12 Best Sewing Gifts

Best Sewing Gifts in 2023

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Easy to Make Holiday & Seasonal Pillows Sewing Craft Ideas

National Sewing Month will soon be upon us. Are you ready? Here are two fun and easy sewing ideas: (1) making holiday and seasonal pillows out of old fabric scraps and (2) turning cute placemats into throw pillows.

Sewing Craft Idea: Pattern for Making Holiday amp; Seasonal Pillows

Materials: Holiday-themed fabric squares, a rectangular piece of plain muslin or cotton fabric, thread, needle, holiday or seasonal embroidery pattern, embroidery floss, stuffing.

This sewing craft is one that my mother does. In fact, she just finished a seasonal pillow this weekend. She finds a cute, free embroidery pattern that matches whatever theme she is working towards--whether it be for Fall, or Christmas, or whenever--and follows the pattern using embroidery floss and the fabric muslin. You could really use any solid color or lightly patterned cotton for this project and get similar results so there's no need to spend a lot of money looking for something in particular if you have something else around the house that will work just fine.

The embroidery portion of the decorative pillow, acting as the center rectangle of the pillow, can be any size you want. Similarly, the holiday fabric squares you cut out of various fabrics to border your rectangular embroidery can be any size you want as well. There's no right or wrong answer when it comes to size for this sewing project as long as you're happy about your choice.

Sew the fabric squares to each other and to the embroidery piece, effectively creating a border or perimeter around the entire muslin or cotton rectangle. You can stitch this by hand, like my mom does, or you can use a machine, like I'd be tempted to do. Either way, you'll have a fun, festive holiday or seasonal pillow as your reward.

You can back the pillow with rows and columns of fabric squares, or you can use a single piece of a cotton fabric that matches some aspect of the front of the pillow. Sew the front and back together while both are inside out, leaving a small section not sewn so you can stuff the pillow after you've turned it so the outsides are, indeed, facing outside. Then, finish sewing closed the last bit of your pillow and bask in the festive results. To think, you did it all yourself!

Sewing Craft Idea: Turning Festive Placemats into Fun Holiday Pillows

Materials: Decorative fabric placemat, thread, needle, stuffing.

For those more interested in fast results and the spirit of sewing, rather than performing the actual labor required of a complete do-it-yourself craft, this fun, semi-homemade pillow idea may be a better fit. My sister loves finding fabric placemats, which tend to go on sale if you time things right, and transforming them into festive throw pillows for the couches. It's an easy way to spruce up a room without a lot of effort or money.

Depending on the placemat, the specific procedures might be marginally different but the general rules still apply. You'll want to remove a portion of the stitching on one edge of the placemat, fill the inside with stuffing, and sew the opening back up. Voila! Who knew you could have a new, semi-homemade holiday or seasonal pillow in minutes.

Happy sewing!