 cups sugar and oil in a mixing bowl; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in molasses.
Combine flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl; gradually blend into molasses mixture. Shape dough into 1” balls and roll in remaining sugar; place 2” apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until cookie springs back when lightly touched. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Melt white chocolate chips and shortening together in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Dip each cookie halfway into mixture; allow excess to drip off. Place cookies on wax paper to harden. Makes about 7 dozen.
I knew when I was cutting all my scraps into useable pieces that one day I would be glad I did all of that work. That day came when I decided to make The Color Book.
It takes 2-1/2″ squares for the pages, which is exactly what some of my smaller scraps were cut into, so you can imagine how easy it was to get this project going. I think I spent the most time on deciding which 2-1/2″ square to use.
Batting scraps in between the pages make it soft and flexible for baby. A little hand stitching and a pieced log cabin cover to finish it up and you have a handmade, unique gift for baby’s Christmas.
This is one of the many fun and inspiring projects that come from 101 Projects Patchwork & Quilts magazine, which is available at your local craft or bookstore. You won’t be disappointed in this girls! It’s often rare you find a magazine that has more than a couple of ideas you might make in it, but this one is loaded with them! And if you notice by the front cover, there are lot’s of opportunities to use your scraps!
About a week ago, a couple of the SewMod girls came over for lunch and a sewing day. We worked on a few projects including these cute bags from Terry Atkinson’s pattern Zippy Strippy.
Love this pattern! It has 3 bag sizes and best of all, you get to use more scraps! Since the strips are only 2-1/2″ x 6-1/2″, I can even use some of those jelly roll pieces I have left over. And don’t be scared of the zipper girls. It’s super easy to put in. Terry Atkinson has her own line of zippers and can usually be found at your local quilt store in an impressive variety of colors.
I made mine using my scraps from the line Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson.
Andrea made her’s from fabrics with dress forms on it and added a gray flange to finish it off. I don’t know how I ever missed this fabric in the quilt shop…cute!
And this is one that Shelley had made Andrea last year for her birthday. Pretty fall colors and she went the extra step to quilt it.
Several of these bags could easily be completed within a day. So these would make great gifts for a sewing group, fill them up for a beginner quilter with all your favorite notions or a travel bag for the teen on your list. Make the small one for your co-worker to toss in her purse. Use one to tote around your latest hand project.
Rummage through that giant pile of scraps and make a day of it!
Do you have a tea lover on your Christmas list?
I do too and these little tea wallets are perfect for them. The wallets hold up to 4 packaged tea bags.
It only takes (4) 5″x 7″ pieces, 5″ x 7″ fusible interfacing, button and elastic or ribbon. These were really easy to whip up. I actually made all of these last night. It would have gone much faster too if my machine wasn’t being so angry with me! We had a couple of fights last night:)
I made myself one too. Since I’ve given up soda/caffeine, I’ve been drinking a lot of water. That gets old real fast so this seemed like a great idea to take with me when I’m on the go. Especially since there are a lot of teas out there that are decaf.
Here’s the tutorial I used for these if you’re interested.
Toss this in your purse and you might just find yourself asking for a mug of hot water instead of soda the next time your out for lunch!
Can you believe it’s November?!
I’m a bit in denial, although I do Love my holidays. I’m usually ahead of the game by this point. At the beginning of every year I make a Christmas list of all friends and family I’m buying for and add ideas next to their names throughout the year that I think they would like. That way, I’ve at least given some thought to the gift and I’m never rushed to just pick something up. There’s nothing worse than a gift without a little thought behind it, right?
I have started my list but I’m definitively behind on my handmade items. One of my SewMod friends is doing a handmade holiday. It’s so hard for boys and men though! Any suggestions out there? I’d love to hear some ideas.
I’m going to have to kick it into high gear over the coming weeks before Christmas and hopefully by following our blog, we will be able to inspire you as well with some ideas!
Our 1st handmade item is from Stitch Craft Create magazine. I picked this up at Joann’s the other day. I love it! Lots of ideas for stocking stuffers for your favorite quilter and crafty project ideas. I love to craft!
The 1st thing we had to make was those adorable trees on the cover. Paige chose whimsy blue and green Christmas fabrics from the stash and we were off from there onto our 1st Christmas craft. Don’t ya love being able to use scraps for a project?
The directions were easy to follow and I found all the ingredients at Joann’s. The wire is available in the jewelry making section of the store and available in a variety of colors too. The only issue I had making these was the wire is not sturdy enough to balance these trees, so I just left that part out.
The trees are strip pieced, then decoratively stitched at the seams with embroidery floss pinned to the cones and whip stitched up the back. Add a snowman scene as the backdrop and we have our 1st Christmas display:)
And I must say…super cute, right? A little time consuming but most of the work is in the hand stitching, which can be done while watching your favorite holiday movie! Well worth it!
Keep checking back with us. My goal up until Christmas week is to provide a Handmade Holiday craft or sewing project every Friday and sometimes during the week too.
Have a great weekend everyone!
SewMod