Sewing Business Blog » gifts

Hooded Bath Towels Great Toddler Gifts

Sarah J. Doyle — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:33:25 +0000

When I made the hooded bath towels for my grandchildren, who would have thought how easy bathtime would become! They simply LOVE to wear their hooded bathtowels around the house after bath time until we can get them into their pajamas!

Aren’t they just adorable!!!

Check out the home page of Patterns2Go and see other popular patterns for kids and adults, then check out each of the various categories for quick and easy gifts to make — you still have time to make a bunch of gifts!!

Quick And Easy Inexpensive Gifts To Make

Sarah J. Doyle — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:16:05 +0000

If you haven’t visited PatternsThatFitYou lately, you really need to check out the FREE Classes section for a variety of quick, easy and inexpensive gifts you can make! I’ll give you a couple of the most popular gifts so you can check out your gift list and see who you have that could use some of these.

Easy Gym Bag – This gym bag with coin purse would make a great gift for any teen or pre-teen girl. Better make a few extra as their friends are likely to ask if you’ll make them one too!

Wash Cloth Slippers – These make super gifts for those who travel as they take up literally no room in a suit case; or make them for the shut-in folks that you know, or as gifts for nursing homes. Wash cloth slippers are so quick and easy that you can make a pair for nearly everyone you know!

Leather Bead Necklaces – You can make georgous leather bead necklaces for friends, for teens and for the pre-teens following the instructions listed.

There are just so many free tutorials and instructions for gifts on the web - you could spend every day from now until Christmas making gift items, and not spend a fortune either! Go easy on your pocketbook and check out some of the gift tutorials.

The Push Is on For Making Christmas Gifts

Sarah J. Doyle — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:28:41 +0000

Here we are – the day after “Black Friday”, and if you’re like me – tired of fighting the crowds yesterday, and now ready to settle down and go to work on making those Christmas gifts!

Today I want to review a few of the “most read” projects and tutorials from our blog, that would make great Christmas gifts! There seem to always be a lot of children on everybody’s gift list, so I’ll pick some child pleaser gift ideas.

First on every list for girls (teens and pre-teens especially, although our 4 and 8 year old granddaughters would love these also) would be our jeans purse. So easy to make and super inexpensive if you run out to any yard sale or flea market and get children’s jeans for about 50 cents a pair, this is a fantastic gift during these tough economic times! The How To Make Jeans Purses tutorial gives step by step instructions and illustrations on making several styles of purses.

The next gift item for the babies and toddlers would be the Washcloth Doll. The doll takes just one washcloth and scraps of fabric – and best of all is so nice and cuddly that any child would love it. How To Make A Washcloth Doll also has step by step instructions and illustrations on how to make it.

There are so many quick and easy gifts that can be made that are also easy on the pocketbook — check out Patterns2Go for ideas for everybody on your gift list. The patterns here are also inexpensive and are downloadable for immediate access.

Sewing Businesses Help Customers Save Money

Sarah J. Doyle — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:22:09 +0000

How can you in sewing businesses help your customers save money? I truly believe this Holiday Season will see fewer gifts given, and those who will be giving gifts will be looking for “deals”.

The current economy, where people are losing jobs left and right, where homes are being foreclosed on and where those who DO have a job are seeing their hours drastically cut is making for a bleak Christmas. Where will the extra money come from for those Christmas gifts, party outfits and new Christmas clothes for the kids?

One big way that those in sewing businesses can help out, and we’ve touched on this before, is to dig into the scrap boxes! You probably have big enough scraps to make some infant / toddler size dresses, pants and blouses that you can have priced at a very nominal fee. In addition, use those scraps to make a wide variety of toys for all ages, book marks and initial pillows for the teens, all of which can be very nominally priced because you’ve actually just used your “time” in making them, as the scraps are left overs from other paid jobs.

If you need ideas for things to make, “Nursery Room Projects” and “Sewing With Leather” can give you ideas, in addition to checking out Patterns2Go for free patterns and cheap patterns that you can use for those toys and other Christmas items. Check out some tutorials at PatternsThatFitYou for additional ideas for projects.

After you’ve made a bunch of items, arrange them in your sewing room or customer waiting area, and take a few pictures. Head down to the local newspaper to talk to one of the editors and let them know what YOU’RE doing to help the economy in your area — let them know you’ve made dozens of toys, infant / toddler outfits, etc and have marked them far below regular retail prices. The newspapers are always looking for things to write about for their paper, so you might just get headlined in your daily / weekly paper.

If those who have a sewing business or craft business throughout the country would consider doing this type of scrap sewing for affordable gifts their customers can purchase, perhaps it would help ease the effects the economy is throwing at us, and make Christmas a little brighter for some who have no hopes for a Christmas at all.

More Last Minute Gifts

Sarah J. Doyle — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:18:00 +0000

For those of us who just seem to need “one more gift” for somebody, I have a couple last minute, super duper easy to make gifts that will thrill those you make them for!

The first easy last minute gift would be suitable for any teenager or middle school student. All kids need their own noteboard to keep class assignments, pictures, telephone numbers and notes on.

Head down to your local fabric store and see how many empty fabric cardboard bolt “boards” you can get. (I’m thinking this time of year they probably have quite a stash of them).

Purchase enough burlap or tan cotton duck fabric to cover the board and glue to secure the fabric to the bolt board. You can then either cut some little decorations from felt or purchase some appliques to glue onto the board. If you have enough time, you might even get a square of felt and cut out the person’s name and glue it to the top of the board — “Nathan’s Notes” — or just the name to personalize it. Sew a small drapery ring to the top center to hang the bulletin board. If you’re a crafter and actually do crafts for craft shows, etc, you might be able to make some extra cash by making these to sell!

A portable thread hanger is sure to be a success for the sewer, quilter and crafter. This thread hanger is so easy to make and you’ll be thought of all year long as the receipient uses your special gift.

For this project, begin with an ordinary wire coat hanger and loosen the top with pliers and straighten it out. String spools of thread on the wire, using a variety of colors, and put it back in shape. It is best to put standard colors that would most often be used, such as black, white, green, yellow, red, light or dark blue, etc. Decorate the handle with ribbons or a big bow. At the end of the ribbons tie small strawberry or heart shaped pin cushions. When thread is needed it can be pulled from the spool easily without removing the spool from the thread hanger. Each spool of thread has a “notch” at one end for attaching the thread after using so there won’t be a problem with all the threads getting knotted.

This project comes from Patterns That Fit You, and more specifically from the “Crafts For All Seasons” class which contains a collection of thirteen craft items that are suitable to give for any occasion, or for your own personal use. Complete instructions and full size patterns are included.

SEW204 - Crafts For All Seasons Class – $6.95

Quick And Easy Last Minute Gifts To Make

Sarah J. Doyle — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:40:00 +0000

We’re getting down to the wire for getting even last minute gifts made. I’ve found a few quick and easy gifts that can be put together quickly and will make excellent stocking stuffers, or wrap them up to give.

The first gift idea somes from Sewing.org’s free projects – washcloth puppets. Now these would make some toddler very happy. Might even be able to use them in the bath water!

Now how cute are those little darlings!!

And, speaking of washcloth items, our second idea comes from Patterns2Go, and it’s for washcloth slippers. These can be made up super quick and are excellent gift items for anybody on your list, and especially those in a nursing home or somebody in the hospital. Grab a pack of washcloths and make a bunch of them. You’ll probably want a couple pair for yourself!

The last quick and easy gift is for the “best ever baby bath towel”. Anybody with a new baby or even a toddler would LOVE to have this handy towel – the neat thing is that it keeps mommy dry while getting the baby or toddler out of the bath water. This baby bath towel comes from NurseryRoomProjects, and we thank you for the great idea and free pattern.

These ideas should cover a few extra people on your list. Thank you to those folks who have provided the free tutorials / patterns that we can all enjoy. Happy sewing and crafting!