Give handmade gifts this Christmas: 9 free tutorials

I’m digging out some of the items I have made in the past few months. I made many of them as gifts for friends and relatives.

Most of them can be made in a few hours and all tutorials are original and free.

1. SEWING: iPad / e-book reader beanbag
2. SEWING: Mini wallet/bag
3. SEWING: Spirit tote bag
4. EMBROIDERY: French cuisine embroidery tea towel
5. PATCHWORK AND EMBROIDERY: Reversible tray cover using improv piecing and embroidery
6. FOUNDATION PIECING AND QUILTING: Foundation piecing teapot holder pattern
7. SEWING AND EMBROIDERY: Embroidered spare toilet roll holder
8. FOUNDATION PIECING AND QUILTING: Scrappy heart potholder
9. SEWING AND QUILTING: Quilted hot water bottle cozy

If you  are thinking of making any of the items why not share photos of your finished project. I love seeing what you make with my tutorials.

Note: you need to have a Flickr account to be able to upload pictures to the pool.

Cute Christmas craft with a needle

Cute and easy Christmas craft. All tutorials are free.

1. Patchwork Christmas tree softie tutorial
2. Christmas tree softie tutorial
3. Cute Christmas bunting part II and  bunting appliqué part I
4. Christmas embroidery mounted on canvas

Folded ribbon Christmas wreath tutorial

This is a quick project I made using cheap Christmas ribbon and some shear fabric that I had laying around the house. This post gives you an idea about what to do to produce a very quick and cheap Christmas wreath. I didn’t plan the project so the sizes and amounts are approximate. This project is quite easy and can be done by children. I actually made this wreath with my daughter.

You will need

• a polystyrene ring. Mine was about 8 inches wide
• 3 rolls of wide ribbon. The rolls usually come in 2 yard rolls
• lots of headpins
• shear fabric in matching fabric

Instructions

Using a share plain fabric in a matching colour cover the ring loosely as per picture and pin to the back of the wreath.

Measure the width of your ribbon.  Then cut the ribbon into squares. My squares were 2 inches wide.

Now take a square of ribbon and fold it as per picture, a bit like a prairie point with the edges to the middle.

Start pinning around the ring as per picture, placing a pin on each side.

As you pin your folded ribbon, make sure you hide the pins from the previous piece.

Once you finish pinning around the ring you can start covering the edge in the same way. You can use the same ribbon or a different one.

Once your ring is covered, add a big bow to hang.