Hand made gifts part 3

Summer holiday has started for our kids, which equals end-of-year gifts. This year, I felt confident enough to hand make them (my earlier gifts part 1 and part 2 were well received). I was triggered by my eldest daughter's teacher. She was planning a gifts for somebody that helped her class a lot, but was now retiring that help. During the year the teacher had seen my daughter appear in many new dresses and we discussed my sewing hobby on a few occasions. She asked me if I could sew a pillow case without zipper that she could decorate with the kids. I was very willing to help and said that I could do a bit more than a pillow case without zipper. I proposed to mash up this and this idea from pinterest. The teacher liked the idea a lot and she decided we would make two, one for the Tuesday's-teacher as well. The teacher pre-cut the small "pieces" and the kids sewed them (by hand) together. In one hour 29 kids created 43 flaps, the kids loved it. I helped, which meant non-stop putting thread through needle eyes.

I drew the owls by hand, I was on a strict schedule and rushed this process a bit. I hand stitched the upper flaps, the rest was fixated by the sewing machine and I did add a blind zipper. The end-result is fine, it is not as nice as the originals (but not such a pinterest fail as this one). The fact that the kids contributed and loved to do it, makes the pillows wonderful in my eyes.

Another pinterest idea that I had been planning to use for a while was this bracelet tutorial. I loved the idea but I do not wear bracelets. I thought they would be perfect teacher gifts. I made two, experimenting with the buttons, colors and broomstick size.

For my son's teacher I made a gift for his class. I adapted this wonderful felt fire into an idea in which my kids could participate. The fire has three sides and my eldest (who was his student two years ago), my son (who has been his student the last two years) and my middle daughter (who will be his student the coming two years) all decorated a side with textile paint. My son learned in class this year

that a flame can be blue, so we had to incorporate that color as well. The base of the fire is red jersey with my heaviest interfacing.

I made the stones from an upcycled vest and I filled them with small fabric scraps that I have been hoarding. The scraps give the stones a good firmness and the stones are heavier than if I would have filled them with pillow filling. The branches are also filled with scraps.

I love to hear what you think of my creations. Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian).