13 November 2011

Handmade gifts for the family oddballs


My sister in law likes tea. Earl Grey, specifically. Not so much your average cup of Bushells. Deb likes to pack a little stash of teabags wherever she goes in case of emergencies (that is, emergencies of the English Breakfast variety). 


So I thought I'd make her a little tea pouch to keep in her bag. 


A bit of grey wool, some velcro, a scrap of bias tape left over from a doily garland and a little bit of stamped twill tape, and I had a cute little pouch that holds about 6 tea bags.

Hey Deb - if you're reading this - surprise!


My mum is also a huge fan of tea, and considering she's off travelling for nearly 6 months of the year, she's also one to pack her own stash of home comforts. When I asked her roughly how many tea bags she'd take on an average trip, she replied 'a couple of handfuls of teabags, a tube of vegemite, and some press-seal plastic bags to put biscuits in. That's all we ever take.' Like that's a perfectly normal assortment of things to pack for a holiday.


So, after getting over my disgust in realising that vegemite comes in a tube, which just seems wrong, I spent half an hour that evening trying to work out how to make a little carry-all wallet for those three essentials. 


It was tricky - three very different shapes and sizes aren't so easy to work into a neat little package.


But I think it turned out quite nicely. I used some sweet co-ordinating travel-themed quilting cotton that I'd bought a while ago with mum in mind.

Some stamped twill labels for the vegemite, twill tape and bikkie bags, and another for the velcro closure tab, and mum's survival kit was finished.


Are you planning to make some handmade gifts this Christmas? (Planning being the key word... actually getting time to do so is another matter!)


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