May 11th, 2009
I finally learned how to use my sewing machine, part 2
Where I grew up in the Midwest, people didn’t distribute “goody bags” at birthday parties. That’s a phenomenon I first encountered here on the East Coast, and at first it struck me as a little weird. Since then I’ve come to think of it as akin to [START GEEK ALERT!] the Hobbits’ tradition of distributing gifts on one’s own birthday [END GEEK ALERT!], and I think it can a nice way to teach small children about being hosts and thanking their guests for sharing a special day for them (and not just giving thanks for gifts received).
Jan and I wanted the gifts to be something special, so I decided to start by using my newfound sewing skills to make the bags themselves. Each is a simple rectangle with two drawstrings. I went a little nuts and did applique letters (corresponding to the initial letter of each child’s first name) on each bag, too. With her pre-reading skills, Sylvia really enjoyed identifying which bag went to which child and handing them out herself.
Each bag contained a little fairy doll (Sylvia chose fairies as the theme for her party), some multicolored pencils, and a set of mini sketchbooks. The books were a lot of fun to make, not least because I used images from Japanese coloring pages for the covers. Those little animals are just so darn cute!
Since one of our guests is only 17 months old, I figured he wasn’t quite ready for those items. So I made a stuffed rabbit-thingy for his bag. I winged it, so its ears are as long as its body, but it was fun to make. Experimenting with fabric is a lot faster than experimenting with yarn!
The little fairies were a lot of fun to make, too. I used recycled felt for the bodies and wings, a pipecleaner for the arms (with polyfill-stuffed muslin hands), and polyfill-stuffed muslin for the head. For the hair, I ordered four different sets of hand-dyed Border Leicester locks from Enchanted Yarns. I told her what I was going to do with them, and she suggested using needle felting techniques to attach them to the heads. Amazingly, I was unable to find any local vendors (either large craft stores or local yarn shops) that carried them, and by the time I started on this project I didn’t have time to order them. So I took a chunk of locks and used invisible thread to sew down where the center seam would be, thus creating a “wig” of sorts, which I then hand-sewed to each head. Perfect, no—but I think they turned out all right.
11 Responses to “I finally learned how to use my sewing machine, part 2”
I hope the bags were well-received – they look so cute!
Love this idea for a gift bag!!
Adorable! I love coming up with creative and not junky things for party favors. These are great, I especially love the little fairies!
@Chris: As far as I could tell, the bags seemed to be a success with the kids!
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@Pat and @Kiran: Thanks! These really were lots of fun to make, so I think I enjoyed them as much as the kids did. :)
As a family who attended Sylvia’s birthday it was a huge success and the goody bags are a big hit in our household! No mention of the cake? Which by the way was one of the most beautiful cakes I’ve ever seen.
@Beth: Thanks! :) Don’t worry—the cake will get its props!
The bags were fantastic Marsha and the party was an absolute success. We were so happy to be invited.
@Katie: Dude, it would not have been a party without you! :)
I think this looks like a fun and great gift. I think your floppy eared bunny looks fine. The fairies are so cute. Well done and thanks for your comment on my blog.
Those goodie bags are amazing.
Is it really an east coast thing … or is it just that we are parents now thing?? Because I don’t remember getting goodie bags at parties, either. And I’m definitely east coast.
@Evelin: Maybe it’s an East Coast parents thing? :)