Christmas gift ideas for stitchers

Need a present for a stitchy pal? Or just want a few ideas to put on your own Christmas list? Then look no further as I've put together a small selection of my favourites to kick start your present buying. They mostly focus on sewing, with a couple of wild cards thrown in for good measure.

My first choice is rather unusual - two illustrations by artist Anneke Caramin. Anneke created several designs as part of her Masters degree project, but the two below are the ones that really captured my imagination. They tell the story of Josephine, a seamstress, and have a wonderful, old fashioned feel to them - l love the simple style. the muted colours and even the clothes Josephine wears!

The illustrations are reproduced onto postcards and I think they would look beautiful framed and hung in a sewing room, which is exactly what I'm going to do with the two I've just ordered. The rest of the designs in the collection can be found on this post and you can email Anneke here to order them.

On with the list… Well designed dressmaking tools often go down a treat and I'm always on the hunt for good scissors. These steel scissors from Italy definitely look the business AND they have red handles! The 20cm Soft Touch Shears are particularly appealing because they seem light to use - good if you've got rubbishy weak wrists like me!

I was introduced to this little Pattern Notcher tool on my Pattern Cutting Course and it went straight onto my Christmas list. No more fiddling about snipping or marking notches.

What could be more impressive than making your own leather bag??!! Not much, quite frankly, apart from maybe cobbling your own shoes! These special leather bag making kits are from Fabric Godmother and are perfect either as a gift for yourself or to make up and give to a friend. You don't need to be an accomplished seamstress to make one, or even own a machine, as the kit comes with the pieces ready cut out, full instructions and a special needle and thread. There are a few different sizes and colours of kit to choose from, but my personal favourite is the navy satchel with lipstick trim (soooo stylish!) 

Whilst we're on the subject of sewing kits, the Tie Making Kit from Sew Over It could come in useful for whipping up presents for the men in your life. I tried one out recently and it worked! You'll need to do a mixture of machine sewing and hand sewing to make the tie and the result is seriously impressive - look out for a blog post on it soon!

Or if you just want a satisfying fabric fix, nothing beats Liberty fabric in my opinion, especially Tana Lawn. How wonderful would a dress made from this Queue for the Zoo fabric look?!

And finally, nothing to do with sewing but I had to put it on this list because I love mine so much - a super-fancy umbrella from Love Umbrellas. I won my red one with black flowers in a very generous giveaway by Vicki Kate Makes (thank you again Vicki!) As well as looking divine, it's actually the best performing umbrella I've ever had. Janene from ooobop has the same one, so I'm using her photos to illustrate it as they're much better than the ones on the website! 

I hope you find something to inspire you amongst this little lot. If you have anything special on your own present list that I should know about, please do share in the comments! Happy shopping!