Sewing Swap

With all the swap posts I've had lately, I thought I'd space them out a little bit and wait awhile before I posted the final swap package I have to share with you.

Like the last swap post, this is a package I put together for my partner.  My partner was Becky (gathersnomoss).  I've been the recipient of Becky's generosity, so I wanted to make sure she loved her package just as much.

First of all, I had a really hard time deciding what kind of fabric to send Becky.  She had given me a list of her favorite Moda designers, but I was having trouble finding fabric I liked, and that I thought she would like.  I finally ended up finding some Moda charm packs.  I first found the fabrics on fatquarters.com and another fabric store online, but they were either backordered, or out of stock of the prints that I was really drawn to.  Etsy to the rescue!! I found someone who was selling the charm packs and had one of each of the packs I was wanting to purchase.  What a lucky find!

Becky had said she like American Jane, Sandy Gervais, Me & My Sister and Fig Tree.  I found Giddy by Sandy Gervais, Punctuation by American Jane, and threw in Origins by basicgrey (I really love the basicgrey fabrics).  I think she enjoyed these! :)

The fabric was actually the last part of the package I purchased.  In the meantime, I collected other goodies and sewed a couple items.

The first sewn item was for Becky herself.  The pattern is called Sew Convenient from Pretty Little Presents and is a needle/pin/thread holder for the on-the-go sewer.  The holder folds up sort of like the old-school fortune tellers we made as kids in grade school.  The pattern called for a velcro closure, but I did a button instead because I thought it would hold better.

The inside has a piece of felt that's sewn down where you can place your needles and pins to keep them safe and secure.  There's enough room once the holder is closed to still be able to fit some embroidery floss tucked into the middle.  I imagine this as a great carrier when doing something like hand-sewing the binding on a quilt.  You have a few necessary tools at your side while working on your project. :)

The second sewn item was a ladybug rattle.  The pattern is from Little Stitches for Little Ones by Amy Butler.  I wanted to do a butterfly as well, but ran out of time.  I used pink and white fabric, with an accenting pink flannel fabric.  I thought the flannel is neat because as the baby gets older, she can feel the difference in textures.  (I forgot to mention that Becky is expecting a little girl, which is why I made a pink ladybug rattle...) :)

The toy could easily just be stuffed with fiberfil with the rattle left out, but I had a bell on hand, so I thought I should use it. :) I hope she enjoys playing with it!

I didn't have much other stuff by way of notions, although I did include a roll-up tape measure.  I always need more of these and am always looking for one.  There was also an Iowa magnet, because I like to include something from my state in each swap.

Not to leave anyone out, I included a "Guess Who?" Elmo book for Becky's son.  She had mentioned that he loves Elmo (as does Squishy).  I was in Target and found the book.  Squishy was so excited.  He wouldn't let go of the book, so I bought two. One for Squishy, one for Becky's little man. :)

And finally, no package is complete without a few sweets.  Becky had mentioned enjoying the caramel Cadbury eggs, so I included some of them, as well as chocolate peeps and chocolate Easter eggs.

This swap was a nice change from the knitting swaps.  Because there was a dollar limit, the majority of the package was put together rather quickly.  There was a lot more I could have included, but I really tried to stick to that limit since I knew others felt it was important for everyone to have the same swap experience. :)

Sewing the projects and picking the fabrics were my favorite parts.  I've been doing so much sewing for my Etsy shop that I haven't had much time to sit and explore new patterns or personal sewing.  I sewed all weekend long and felt so refreshed by doing something new.  It's encouraged me to pick a couple new projects I'd like to complete over the next month.

Becky, I had a wonderful time putting this together for you and I hope you enjoy it all! :)