Sewing For The Kitchen

I have one final handmade gift to share with you - it is a kitchen set. One side of the apron and the center of the pot holders came from a fabric panel (Potpourri by Grace Pullen licensed to South Sea Imports)...and with a little help from my friend Merry, I was able to pick a great coordinating fabric for the other side of the apron, the border and back of the pot holders, and the hanging tabs for the kitchen towels (Saltbox Harvest by Deb Strain for Moda). The fabric panel started the ideas flowing and when finished I had this fabulous kitchen gift set. I like a heavier apron, so I oped to make the apron reversible, with the printed panel on one side and the coordinating fabric on the other - I like that you can choose the side you want to wear on any particular day. I also added a border and hanging loops to the printed panel fabric for the pot holders - it made them a much better size at 10" square (plus I thought the added border gave them a more professional finished look). Finally, my mother-in-law has been wanting a good set of hanging kitchen towels for quite some time - she has mentioned it to me on multiple occasions...so I decided to make a matching set. I tried to find a close matching kitchen towel, cut it in half to make two finished towels, and made hang tabs...I opted for a button and buttonhole to make them easy to hang up and take down for laundering - I was very pleased with the results and now need to make some for my own kitchen.

This last gift is being delivered this afternoon - we are having dinner with my in-laws at a local restaurant to celebrate Christmas....it should be a nice relaxing evening. I really enjoyed making my Christmas gifts this year - I found joy in the creating and even more joy in the giving. I hope you are on the giving or receiving end of some handmade holiday gifts - they seem to make the season just a little more special....