It’s been about a month since Christmas, and I have had time to properly recover, so I thought it might be a good time to talk about handmade gifts. Each year for the holidays, I like to try to make at least half of the gifts that I give. I really enjoy the process of making the gifts, but my hope is also that the handmade items feel more special to the receiver. And, I love that the gift I make is unique and one-of-a-kind.

When planning what to make each year, I try to focus on reusing and upcycling materials. Some of the materials I use might come from my stash, but I also like to source thrift stores and estate sales. I also try to make each gift customized in some way for the person I am making it for. An example might be that I include the year or initials somewhere on the gift.

Every season I get so excited, but also worry that I will not be able to come up with good ideas for the gifts. However, something always comes up that inspires me. With this in mind, I wanted to share a post with an overview of what I made this year, incase it helps others who are looking for handmade gift ideas for future holiday celebrations.

When making gifts, I try to plan ahead and start 2-3 months before the holiday to give myself enough time. I always think there will be plenty of time and then the time goes so fast! If you are planning to make gifts, keep this in mind to help take some of the holiday stress off.

In past years I have made:

• Felted wool slippers that I made out of 100% wool sweaters I found thrifting. I felted them in the washing machine and then cut and sewed them into slippers for everyone in our family.

• Pot holders and hot pads, which are fun and easy to customize to people’s decor.

• One season I made wallets, handbags and purses.

• Felt coasters are another gift that is fun to customize to people’s decor, hobbies or interests.

• I love to make pomanders for friends and coworkers every year.

• Cross-stitched pieces and ornaments are another item that is enjoyable to make and easy to customize.

• Same with embroidered ornaments.

• My mom crocheted afghans for everyone years ago and we are still using them.

• 2 seasons ago, I ice-dyed hoodies, sweaters and caridgans.

• Last year I made everyone a set of pajamas or pajama pants.

This year I made two handmade gifts for each person. One was a felt ornament and the other was a jean blanket. Each ornament I made was a different shape or different colors and I embroidered the back with the year and the person’s name or initials.

I cut out each piece of the designs and then stitched around them with a blanket stitch. Ribbon scraps that I already had were glued inside to create a hanger, and then I stitched them from the outside, for additional strength. Using a blanket stitch around each seam and the edges gave a nice finish. I also added pompoms to some of the details.

These ornaments were so much fun to make and love the retro feel they have. We always have fun checking the dates on ornaments when decorating the tree each year and remembering where they came from. My niece and nephews love to pick out which ones were made for them and to make sure they get to hang their ornaments on the tree. Making these ornaments was a very satisfying project and I would make them again in the future.

The main, large gift for this year were jean blankets. My goal with these blankets was to make them a size where they could be used while watching movies or taken along on road trips. I didn’t want them to be too big or too heavy to move around. More of a throw size blanket than a blanket for a bed. I also wanted to make each person’s blanket in a different pattern so they could easily be identified. My plan was to use a different color of fleece for the backing on each blanket. I had multiple colors of fleece, in the right amounts, already in my studio from previous projects. I pulled out the fleece yardages and gave the fabric a quick wash so that it would be ready. Our dog immediately thought the fleece was for him.

The first step with the blankets was to source the denim. It is said that something like 6 billion jeans are made each year, and that only 70% of those ever get worn. Denim waste during manufacturing is also a big problem in the industry, but it doesn’t have to be. Denim is one of most durable and multi-use fabrics available. It can be used and reused until it falls apart. Denim can be remade into so many different items, re-dyed, painted, patched, embroidered and more. Helping to keep denim out of landfills is important to me, and I knew that I would need a lot of it for these blankets.

I was hoping to find many different colors to create multiple patterns. Starting in October, I began to search thrift stores during my weekly thrifting trips. Even at the thrift store, in my area, jeans can be anywhere from a few dollars to $30 for a pair. Each blanket I made used 10 -15 pairs of jeans. That can add up quickly to an expensive gift! Since time was on my side, I purchased thrifted jeans only days when they were on half off. I also checked with friends to see if they had any jeans they wanted to donate and got a lot of denim that way.

After sourcing enough colors of denim, I started cutting the jeans apart. I cut along the seams and tried to get as large of pieces as possible. I saved the pockets, zippers and buttons for other project.

Then, using a self healing mat and rotary cutter, I cut the denim into squares or rectangles (depending on my pattern). I included a 1/2 inch seam allowance on all sides. When the shapes were cut, I arranged them into stacks by color to make it easier to see what I was working with.

Next, I laid out my pattern completely to make sure I was happy with it. Once I was happy with the layout, I stacked the pieces into rows, numbered them with sticky notes and then stacked them again. For the size of the blankets, I landed on 15 squares x 15 squares and each square was cut 5 inches x 5 inches. Subtracting the seam allowances, the finished squares would be 4 x 4, making the finished blanket 60 inches x 60 inches.

I started with the first row, sewing each side seam together until I had a long row of 15 squares.

I did the same with the second row and then pressed the seams open on both rows. Pressing the seams as you work helps to make sewing them together easier and the finished blanket to lay more flat.

I continued creating rows and adding them together. Early on in this project, I decided that I wanted to add a first initial to the front of each blanket, in the same fabric as the backing material. When I had three rows of the blanket completed, I cut out the letter and attached it to the front with double sided, fusible adhesive that is made for applique. I finished the letter with a blanket stitch around the edge, but you could also serge the edge or zig-zag stitch it with a machine. Adding the letter at this point in the project was helpful because it was easier to sew than if I had to handle the whole weight of the blanket.

With all of the rows attached, the front of the blanket was complete and it was time to attach the back. Creating the front was very easy, all straight stitches, but it is time consuming. For this first blanket, my design was to start with a light square in one corner and then they gradually get darker all the way to black.

To finish, the back and front needed to be joined. With wrong sides together, I carefully pinned all of the edges and the corner of each square to the backing fabric. I paid close attention not to stretch the fleece as I worked. After pinning, I stitched around the edge blanket with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, leaving a good sized opening on one edge for turning. Before turning though, I cut across each corner to reduce bulk and create a crisp corner.

After turning the blanket, I pressed it again and pinned the opening closed. To finish, I top-stitched around the entire edge of the blanket, with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, closing up the opening.

I am not a quilter, and I feel like these blankets are not really “quilts”, but they still needed a small amount of tacking. To accomplish this, I machine stitched an X on the center square and small lines on each corner of the blankets.

Below are a couple of the other designs that I made. In all, I made 6 blankets and wish I had made one for myself! They turned out so well and were a big hit. These blankets have a perfect weight that is comforting and they should wear well for years to come.

I hope this post gave you some good ideas or inspiration for handmade gifts! If you have some good handmade gift ideas to add, please leave them in the comments! Thanks for following along!