What little gifts to sew for an original Secret Santa?
Over the past few years, the American tradition of the Secret Santa has found its way to France, where it can be enjoyed in the office or at Christmas parties with friends.
The idea is simple: we place all the names of the people who want to take part in a hat or salad bowl. Then each person draws a name: that’s the person they’ll be giving a gift to.
Until the last minute, no one knows who’s giving what to whom, which makes for some nice surprises on the big day. This tradition is sometimes carried out a little before Christmas.
Here are a few ideas for small, handmade gifts to help you stand out from the crowd!
A cutlery bag
If you’re exchanging gifts with your office colleagues, why not make a cutlery pouch that the lucky recipient can wear every day at lunch?
This is a quick little project to sew, following our home-made tutorial, and for which you can use fabric scraps.
We advise you to choose a thin cotton for the lining and a thicker fabric for the outside. Jute, upholstery fabric, coated cotton… You can easily personalize it by choosing the person’s favorite color, a print reminiscent of one of their passions, or by adding a little embroidery.
Baskets to tidy up your desk
For a colleague who tends to leave a lot of things lying around on his desk, you can make one or more small baskets. Follow the Miss Cactus pattern, for example.
To prevent sagging, choose a fairly stiff fabric(an upholstery fabric, for example) or interweave a cotton fabric with fusible webbing.
A small purse
Whether you’re doing Secret Santa with colleagues, friends or family, a small pouch is a gift for everyone. You can store your change, cards, office supplies… And it’s an easy project to sew, requiring only the ability to fit a zipper neatly.
Here again, it’s easy to personalize by choosing a print or color that the person receiving the gift likes, adding an iron-on or sew-on patch, or embroidering their first name or a phrase they like… The possibilities are endless!
You can take inspiration from the Loumajinne Créations pattern, which includes some pretty clean finishes.
A book cover
If you draw lots for someone who loves literature and always has a novel in hand, why not sew them a pretty book cover? It’s a very practical accessory that prevents damage to the book. But also to keep it open on a certain page. For example, if you knit, you’ll be able to carry out both activities at the same time.
For this project, you can follow Miss Cactus’s pattern. And adapt the fabric to the person’s taste: faux leather, printed cotton, natural linen…
Small wipes
Sponge wipes are a perfect little Christmas gift, because they’re all-purpose and can be used by everyone. For washing babies, removing make-up, washing the face in the morning or evening…
And by making them a little larger, they can also be used in the kitchen to replace disposable paper towels.
To sew them, all you need are small squares of cotton, such as scraps from previous projects. And terry cloth, which you can cut from towels.
All that’s left to do is follow Miss Cactus’ pattern, which explains how to assemble them and suggests you sew a matching basket.
Colorful scrunchies
If you need to give gifts to a colleague or friend with long hair, you can sew her a few scrunchies. It’s a very easy project, accessible to beginners. You can use your own fabric scraps or simply buy small coupons in matching colors.
You can follow CoutureEnfant’s easy video tutorial. Then simply tie the scrunchies together with a pretty ribbon or gold thread. And you’re done!
Have you ever taken part in this tradition?
