Lots of little things
Hello! Its been over three months since I last posted, but I’ve been so busy! Summer of 2025 has been jam-packed, but I’ve still managed to get some sewing done. In July I made nearly 160 gifts to give out at a convention in August. It sounded like it would be boring making the same things over and over, but I actually enjoyed the rhythm I found. It was easy to fall into lovely mindless sewing.
I made bookmarks, keychains and zipper pouches - and one special whale. Since the convention had international delegates, I wanted some of the gifts to have a California theme. Thankfully, my local quilt shop carries copious amounts of western themed fabrics. I tried to buy a half-yard each of the red and brown bandana-patterned fabric but ended up getting a yard of each when the cutting table girl forgot how much I said to cut! Score! But I have no idea what else I will use this fabric for.
For the keychains, I added a layer of foam and it really elevated the look and feel. They are really simple simple to make - if you’d like to make your own here’s the pattern:
1. Cut a 3” x 11” piece of main fabric and a 1” x 10” piece of foam interfacing (I used Pellon fusible).
2. Fold the main fabric strip in half RST(right-sides-together) along the long side and sew with a 1/4” seam on the open side. (This would be the time to insert a label or tag if you wish to do so).
3. To turn the fabric inside-out, put a safety pin through the end of the foam strip and the end of the fabric tube. Fish the safety pin through the tube and pull over the foam. Press.
4. Sew 1/8” away from each long side. Optional: add additional lines for detail.
6. Slide keychain hook over the strap. Sew the short end of the strap together with a ¼ seam allowance.
7. Turn strap right side out, put the keychain hook right over the short seam line, and sew a line as close as possible to the keychain ring. That’s it!
The bookmarks were as simple as sewing two rectangles RST and then turning inside-out and topstitching. I played around with different types of zipper pouches but ended up making the most of the 5x7 patchwork style ones. Some of them I lined, others I fused to SF101 interfacing before piecing and then just left the interfacing as the lining. My favorite zipper pouch, though, was the mini strawberry one. You can’t see it but the inside is a red and white gingham, its adorable!
And the lone whale. I thought the whale pouch was so cute, but after making this one took me three hours and lots of unpicking, I decided against making another 20 or 30. Even though I love time consuming long term projects (hello! I’m a quilter!) spending 90 hours making miniature whales is not my idea of a good time. But if you’re into that, hey, I’ll give you the free pattern I used.
This little octopus was a rejected prototype - so I got to keep him! Its a super fast crochet project and would make a great fast gift. I used the “Squishy Baby Octopus Pattern” by Jade Gauthier-Boutin on Ravelry.
Project Overview: Convention Gifts
Time: A lot
Cost: Not sure. Bought a few yards of fabric, keychain ring, SF101 and 300 custom labels.
Total: 158 gifts
Finished: 7/27/25
