those inevitable times when you are painstakingly trying to come up with an idea, only to find yourself continuously hitting a brick wall; but such times are counteracted when you find inspiration for a great idea that makes you so excited that you could jump up and dance. I have been lucky enough to share these delights and hardships during this project with the book’s author, Cherie Lee.
After Cherie finished her 2010 work on handmade indoor shoes, she wanted to strike again while the iron was hot, so she immediately set out to start on a new handmade project. Cherie and I began brainstorming until, after hours of throwing ideas back and forth, we came up with the idea of handmade gifts using fabric remnants.
The nineteen projects in this book appeal to a variety of different interests and needs. The author’s key motive for this book is to reach out to a more diverse audience with the best yet of her cloth-work books. In creating this varied set of gifts, the most important issue that was resolved is one of the most common problems constantly presenting itself to handmade products: what do you do with your leftover scraps of material? Those last fragments of cloth left over after you have finished your other projects are perfect for the bags and accessories
in this book.
I hope that you will find that each of these projects can
help to serve as sincere and meaningful gifts for yourself
or for those you love.
Table of Contents
DRAWSTRING BAG
MULTI-PURPOSE POUCH
PENCIL CASE
TOILETRIES BAG
ROOMY TOTE BAG
BOOK COVER
CELL PHONE SLEEVE
MINI BINDER
PASSPORT CASE
NOTEBOOK COVER
CARD CASE
KEEPSAKE FOLIO
SLIPPERS AND SLIPPER BAG
WATER BOTTLE SLEEVE
TOWEL CLIP
BUCKET HAT
BABY’S BIB
DRAWSTRING BAG
PENCIL CASE
CELL PHONE SLEEVE
PASSPORT CASE
NOTEBOOK COVER
CARD CASE
KEEPSAKE FOLIO
BABY’S BIB
Introduction
One afternoon, my editor and I began discussing our thoughts for a new book, and as we chatted and bounced ideas back and forth, we finally came up with a plan.
This book of gifts has many purposes. I find that it is often difficult to express your emotions to the people closest to you; however, a gift can help deliver your most earnest wishes directly into the hands of those you love. This is truly the origin of the gift of giving, which is one of the underlying themes of this book.
We often tend to take care of others while neglecting our own wants and needs. However, loving oneself is also very important, and it is only by being good and truthful to ourselves that we may truly be loved by the people around us. I challenge you to first give the gift of happiness to yourself in order to allow your own heart to fill with contentment and joy. That means don’t be afraid to make a bag or accessory for yourself!
I am constantly reminded of how fortunate I am. To be able to come up with creative ideas and spend time working on these handmade bags with friends is a blessing. To have the opportunity
