Sewing up a Homemade Holiday

A few years back when we were first starting our business and on a strict budget, we did some homemade Christmas gifts out of necessity - since then, in the pursuit of a more simple lifestyle, we've come to value those homemade gifts as special in and of themselves. This year I have several ideas up my sleeve and wanted to share a few. SimpleMom is hosting sewing ideas for a homemade Christmas, so be sure to head over to her site for more great ideas!

In thinking through homemade gifts - remember that they don't have to be fancy to still be a great gift and even if you aren't a super skilled seamstress, you can still jump in and give a homemade Christmas a try!



Handtowels/dishtowels make great gifts because they are clutter-free items that people can really use...and festive holiday towels can really help make the Christmas season all the more special! Think outside the box, and you can come up with some great towel ideas - and a great deal of sewing expertise isn't necessary either!


Ribbon is a great way to embellish a dishtowel - you can use a wide piece or several narrow pieces -you can even combine using a piece of fabric & ribbon. You can go with a Christmas-specific ribbon or if you stick with a single color ribbon (like red) the towel will also go work well year round as well as for Valentine's Day! You can also use buttons in conjunction with ribbon or all by themselves - remember, this doesn't have to be complicated to be a nice gift! (I haven't tried it, but you could use buttons to form a monogram initial for the gift recipient - definitely a unique look!)


Embroidery is another great option to decorate a towel and while machine embroidery does require a special machine - you can also do old fashioned embroidery either by hand or by cutting out fabric and then machine stitching around the fabric freehand (a look which is super popular right now!)


I also have a friend who just had a little girl, and instead of a traditional baby gift, I'm making Christmas tees for both her kiddos instead...and again, while I used my machine on this gingerbread cutie, it's a simple design that would be easy to freehand (or trace a similar design), cut out and piece by hand. Depending on the age of the child, buttons are a great additional embellishment on tees for kids, but for a baby, a bit of a choking hazard, so I stuck with the pink star in the middle on this little guy.


At the end of the day - you don't have to be a great seamstress to come up with some super cute, simple homemade gift ideas for Christmas...think outside the box - use ribbon, fabric & buttons and you can come up with some super cute goodies! And if you're stuck for ideas, head on over to Etsy and take a look around - lots of great inspiration there, for sure! Check out the other great themes Almost Frugal has coming up for other great Holidays by Hand ideas this year. How about you - do you have any plans to incorporate homemade items into your family's Christmas this year?