Supplies:
Tin
Scissors
Felt
Embroidery Thread
Sewing needles
Tools:
Scissors
Embroidery Thread
Embroidery needle
Pinking shears (optional)
Sewing machine (optional; you can sew this by hand)
Marking pen
This was a quick project, except for the embroidery. It is very difficult to see through felt, even with a light table. I did my best (after going over the main outine of a miniature print image of the bird with sharpie) but ended up freehanding most of this bird with marking pen. I embroidered the bird with a back stitch.
I cut a piece of blue felt for the cover, making sure it was smaller than the box I chose when folded in half, and two slightly smaller pieces of cream felt for the inside. I used pinking shears to cut around the inside cream pieces, but this is purely optional.
I embroidered the bird without using a hoop. I outlined the bird in back stitch.
I sewed the three pieces together down the middle with the sewing machine.
I put some sewing needles in the felt pages.
I put the seam ripper, scissors, and needle book in the tin.
Time:
Around an hour and a half, including the embroidery.
Cost:
I found the tin on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $1.02. It was full of pushpins, which I moved to our bulletin boards. I have seen empty tins like these at Michael’s for $1 (often near the registers) and you can also buy plain tins (including ones that hinge) on Etsy.
The polka dotted embroidery scissors were $5.99 regular price at Hobby Lobby. I used a 40% off coupon to bring the price down. They have several choices including the stork scissors that I like (my daughter pointed out the polka dotted ones to me when we went to check out Hobby Lobby after it opened here recently, so I chose those for her).
The small seam ripper
I purchased the wool felt on Etsy for $2 a sheet. Prices have since changed as well as sizes for felt pieces (you can buy pieces as small as 6 by 8 inches now) so your price may vary. You don’t need a whole sheet of either color, but if you have no supplies you will need to buy two sheets.
Total cost for this sewing kit was just under $7.
I love this so much! I’m not very crafty but I’m going to try to make them as stocking stuffers for my girls. Thank you- I have been following your Gift a Day series for the last 2- 3 years and always look forward to it!
I like this gift. Joann’s on Black Friday would be a good place to get supplies too. Even if a person doesn’t sew much everyone can use a small sewing kit for an emergency.
A few shirt buttons in there would also be nice. Maybe a thimble too or is it to big for the box? A thimble is a necessity for me to hand sew.
That is a nice gift for someone who travels. It would make a good gift for a guy too.
This gift is so cute! I never would have thought of making something like this. Thanks for the idea.
Would an altoid tin work? You could paint it. That would be a possibility for someone who thinks they “need” mints (not me, of course 😉 ). I try to get altoids when I do get them because the go the farthest. This is a way I could recycle those handy, fancy tins, if the size is right.
I think a thimble would fit but I haven’t ever seen a child’s thimble locally. I considered buttons (and left extra pages for them to be sewn in) but since she just wants to embroider, I left it at this. The recipient is 7. For an adult I would include buttons and some threads. They could also be wrapped around a piece of cardboard with several colors.
Yep!
The more I think about this one, the more I love it. I’m going to check out some scissor prices and some tin prices and see about making some for Christmas for people. I also agree that some thread would be extremely helpful for mending. I have one child who loves to embroider, so that’s a good idea to give her one for that. I always keep my embroidery in a small bin. A little kit like that would fit right in and there would always be scissors……. I’ll see what I can round up and what I have time for–maybe a small bin with a few supplies like floss and a dishtowel with a tin like this thrown in .
So sweet a gift!
Becky, if you are putting together a kit for embroidery, you might want to add a small pencil or marking pen, for tracing out the pattern on the cloth.
So very sweet! I love birds. And sewing. And organization. 🙂
Somebody must like polka-dots!
I went back to your older gift a day posts to see if I could pick up any other ideas.
There are lots of tins that are used for gift cards during the Christmas season for lots more options
Starting Tue, Joann’s will have those craft sheets of felt for 20c each…I think through Sat.