If you are lucky enough to be able to sew, making a gift for your mom is easy at any time of year and not just for holidays. Home-sewn gifts are always treasured and usually unique to the recipient which makes them extra special. If you are looking for some new ideas on what to make for your mom this holiday, here are a couple of suggestions.

Cross-stitch bookmark

If your mom is an avid reader, chances are she will really appreciate two or three of these in different styles. You could make a set to reflect each holiday or season by using different designs and colours of thread.

Draw your design for the stitching on some graph paper and for each coloured square or mark, select a separate embroidery silk and make a note of the dye number on the chart as you go. The design should be slightly smaller than the size you want the bookmark to be. Cut a single piece of open-weave fabric that is wide enough to fold in half to make a front and back to the bookmark. Work your cross-stitch design on one half and then fold the fabric right sides together, stitch around the 2 long sides and 1 short side and turn right side out. To make the bookmark more rigid, cut a rectangle of card slightly smaller than the bookmark and slide it inside before you sew the 4th side closed. You can add a tassel to the bottom or braid around the edges.

Spectacle case

These are simple to make and require only scraps of fabric and thread. Take a pair of spectacles and draw around them onto a piece of paper so that you have a rectangle shape bigger than the spectacles by roughly an inch and a half (7cm) all the way round. Using this paper pattern, take 2 pieces of fabric (in holiday colours if you like, such as red and green) and fold each in half, right sides together. Pin the pattern to the fabric with one long edge sitting on the fold, and cut out a rectangle shape. Remove the pattern, and if you want to embellish what will be the outside of the case with embroidery or beads etc, now is the time to do it.

Keeping the fabric folded with right sides together, stitch around the open long side and one of the short sides, and trim the seam. Fold the second (inner) piece of fabric and sew in the same way, but leave this section with the seam on the outside. On the outer section, make a loop on either side of the top opening, approximately 2 inches (5cm) from the top. You can do this by sewing strands of embroidery silk in large stitches and then using blanket stitch to hold them all together, or by sewing a small length of ribbon in place. Fold over the top edge of the outer section to the inside and the inner section to the outside by about 1/2 inch (1 cm), and tack in place. Slip the inner section into the outer and neatly sew the two pieces together all the way around the top edge. Take come cord or ribbon and thread enough through the 2 loops so that you can draw the top of the case closed with a bow, or more so that the case can be worn around the neck.

Both of these items make great gifts, not only for moms but for any family member. Choosing the colours and fabrics carefully will make your gifts match the holiday of your choice, and help create a lasting link to that special time.

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