Holiday Sewing 2025: #8

Today's entry has absolutely no sewing involved, but I sure did enjoy creating it!

These are the gifts I'm giving to the teens in the weekly teenage Bible class I teach and here's how I created them ...

It started with these Little Debbie Christmas tree shaped snack cakes ...

I folded a $5 bill for each into the shape of a Christmas tree ... origami style ... using the instructions in this video,  and attached one each to the back of the snack cake using painters tape.

I placed one snack cake in the center of these cute little food boxes making sure that the 'money side' was down and the snack cake side up ...

and packed individually wrapped peppermint balls around it filling the space in the box ...

I closed the lid on the box and tied a ribbon around it.  I can't wait to gift these to the teens, I wonder how long it will take them to find the money ... or will they think that I just gave them a snack cake and peppermint balls for a gift this year!!  

That's it for this entry of my holiday 2025 sewing, I hope you're enjoying my efforts.

mrs. patsi @ Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine

My other blogs:

A Working Pantry

From This Heart of Mine

Holiday Sewing 2025: #7

I finished stitching up the alphabet I've been working on for one of our grands ...

Most of the fabric used in this project came from my fabric scraps and or recycled clothing such as grandpa's shirts and or grandma's aprons.

Depending on how 'popular' the letter is meaning how often it's used in words, I made anywhere from 1 to 4 of each.

 I got the letter patterns HERE!  You have to join her email list to get the pdf, otherwise they are free.

I've also been working on stitching up 7 drawstring bags, I've completed 2 of them as of this writing.  The other 5 are near to completion as well.  I plan to finish them next week, Lord willing!

The black and white gingham fabric came from a recycled man's shirt and the one on the right was made from a thrifted vintage sheet.  As you can tell, I find fabric in many ways and places other than a fabric store.

Here's a peek at the inside of each bag ... "Hello Kitty" fabric for one and a floral pattern for the other!

That's it for this entry of my holiday 2025 sewing, I hope you're enjoying my efforts.

mrs. patsi @ Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine

My other blogs:

A Working Pantry

From This Heart of Mine

Holiday Sewing 2025: #6

 Remember this hanging towel project that my sister and I worked on together long distance via technology earlier this year?  We made a fall version, shown in the linked post, and a Christmas version, shown below.

I spent the afternoon packaging them for gift giving and I thought you might like to see how and what I did.

The first thing I did was turn the towel over with the back facing up and the front facing down.

Next, I took the bottom of the towel part and brought it up to meet the topper.

Then, I took the topper and folded it back up over the folded towel part.

I flipped the whole thing over with the towel side up.

I wanted to include something with the towel, so I chose some quality wooden spoons I purchased at a Mennonite store back during the summer.

I laid the wooded spoon in the center of the towel and wrapped the sides around it, taping them together.

I slipped the towel/spoon inside a plastic bag and tied it in the middle with a ribbon.  The bag didn't cover the entire project but left the bottom towel and spoon handle uncovered.  I think it turned out well and am well pleased with the end product.

I made a total of 4 for the purpose of having something to give when an unexpected opportunity presented itself.  In fact, on the very day that I finished these an opportunity did indeed present itself and now I have 3 left for gift giving purposes.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how I turned a cute towel into an even cuter gift!

That's it for this post, what are you stitching up and or creating?

mrs. patsi @ Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine

My other blogs:

A Working Pantry

From This Heart of Mine

Holiday Sewing 2025: #5

I continued working on the alphabet gift I'm working on this week, but don't have any more completed letters to show.

What I do have to share is this ...

For those who have been following for a while you will know that every year about this time, I take out my 'Grandma Claus' hat and pull together 'treat' bags for the small children of the church where we attend.  

Between now and Christmas, Grandma Claus and her elves will be busy surprising little children every week.

Grandma Claus loves this activity ... and I do too!

That's it for this entry of my holiday 2025 sewing and creating, I hope you are enjoying my efforts.

mrs. patsi @ Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine

My other blogs:

A Working Pantry

From This Heart of Mine

Holiday Sewing 2025: #4

 Shhhh! ... Don't tell anyone, but I 'sneaked' in some sewing time this morning! 

I continued working on an alphabet gift for one of our grands and completed the "housing" that the alphabet will call home ...

Letters "F" ... "Z" ... "N" ... and "M" moved from the unfinished to the finished pile this morning!  As I sew and work on this project, I pray and think about the recipient.  She is such a delight to her grandma and grandpa!  I ask God to bless her and one day when she is old enough to understand what a Christian is that she will choose to become one.

11 out of 26 letters completed thus far, almost to the halfway mark!   I got the letter patterns HERE!  You have to join her email list to get the pdf, otherwise they are free.

And of course, the letters will have to have a place to 'live' when not being played with ... our little grand loves chickens and so this fabric was the perfect choice.  (Psst!  It was already in my fabric stash!)

That's it for this entry of my holiday 2025 sewing, I hope you are enjoying my efforts.

mrs. patsi @ Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine

My other blogs:

A Working Pantry

From This Heart of Mine

Holiday Sewing 2025: #3

This week in my holiday sewing, I continued working on a gift for one of our grands and made a skirt for myself ...

Seven out of 26 letters completed thus far.  I need to pick up the pace in order to meet my self-imposed deadline to get these finished.  I got the letter patterns HERE!  

You have to join her email list to get the pdf, otherwise they are free.

I made this skirt to go with the sweatshirt I reworked in the last post.  I had the fabric for the skirt in my fabric stash and knew when I saw it what I would do with it.  (I am so happy to have built up my 'fabric pantry' over the years, with fewer options for places to purchase fabric now, I feel really blessed to have my own 'fabric pantry' to shop from.)

I really like the look of this outfit and know from creating other similar ones that it will be comfortable!  Comfort is very important to me and if I can make it fashionable, that's even better.  Yes, I'm an old woman who likes modest fashion!

That's it for this week, what are you creating for the holidays?

mrs. patsi @ Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine

My other blogs:

A Working Pantry

From This Heart of Mine

Holiday Sewing 2025: # 2

I started a Christmas skirt to go with the Christmas sweatshirt I reworked in the last post, but I want to finish it before I show it as I want to show it styled with the sweatshirt.  If all goes well, that should happen in the next Holiday Sewing 2025 Post.

For Holiday Sewing 2025 Post # 2, I have another unfinished project, but this is going to take several days to complete ...

I'm stitching up the alphabet for one of my grands!  She is really into books and is learning how to read really well.  I think she will enjoy creating words with letters lovingly stitched by grandma especially for her.  The goal is to stitch up 4 each of the vowels and 2 - 3 each of the consonants.  I'm using scraps, for this project which makes me very happy!  I got the letter patterns HERE!  You have to join her email list to get the pdf, otherwise they are free.

That's it for this week, what are you creating for the holidays?

mrs. patsi @ Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine

My other blogs:

A Working Pantry

From This Heart of Mine