Time has flown and we are almost halfway through November’s #GiveSewMuch theme month! If you are still looking for ideas, we’ve got you covered! Some of these projects lend themselves to giving to charity, and some would make perfect gifts to friends and family.
Helping Heart Pillow
We had a huge response on Instagram when we reshared this heart pillow post by Tina, who also wrote a beautiful post for us last week! It snuggles under the arm post-mastectomy, and brings comfort while sitting or riding in a car. What a great project to sew and donate to your local Cancer treatment centre!
Thank you to all the people who helped us try to find the official pattern. There seems to be many versions but no clear originator, so we have linked a few versions here, one from All Free Sewing and one with a Youtube video. One of our @Sewcialists community has also tried out a pattern and different stuffing methods and shares here insights here!
Sewing Medical Device Bags
Having a medical device permanently attached to your body can’t be easy, but sometimes a handmade fabric cover had make it more comfortable or at least more cheerful! Lesley shared her tutorial for “Wiggle Bags” to safeguard the permanent injection line. Similarly, Measure Twice Cut Once has a free PDF pattern for Picc Line cover on the arm. We are also sharing a tutorial for an ostomy bag cover, which I wish I’d known was something I could sew when my friend had an ostomy bag for a year!
Eye Masks
A friend gave me an eye mask during my recovery from a concussion, and it was a lifesaver. It helped with headaches, light sensitivity, and anxiety. What an amazing gift! There are plenty of free patterns for eye mask patterns, but my favourites are this elegantly designed one from OhhhLulu and her cat ear version! Helen’s Closet also has a great template and tutorial.
Free Zip Bags
My ultimate last minute gift! A zippered bag mags a great gift in itself, or you can fill it full of goodies, like:
- snacks
- must-have items for a new mother
- knitting notions, like snips, a crochet hook, stitch markers etc
- stationery, etc!
Blogless Anna just launched the Apertio Pouch (pictured above), and Sew DIY has a handy video tutorial and downloadable PDF pattern for three sizes of pouches. I also like the look of this wide mouth box bag from Emmaline bags.
Sustainable Sewing for the Kitchen
Finally, something my mom has been sewing for charity for the last few years: produce bags! She is part of a grassroots Canadian Grandmothers-to-Grandmothers campaign that raises money and awareness to support grandmothers across Africa who are raising younger generations orphaned by AIDS. My mom’s local chapter sews produce bags made from second hand materials and makes aprons from thrifted men’s shirts, which they sell at the local Farmer’s Market.
Here’s a YouTube tutorial for produce bags. If you’d like to go further into avoiding single use plastics in the kitchen, try these snack pouches or beeswax wraps from Closet Case Patterns!
Here’s an idea from the knitting world — but it would work SO perfectly with the free Workhorse Patterns x Sewcialists Beanie that launched yesterday! Whip up a bunch of hats, add a tag to each saying “I’m not lost!” and inviting whoever needs a bit of warmth to take the hat, and then leave them in strategic, conspicuous places for anyone who might need one. Mason-Dixon Knitting has a great article on this idea, and a download link at the bottom of their post for a freebie PDF version of the tag. (Bonus: You can churn out a big stack of sewn beanies out of scraps in the time that it would take to make even one handknitted beanie, however bulky the yarn!)
It’s been so much fun seeing your #GiveSewMuch projects pop up on Instagram so far! Don’t forget to follow the hashtag if you aren’t already, so you can cheer each other on!
Still looking for more inspiration? Charlotte from English Girl At Home recently did a wonderful round up of free patterns for gifts and Broad In the Seams has several giftable roundups!
GREAT post!
I love all of these options – particularly the “I’m not lost” campaign. How amazing is that?!? And I’ve wanted to make those beeswax wrappers for 2 years. My friend gave me a set that she bought and I have used them for many purposes. This is a terrific post. So creative, so unselfish. It’s a win-win.
My boss recently had a shoulder replacement – I made her the Post Surgery Camisole (pattern by Melly Sews: https://mellysews.com/post-surgery-camisole-mastectomy-surgery/). The pattern is actually intended for wearing after a mastectomy surgery, but worked wonderfully for shoulder surgery recovery because of the Velcro straps & front closure. I left off the pockets since she was not going to have drains to carry and lengthened the Velcro for the front closure. The pattern is technically free, but a donation to Crafting Comfort is encouraged. I just wanted to add this to the list of wonderfully giftable patterns!
This is a wonderful idea. I wish I had known about that pattern for my mastectomy. Thank you for sharing
Great ideas – I want to make some beeswax wraps in particular – and thanks for the mention x
Thank you so much for the mention. It is absolutely wonderful that so many people are sewing to bring joy into the lives of people who really needs it. @gills_makes has sewn a mastectomy heart pillow for a friend and posted about it on Instagram. She even mentions where it is possible to find a free pattern for the pillow. You can find the pattern at@stitchedtogetherstudios website
http://www.stitchedtogetherstudios.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Love-Pillow-Pattern.pdf
These are all such great ideas! My 23 year old daughter had back surgery that has left one of her legs (hopefully temporarily) paralyzed and she has to use a walker to get around. I made her a walker caddy to help carry items around, since she needs both hands to use the walker. I used the free tutorial from Melly Sews. https://mellysews.com/walker-caddy-tutorial/ The nurse at her surgeon’s office acted like she’d never seen anything like it before and made a big deal about how so many people would want one. So, apparently that would also be a good thing to gift.