Sorry for the radio silence. I started December all cocky about all the fantastic crafts and posts I had planned for the blog, and then a combination of a lastminute work project (extra work is always good news for a freelancer) and the general chaos of Christmas meant the usual holiday mayhem took over and I’ve been battling to stay afloat ever since.
Tomorrow is the last day of term. I can’t believe the twins have done a whole term of school already, but at the same time I’m finding it hard to think back to what life was like before they started school. For Christmas, I knew that I wanted to make gifts for their teachers ourselves, so we’ve opted for a bit of a joint effort. Artwork by the children, and sewing by me.
I bought some fabric pens back in the summer, and when I saw how much fun the kids had drawing with them, I made a mental note to remember them come Christmas time. I decided that we’d make lavender bags for the teachers, and this is how we did it…
1. Cut out squares of fabric (two squares per bag), and get the kids to draw on pictures and messages with the fabric pens.
2. Iron the squares to set the paint, and then pin each pair together, painted sides facing. Sew them, leaving a 1.5cm seam allowance, all the way round (you can use a machine or hand sew them), making sure to leave an opening on the last edge.
3. Turn the bags the right way out, fill each bag with dried lavender, and then sew up the gap.
4. Edge the bags with blanket stitch using embroidery thread (I’ve recently taught myself to do blanket stitch from this tutorial).
I’m really pleased with how these have turned out – they were easy to do and are a lovely, personal gift. And even though the twins aren’t keen on the lavender smell (!), they’re really proud of what they’ve made them themselves and can’t wait to give them to their teachers tomorrow.
Such a cute idea! Those two are fast taking after your creative talents x