Fabric gift wrap

I had an overdue baby shower gift for my cousin and his wife that I needed to wrap before mailing. I was just about to dig out some wrapping paper and ribbons when I thought, "I must have fabric in my stash I can use."

I think these bits of the Cogsmo panel and circuitry print were just what I needed. I fussy cut two images from the panel, sewed a narrow channel across the top of each, sewed them together on three sides to make a simple bag, and then pulled (or rather, pushed with a bamboo skewer) a piece of wool yarn through each channel and tied them together to form a drawstring. Into the bag went a book. The shirt I just rolled up in a piece of the circuitry print and tied on either end with yarn so it looks like a big piece of candy. I hope they like the gifts, and I hope they can re-use the wrapping!

Placemats will save us all

I have decided that, in order for my children not to give the impression to the world at large that they were raised by wolves, I need to make placemats. I didn't realize until very recently the civilizing force of a simple set of placemats, but now that I don't have any, I miss them tremendously.

Actually, I think we do have some "special occasion" placemats tucked away in the linen closet, probably under the table cloth we use once a year at the holidays. Oh that's right -- we have that set my mother-in-law gave my husband before I met him, most likely in the hopes that he would use them and thereby show the world that he was not in fact raised by wolves despite his bachelor (read: light on the housekeeping) ways.

When I was growing up, every night my brother and I would have to set the table for dinner, which included putting out placemats, napkins (paper), and silverware. It was hardly Downton Abbey-esque in terms of formality, but there were rules and expectations for how we behaved at the dinner table. The hubby and I have been exceedingly casual about mealtimes up until now, doing a lot of eating in front of the TV, or on the go, or whenever the mood strikes. But Little H (our toddler) has been old enough to eat at the table with us for a while, and it's time to indoctrinate train teach her how to eat at the dinner table.

When the three of us sat down to eat last night (Littler J the baby was taking a late nap) it wasn't just the odds and ends that had been pushed to one end of the table to make room that made it feel like it wasn't quite the family table I want. It just seemed so unfinished and bare without the unifying effect of placemats.

Am I making too big a deal out of this? Perhaps. Maybe I just want an excuse to sew something relatively quick and easy. I do know that deciding to pare down my stash by trying to sell precuts has been one of the best motivators to get me to want to sew from my stash and not just look at it from afar. Getting in there, pulling out fabric, trying to figure out what goes with what and how it could be used has made me think, "Well, if this doesn't sell, I'll just make [fill in the blank] out of it."

Doesn't matter the reason. I've decided I want placemats, so placemats I shall have!