November 17, 2014

Sewing Gifts

We love handmade gifts. Ever since they were little, I encouraged and helped my kids to make handmade gifts for others during the holiday season. I’m glad to have instilled this in my kids. As they got older, they would want to make gifts, because they felt it was more personal and more meaningful. One year when my oldest daughter was in high school, she made her boyfriend a bow tie (he wore those for concerts a lot). She picked oboe fabric she found on Spoonflower and made it herself.

Clearly, that’s my youngest daughter’s instincts as well. She has been invited to several birthday parties this fall and the first thing she says is, “I’m going to sew her a…” And that’s exactly what she did. She’s enjoying her sewing much more this year, as she has become more independent in her sewing and her skills are improving with each project.

Here’s a list of projects she’s sewn and given, with a few extras for those who are looking for handmade gift ideas for the teens in their lives.

A fabric bin. These can be small or large. Fabric to match interests or room decor. My daughter made a small one for her friend to use on her dressing table. These are an extremely quick project and a great stash buster. I used Birch Fabrics free tutorial. I can be easily modified for smaller bins, as my daughter made. Here are a couple I’ve made for sewing club classes. You can find the tutorial here.

She made a charging pocket using my tutorial for another friend. A great one for teens and for boys. Make it big enough for a PSVida or DS or whatever they’re called. I made a couple for my own kids.

Coin purses. you can put student ID or earbuds in them, not just coins.

A journal cover is always a great hit with older kids

Or a pleated Beret would be a great gift for teens.

Drawstring backpacks are also a great go-to gift for tweens and teens. My teenaged boys have 2 or 3 each! One likes to use it for his lunch and the other keeps his sports gear in his. It’s the perfect size for riding his bike to the soccer field.