Handmade gifting

The gorgeous Kelly is offering a reward for those of us that can get a handmade gift sorted out this weekend.

I had actually not intended to make anything for anyone this year (besides my Santa Sacks, which aren't really presents), but needed to put together something for some of my work girls.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a movie night, where I sat and handstitched some hexies together.  The girls were a little in awe, that I was actually making something and kind of astounded about how it all went together.  So I thought a cute gift would be a little starter sewing kit and the stuff to make themselves a little hexie pillow cover.

I ducked into Spotlight (or as my husband calls it - the land without time) and spent a few hours wandering the aisles. I grabbed the sewing basics - scissors, needles, thread, embroidery scissors (coz they'll be working on little pieces) - some precut hexies and some fat quarters that I though would suit them and happily came home with my loot.

Trouble is, I had looked for a little sewing box for them to keep all this stuff in, but nothing really stood out.  And some of the boxes I could have bought were really expensive for what they were.  I really didn't want to spend $30 on a box.  What to do???

Well I have heard a lot about Jenni's drawstring bag.  Everyone, everywhere seems to make these things.  So I had a rummage through my stash and pulled some fabric that screamed "Emma" and "Kerry".

And I whipped together a pair of personalised sewing kits.

 

 

I couldn't go past a fabulous hyper colour giraffe/leopard print for my friend Emma.  As soon as I found it, I knew I had the one.  I have no idea who makes it or where it came from I have a lot of random in my stash, but the orange is Art Gallery tangerine dots.

 

 

The only word to describe Emma is "larey" (this is an Aussie-ism that basically means out there and a little cray-cray). She is an all-in kind of girl and is just simply fabulously wonderful.  So, fluro orange and pink are her.  For her fat quarters I grabbed a bundle of rainbow solids with a cool multi-coloured print.

 

Kerry is addicted to all things pink, so I knew she was getting three shades of pink. I had a couple of options pulled, but thought that matching the solids was the better choice, then doing multiple print patterns (I'm just not brave enough). You can't really see it in this photo, but the inside is a pale pink.


Kerry's pink sewing kit

You may have noticed that the drawstrings are not pink.  this is because it was 10.30 at night and I needed this for the next day.  I had some piping cord and used that instead. I think it may deteriorate, but it worked at the time and I think it actually looks pretty good.

being a pink addict, I got her sewing supplies in pink, but for her fabric I went with shades of blue/teal/aquamarine to go with her living room.  So glad when I was visiting I took note of this, mostly because I think her husband would have killed me if I'd bought the fixings for pink pillows :-)

I have never had such a great reaction from a gift in my life.  They were both so happy.  And while I was a little worried about choosing fabric for someone else and essentially forcing them to join my hobby, they were both really happy and have asked me to host a sewing day, so they can come learn how to make their own hexie quilts (I didn't tell them they'll need more fabric then I provided for a full quilt. We'll let them discover that on their own ;-) ).

So my first foray into handmade gifts was a definite win. I am wracking my brains about who else needs a sewing kit, because this was really fun to put together.  I probably spent more than I intended on the fillings, but hopefully I have started an addiction, so better to start with the good stuff :-)

E xx

P.S. I apologise for the lack of photos. I did take a bunch, but my camera is refusing to upload them to the computer. When I get it sorted I'll come back and edit. For now I'll leave you with a photo of the most beautiful man in my life - Henry. Because you can have a blog post without at least one photo :- D

 

  
Edited to add photos :-) E xx