I remember the Christmas as a little girl that I received a Cabbage Patch Doll. She had long brown hair, just like me, and she came with a little birth certificate identifying her name as Tabitha. We didn’t always get the most popular toys because there were a lot of us in my family and my parents were not wealthy by any means. But not only did my sister and I get a doll, they each had their very own large wardrobe handmade by my Mom.
I was surrounded by so many handmade items as a child. Little stuffed dolls that had a sleeping face on one side and a awake face on the other, fabric “paper” dolls that had clothes made from the scraps of fabric leftover from the clothes mom had made us, blankets, quiet books, the list goes on and on. My mom loved to sew and I appreciate all the little heirlooms she gave us. Somewhere in a cedar chest in my bedroom lies a small box full of those tiny clothes she made for my Cabbage Patch doll that year.
I love to give handmade gifts. Perhaps it is the tradition my mom started; her love of sewing that inspires me; or, maybe it is just that I like the idea of giving something that cost more in time and thought than it did in actual dollars. Our world is so full of throw-away things, knick-knacks that don’t mean much to the giver or the receiver. Let’s change that. Let’s all make something special for someone this year.
If you’d like to join us in our handmade gift-giving, we’ve created a series of classes entitled Selfless Sewing. Each class is one session and features a project that would make a perfect gift. Most of them can be paired with embroidery if you’d like to embellish the fabric before class to make your gift even more personal. Need help getting started with embroidery? Sign up for Hand Embroidery :: A Primer; we’ll make sure you get the advice you need during class.
We hope you join us for one or more of our Selfless Sewing Series. We’ll be making aprons, stockings, zip pouches, hand towels and napkins, box bags and more. Many of these gifts are great for men, women, or children. And, if you decide to give the gift to yourself, we’ll never tell.
