Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Simple and free gift wrapping idea...

 



Have you noticed that things are becoming more expensive?
Do you think twice about your purchases these days?

About a decade ago I shared a simple tutorial for repurposing toilet roll inserts as wrappers for fat quarters, and recently it occurred to me that I could take that idea a little bit further by offering you a free gift idea.

Most of us who sew or quilt have a stash of fabric we've collected over the years, and if you're like me, some of those fabrics aren't our style anymore - or, we simply have more orphan fat quarters than we will use. So perhaps it's time to pass some along?

Now, you could do this by simply choosing a few pieces and gifting them to friends; or if you're part of a quilting group you might prefer to do a fabric swap. 

Rather than purchasing wrapping paper for your gift, consider this idea of mine. It's pretty, uses up smaller scraps of fabric, lace and ribbon, holds two fat quarters nicely, and it makes use of empty toilet roll inserts - turning something ugly into a thing of beauty.


A good idea is to choose a plain or low volume print for the insert cover if you intend filling the wrapper with patterned prints, and vice versa.

I made my first wrapper with a scrap piece of cream cotton/linen blend fabric, the same fabric I use for my embroideries. 

Cut through the toilet roll insert and open it out so you can measure the height and width.
Double the height and add 3/4".
Add 3/4" to the width.



My insert measured 5" high x 4" wide, so I cut my fabric 10.75" x 4.75"

Fold the fabric in half as shown below, and a little less than mid way up the top section, sew a piece of lace.



Cut two pieces of ribbon 10" long.
Sew them to each end of the lace edge.





Fold the ribbon ends into the centre before folding the fabric in half and pinning the sides.



Sew down both sides with a 1/4" seam.


Turn the fabric pocket right side out and press.


Place the toilet roll insert inside...


Fold over the edge to create a hem.


Ladder stitch or blind stitch the opening closed. 

Now you're ready to fold your two fat quarters into a roll and place inside the pretty wrapper.


Tie the ribbon into a bow and you have a very lovely gift for giving! 

My second wrapper was made using a print fabric, and the fat quarters were tonals.


Notice how both the wrapper fabric and the fat quarters blend together? Think of that when you're making these.

Another thing to consider when gifting fat quarters from your stash is whether the fabrics you have chosen are of a colour and style your recipient uses - after all, we don't want to give someone fabrics they won't like.

If you'd like to keep this tutorial handy, just use the link below to download it to print or save to your computer.

DOWNLOAD Gift Wrapper Tutorial

Hope you enjoy making a few of these - and if you have other ideas for what can be gifted inside these pretty wrappers leave them in the comments below. 

Have a wonderful day. I am off to visit Blossom and the children on this very wet and muddy day here in the tropics, so you know my day is already promising good things...

hugs


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Jenny for the free pattern, Very cute and a great idea.
Have a fun day with Blossom and the girls.

Sue WA

Lorrie said...

This is a lovely idea, Jennifer. I've saved the tutorial. I was thinking of making cloth napkins as gifts and I think 4 would fit nicely into one of these gift tubes.
Thank you for sharing your creativity! Hope your day went well.

Joanne said...

Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for a creative way to use those rolls tutorial :)
Enjoy your day !
hugs,
Joanne

Lin said...

Great idea Jennifer. xx

Donna P. said...

This is a wonderful idea. My grand daughters are getting into crafty and sewing and this would be perfect. In fact, this year, I wrapped everyone's Christmas gifts in fabric because the girls wanted some for crafting and sewing. A double win!
Thank you for such wonderful ideas.
Blessings,

Ingrid said...

Qué hermoso!!! Y tan sencillo. Por la pandemia tengo mucho tiempo que no me reúno con mis amigas costureras y quiero llevarles un obsequio antes de navidad. Esta idea tuya me encantó! Me será de mucha utilidad. Gracias por compartir.

Julie said...

Thank You for this wonderful idea Jennifer. How special that would be to receive! Gosh I had never thought of this & I always seem to throw so many toilet rolls in the recycling bin. This would also be lovely wrapped around a nice teatowel if the recipient wasn't a sewist - or even around a vintage napkin. xx

Pilarín said...

Muchas gracias por el tutorial. Disfruta de la familia.
Besos desde España,
Pilarín

Ondrea said...

Brilliant idea! So pretty too. Thankyou. X