Sewing Gifts, Part 1

I don't know if I'm brave enough to claim to do a series here, but I'm hoping to post about some of my Christmas projects.

The first thing(s) I did was make placemats and coasters for each of my in-law families. Hubby has parents, and two sisters, which made for three sets. One sister has three children, so I made theirs a set of six instead of four

I did not want to make identical token gifts, but I really prayed about ways to bless each family specifically. I am hoping that worked... Anyway, Hubby's older sister likes Holstein cows (cute figurine ones, anyway) and sunflowers, and I found this sunflower-on-black fabric for them. To back them I bought what I thought was a nice linen-ey type fabric, in a sandy tone. As it turned out, I didn't pay close attention to the fabric label, and after washing and drying it, was astonished to realize it was a very stretchy spandex/cotton mix. Yikes! Working with it was really terrible. I also had forgotten about their needing six placemats, and only bought enough sunflower fabric for... less than that. You can't see from the photo (they're rolled up together), but I pieced the tops of them. Imagine a quilt square (ok, rectangle) of sunflower with a 3" stripe of linen running across, about 2" up from the bottom. Then imagine the opposite: Linen with a stripe of sunflower. I made three of each, and I think I backed each with the same fabric as the front stripe. Placemats should be about 12"x18". These I turned and stitched along the edge, and "in-the-ditch" along either side of the stripe. I made six coasters to match, 4" x 4". I also made their youngest a sunflower bib, backed with some of my waterproof PUL I use in my diaper covers. It even had a pocket. :) My younger sister-in-law and her husband were much harder. They have no children, and I'm not in their home enough to get a 'feel' for their decorating plan. They also both work, and I'm prone to thinking that if they really wanted anything like this, they'd probably have already bought it for themselves already! It was an exercise in defeating my defeatism, but I came up with (what I think is) a really striking set. They are made from a super-soft, very heavy (almost upholstery, but not stiff) rust-colored fabric. A chenille surface, really. These were too heavy and thick to turn and topstitch, so I stitched them together with right sides already out, then trimmed the seam allowances with a zig-zag edge (like pinking scissors). I did the same with the coasters. They were so luxurious, I wanted to keep them for myself! Not really; I can't promise machine-washability and durability with these, so they are perfect for a couple still awaiting their first Blessing. My mother- and father-in-law got the sturdy washable stuff. I don't even remember what it was, but it came out of a cold dryer with nary a wrinkle in it! Not natural fiber, obviously. They're a beautiful sagey-green (so far my kitchen cabinetry and the front of my home are this color - I love it) that I simply turned and topstitched. I used a light interfacing to give them a bit more stiffness, and to sandwich the layers together I quilted a word in the center of each with matching thread. Love, Hope, Peace, and Faith, I think. The backing for these coasters is really something. It's called "microsuede" and it's incredible. Really. Go to a fabric store and ask for it, and just touch it. Try not to rub your face in it; I bet they wouldn't like that. If I was Donald Trump I would buy a giant roll of this and make sheets. It's so nice. Nice enough that what is left will probably languish forever in my fabric pile, just because I'll never find a project worthy enough...

A great aspect of this project is that it didn't cost very much. I've mostly only ever sewn with cotton wovens, because they're what was affordable. I discovered the clearance racks, and when the fabric store runs these at half price (yes, half of clearance!) they're far cheaper than originally priced. I think I paid $2.50 (maybe $3)/yd for the microsuede! And the others were that much or less. Fabrics that ran $10-$15/yd or more at first (and therefore nothing I would even browse) become quite the deal -- and I get to experience sewing with different fabrics and textures. Though I can't say I'll be wanting any more of that miserable stretchy-linen stuff. You can't keep that where it belongs when sewing a seam!

Ok, I hope you enjoyed this, and maybe give it a try yourself sometime. You can google "placemat tutorial" if you're new to sewing and these terms are unfamiliar. They're fairly easy to cut, easy to sew, and if you mess up, it's not like you spent tons of money on a big fancy project. Bless yourself (or someone else) with a set while you're waiting for the W-2s and interest statements to arrive...