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December Sewing and Christmas Gifts

This year I scaled back a lot on the number of Christmas presents that I made.  This year I made about thirty Christmas presents.  I had hoped to make a few more for family members but I just ran out of time.  We really tried to focus on simplifying our Christmas this year.  There will be plenty of time in January and February to finish up a few projects on my wish list for the children!


The above picture includes the gifts that I made for my Arkansas nieces.  I wasn't sure if the gifts would need to be mailed so I tried to keep them light weight.  I sewed two matching toddler infinity scarves using the frozen fabric.  The butterfly case is a diaper change case.  It can hold a few diapers and a pack of travel wipes for easy changes.  


Do you remember a few years ago when the ribbon dancers were so popular?  This was another easy gift that I whipped up one afternoon.  I simply painted a dowel rod with two coats of paint.  Then I hot glued on two yards of ribbon.


For my cousin I sewed an art case.  It's actually the same pattern as the Crochet Case/Colored Pencil Roll that you can visit on my former blog here.  I just left about four inches free to insert this small notebook.  This case is then folded instead of rolled up.  


I also sewed a diaper case for my youngest niece Paisley.  I'm always ready for a sewing project that involves bias tape!  The only change I made on this one was using Velcro instead of a snap for the closing.


In addition to the gifts pictured above I also made over twenty aromatherapy rice packs.  I was so pleased with how well they were received.  The picture above is the one I made for Eli per his request as he watched me make them.  They are so simple to make!  The hardest part is making sure that you don't run over uncooked rice and break your needle.
Directions to make your own:

  1. Simply sew two squares of cotton fabric right sides together leaving a space to turn.  
  2. Cut across corners to make for a cleaner finish.  
  3. Turn right sides out and iron.  
  4. Fill with white rice.  (I also added about 1 drop of Lavender Essential Oil per cup of rice.  I mixed the essential oil into the rice using a glass bowl and let it sit for a few minutes.)  
  5. Sew opening closed and you are finished.  I sewed all of the openings closed on the sewing machine and sewed down one complete side.  


What have you been sewing?  Did you make any of your Christmas presents?  I'd love to hear what type of projects you are working on for January. 


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