Making Gifts for the Adult
December 6th, 2008. Filed under: Sewing on Saturday.There are many things you can make as gifts for adults of either gender. Some of these are a bath wrap, shoe bags which make a very good gift for the frequent flier, cookies, brownies or bread, cosmetic bags for the ladies or pj’s or robes. There are many more thoughtful gifts you can create using your sewing machine, knitting needles, crochet hooks, crafting supplies and your imagination and love.
An easy gift is to make fleece scarves for everyone. Cut the scarf and mark how far the fringe needs to be. You can make 4 scarves, nine inches wide by 60 inch long, from a yard of fleece. I’ve seen them in solid colors with embroidery on them to match the receivers interests. If you choose to embroidery something on them, “soft ‘n sheer” stabilizer or a water soluble one works well. To make the fringe, put masking tape (the blue painters kind) either 3 or 4 inches on the ends where the selvage has been cut away. Then mark the tape either at 1/4 or 1/2 inch intervals depending on how wide you want the fringe. This is where a rotary cutter comes in handy.
Another gift for either a man or woman is a rice bag. This helps with sore muscles and cold feet. Use a new terrycloth dishtowel. Cut it in half and fold that half inside out to make a bag. Then sew around three of the edges, leaving the fringe edge open. Flip right side out. Then fill with approximately two cups of long grain rice (raw). Carefully sew the fringed edge closed now, making sure that the corners are securely sewn so no rice grains can get out. This can be heated up in a microwave for about three minutes and it acts like a heating pad but without the danger of electric cords. This is wonderful to tuck into bed against cold feet or snuggle with on the couch on those chilly evenings. The rice gets burned up and nasty after about six months so the bag needs to be discarded.
How about a Grandma or Grandpa basket? Include all their favorite teas and treats. Then tuck in a picture of the grandchildren and some of their art work.
This is just a small scratch on the surface. Dig deeper and you can find an unlimited supply of patterns on the Internet to make knit and crocheted gifts. Think about your crafts. Whatever you’re into, you can come up with a lot of gifts for the adults on your list. This is a good time to make your gifts, not only for Christmas, but also for all the birthdays and other upcoming occasions throughout the year. Be frugal. Check through your stash and decide to use it to bless others with a gift created by you especially for them.