Saturday, July 17, 2010

Santa Stuff Sack and Creative Gift Wrap

I have been sewing more DIY summer fashion over the last few days than Christmas gifts, sorry!  I would like to have a fashion show here, lol, but I have promised to make gifts and share holiday and gift ideas to sew throughout this month.

I did sew another zip bag and made patchwork for sewing and needle books, and knit 2 more dish scrubbers, and that toppled the pile of presents on my sewing table.  I needed to stash them away in my chest, but I needed to contain them first.  When I opened the chest, I saw my box of Christmas fabrics.  I inherited most of that stash from a grandma, and haven't really used much of it.  So I was delighted to see some Santa fabric peeking out, and I used it to sew a Santa Sack to hold my gifts.  I could also see making one of these as a gift, for someone who likes to play Santa, or even to wrap a quilt or some other large gift.

Here it is, half full already, before I put it away:


The ribbon is strong and you can hold on to the bow loops and sling it over your shoulder just like the real Santa does.  I sewed it like a pillowcase, but with a casing for the ribbon.   I started to do another, with patchwork and an applique, but this works for now.  I made a lovely skirt and wanted to sew a blouse to go with it to wear to a birthday party tomorrow.  So the Santa sack is the Holiday idea to sew for today.

I will also show you the presents I am taking to the birthday party tomorrow, as a suggestion to not use disposable wrapping paper but to make something useful instead.  Both children are getting colored pencils in a roll, but I wrapped them each with another gift:

these are birthday, not holiday presents;
use your imagination to think of ways to make holiday gift wrappings
simple drawstring bags sewn from holiday fabrics can hold candy or coins...
we will visit this topic again later this month....

The birthday girl gets a pretty apron, I made from a vintage sheet.  And for the birthday boy, that's just a simple drawstring bag that I am sure he can use to hold baseball cards or marbles or candy or whatever he likes.

So I hope that will get you thinking about creative wrapping for the holidays; I definitely am now.  In fact, I just got a good idea; we will see it later...
I am off to work on that blouse now, but I will be back soon to share more holiday gift ideas.  Have a great day!

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