Holiday Gifts to Sew – Pretty and Practical

Handmade presents stand out from the rest, and if you sew, there are plenty of holiday gifts to sew that will make your recipients feel special.

Sewing holiday gifts is an affordable and meaningful way to give something from the heart. When you choose simple but useful sewing projects, you can finish your gift list in no time and enjoy some relaxing hours in the sewing room this fall.

I’ve collected a few of my easiest sewing projects, along with ideas from other sewists, to help you get inspired. Pick one or several of these holiday gifts to sew and enjoy the satisfaction of giving something made with your own hands.

Holiday Gifts You Can Sew

The two criteria for the ideas in this handmade holiday gift list is that they are easy to sew and useful. YOU can make them pretty, depending on the fabrics you choose! All of them are, in my opinion, fun to make.

DIY Grocery Bag Holder

Nearly everyone needs one of these! This sewn fabric grocery bag holder is for the ubiquitous “bag of bags” that marks arrival into adulthood. Any time you go to the store, you’re bound to come home with a plastic bag or two. Even those of us who are vigilant about bringing along reusable bags are likely to have bread bags and other clean plastic carriers to reuse.

The beauty of this sewn gift idea is how they are so quick to whip up, and you can make them in fun holiday fabrics or get more personal and use fabric that complements your recipient’s decor.

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Sew a Pocket Tissue Holder

Another really fast-sew gift idea are these cute fabric pocket tissue holders. They take barely scraps of fabric and every one of the five designs I included in the above tutorial is quick and easy. (The first design is the quickest and easiest, in my opinion, which makes it perfect for holiday gift-giving.)

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Reversible Mixing Bowl Cover

Do you have friends who like to bake? (Or a friend with a stand mixer occupying a corner of the countertop?) One of the most functional — but pretty! — DIY gifts you can make for them is a reversible fabric cover for the mixing bowl. This cover prevents dust and crumbs from falling into the bowl when it isn’t in use, making it much easier to pull out and stir up ingredients at a moment’s notice.

I 1000% love my mixing bowl covers. You can make them large like these or scale it down for smaller fabric bowl covers. Not much material is needed: just start with a couple of fat quarters and some 1/4″ elastic.

And here they are in the smaller version:

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Quick and Easy Fabric Coasters

An alternative to bowl cozies, pot holders, or placemats are these adorable (and very quick and easy) fabric coasters. I made these patriotic fabric coasters for the 4th of July, and you can see how simple they are. You could sew a coaster with holiday print on top and a coordinating fabric on the bottom, then quilt around the printed shapes (think: trees, presents, gingerbread people, etc.) to hold the batting in place. Any batting will do, or some scrap felt or fleece fabric. If your backing fabric is substantially absorbent, like fleece, flannel, terry cloth, or corduroy, you don’t need batting at all.

I love, love, love these fabric coasters. They’re a quick and easy sewing project, they add a seasonal flair to my decor, and they just make really good coasters.

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Classic Tote Bag

This is the first tote I ever made, following Purl Soho’s Easy, Easier, Easiest Tote Bag pattern and Jess from Oklaroots’ tutorial. My tote turned out great and that early success essentially got me hooked on sewing in nearly every scrap of my spare time. (You’ve been warned – this tote bag is a gateway project and you’ll be scouting fabric stores in your area.)

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Easy Envelope Pillow Cover

Although throw pillows don’t come in standard sizes, if you can sneak a measuring tape into a friend’s living room, you could make a gift of these DIY 10-minute Envelope Pillow Covers from the Crafting Nook. Do them up in seasonal fabrics and she can enjoy your handiwork all year!

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Bowl Cozy

I didn’t realize how useful a bowl cozy could be until I was gifted one by my Aunt Janet. Now, when my husband and I have soup for supper, we take turns using it. (The other one uses a potholder, which is effective but not form-fitting.) Obviously, I need to sew some of these, but I haven’t yet found the time. Here is a free soup bowl cozy pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting that looks like it will make sewing a bowl cozy easy and doable.

I hope these ideas inspire you to sew up some handmade holiday gifts this year. The idea is to have fun, make some simple but useful gifts your recipients will love, and enjoy a meaningful holiday season by giving gifts from the heart.