It's so nice to give handmade prezzies at Christmas. There's something special about spending time picking out fabric and spending time making someone's gift.
Last year I found this great, old pattern for a kids art smock (more about that here). It is a quick and simple pattern (Simplicity (4286) for ages 3-8) so I decided to make all the children in our family and our friends one as Christmas presents. Needless to say, I spent most of late November and December busily cutting out and sewing these together.
I know handmade gifts, of all sorts, are often undervalued. Sometimes the recipient has no idea about the price of materials and the time it takes to make something. I don't mind though. I reckon it's probably these recipients that have had very few handmade gifts and as the giver, it's pretty cool to be able to spend the time and money to give them something I reckon is pretty special. Plus.....of course....It's super fun making things too!
I have a little boy who is nearly 2 1/2, and as his Mum, I hope to teach him many things that I think are important. Creating unique, handmade gifts for others will always be something I'll encourage. At the moment he'd rather run as fast as he can, climb as high as he can and play with his trains and water toys, rather than to make paintings, cook yummy food, grow vegetables or draw with his pencils. But, I do look forward to the years ahead and the fun things we will make together and seeing what he manages to come up with all on his own.
Here's to homemade, handmade and homegrown creations!
Jen
Linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Lets Be Social #55
Back in November last year, i was stoked to win a $75 gift certificate for the Little Crafty Shop from Rita at Red Pepper Quilts. Waahoooo!!! New fabric?.....YES PLEASE!
I love reading Rita's blog (you can check it out here) and especially love seeing her new quilt creations. She has a real talent for selecting the most gorgeous colour and fabric combinations. Thank you so much for the opportunity to win the gift certificate Rita.
I'd never checked out the Little Crafty Shop before and i was delighted to be introduced. Lilian has done a great job with her website and has some awesome fabrics in store. Ooh, the dilemma, what to choose?? She stocks some of my favourites including Kaffe Fassett and the Lecien collections.
In the end, i opted for a bit of variety to fill some gaps in a quilt i'm planning to make this year like some Tula Pink Moon Shine in Static Dot, Dear Me and Doe Eyed.
I also picked fabric from the Lecien Floral Collection that i'm not sure what i'll make with just yet but i couldn't resist; Flower Sugar Spring.
And for beautiful organic cotton, low volumes i picked some Cloud9 Shape of Spring by Eloise Renouf: Petal Print in Twig and Sage.....almost good enough to eat!
A whopping thanks to Rita and especially Lilian for her generosity. Cheers girls, i am very thankful and will put these new fabrics to good use!
Linking up for Sunday Stash #107 with Molli Sparkles
