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Christmas Commissions

I know that the kids have only been back to school a month and that The Boys are still wearing shorts to school (heck, I’m still in my flip-flops), buuuuuut……there’s no escaping the fact that Christmas is just around the corner. 

For those of us who like to give handmade gifts to our nearest and dearest, if we haven’t at least started thinking about what we’re going to make by now, panic sets in.

I actually have made a start, if a lot little later than previous years, but I also have quite a few commissions already this year – yay, thank you, dear customers, for not leaving it until the last minute to place your orders!

I LOVE Christmas commissions, well, any commissions at all, really, as they give me an excuse to be creative and make something when I’ve got no other excuse to sit at my sewing machine – and they enable me to legitimately delay the boring stuff like housework:)

I was asked to make six coin purses, each one personalised to the recipient, so I started the fun part of the design process by choosing fabrics.


One request was for an adult who likes butterflies, so this is quite a grown up purse.


A lining of floral bouquets seemed appropriate for the butterfly theme, and the whole was brought together with a lilac zip and zip pull.


Next up was a little girl who loves Hello Kitty, so I teamed a funky flower print with a cat appliqué.


I decided to pick out the pink and add a pink mini-gingham lining and pink zip.


The next request was something for a “girly” girl, so I went to town with the florals with a flower motif appliquéd onto a small floral print.


A more subtle leaf print lining tones down the busy effect and a love heart zip pull continues the feminine feel.


The brief for the next purse was quite specific; it had to be a grey star on a blue background for a girl who likes the Dallas Cowboys – this is my take on it.


More stars on the inside and a love heart zip pull soften the design a little.


“Cupcakes” was a fun brief to interpret and I found a print that looked like it had ready-made sprinkles on it!


A cherry red zip and pull bring together the red accents in the design, with more “sprinkles” on the inside.


The final brief was “Sparkles” and had me stumped for a while – until I looked down at my engagement ring.


Is that sparkly enough do you think?!

A mini-star print provides more sparkles on the inside.


So here they all are, each one individual to its recipient.


I’ve certainly had a great time coming up with a suitable design for each brief.


What a thoughtful commission – to tailor something specifically to six different individuals. They’ll love them, I’m sure, and appreciate the lengths that this lovely lady has gone to, to find them each something unique.


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Handmade Recycled Greetings Cards For School Fair Or Summer Fête

Blimey I’ve been a busy bee creating all manner of loveliness for the School Fair tomorrow!

Earlier in the week I made some fudge and then I designed a summer fête inspired box in which to display them.  I was trying to think of some quick, easy and cheap ideas for making something which would sell at the fair, when I remembered the forty-or-so sheets of recycled brown card left over from making our wedding invitations last year.  Bingo!  Greetings Cards would be all those things and should make a good profit for the school.

I sketched and cut out some card templates of several different designs, then cut the shapes out of scraps of wrapping paper.  Keeping in mind the necessity to appeal to all ages and both sexes, I chose a mixture of colours and cut out the following; bunting, balloons, kites and ties.

I stitched the shapes with a basic straight stitch on the sewing machine and embellished some of them with glued-on paper clouds.  The cards were left blank to make them suitable for any occasion, apart from a few that were printed with ‘Father’s Day’ as it is the day after the fair.  I wrote my website on the reverse so that, if they don’t sell, I can put them in my shop for sale:)

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So far forty cards have cost nothing, so I bought 50 manilla envelopes for £1.29 and 50 see-through bags for £2.75.  They look MUCH more professional presented this way and each card has still only cost 8p! (Not including my time, obviously).  This serves another purpose though, as it protects the cards from damage and dirt as they get handled.

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Now, what to do about a box?

Knowing that people like to rummage through everything easily, I decided to customize a shoe box to make a long, thin “shelf” type display box.  This is what they look like….

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I’m secretly quite chuffed with the whole thing!  Hopefully that’s given you an idea of a quick and easy craft make for your school fair or summer fête – handmade greetings cards for just a few pence each.