For as long as I have been selling my doll clothes, I have been trying to thank my top 3 buyers with something special at the end of the year. I send it in the mail and since they have no idea who else bought from me, they don’t really know where they stand and it’s fun to try and surprise them. I’ve made brownies in a jar, angel ornaments, a patchwork wall hanging using the fabrics from the doll dresses they bought from me, I’ve made a drawstring pouch using the dress fabrics from those they bought, and a few other things. This year I did the same thing and blessed 3 ladies with a trivet/hot pad made from the fabrics of the dresses they bought from me this past year. The trivet has fleece in between the layers of fabrics and works well for something not too terribly hot on the table. Or they could be used as a wall hanging I suppose. The fabrics are just cut into strips with at least one straight side, then randomly sewn on, starting in the middle and working your way out. All 3 buyers have received their gifts, so I thought I’d share them with you… I’ll show you what I mean…
[If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge.]
This was my 3rd place buyer’s trivet…
Here is what the 2nd place buyer received…
…and my 1st place buyer received this one…
Now when you’re my first place buyer, it’s pretty special, so I made her a fabric bowl, using her doll dress fabric scraps and using a technique I found on Pinterest…It’s done by twisting 2 fabrics in 1″ wide strips together and then lapping them one over the other…making your fabric twine. The raw edges of the fabric strips leave these little “hairs” but they look neat, I think.
Here’s the start of one I tried out to show you what I mean…
There is a tutorial on Pinterest on how to make this Fabric Twine… and I’ve added the link HERE if you’d like to check it out…It’s pretty fun and pretty addicting.
When you get yards and yards and yards of twine made you start stitching them with a zig zag stitch on your machine. That’s actually the fun part… seeing the colors come alive next to each other. If you run out of “twine”, you just add more fabric strips and keep twisting. If you keep them flat you can make a thick trivet to put hot things on, or make them small and use them for coasters… I thought they were fun and had to give this a try… I’ve done something similar but you wrap your fabrics around cotton clothesline cording and do the same sort of thing.
Each person also got some of my Candied Pecans, some Chewy Brownie Cookies and a nice portion of my Chocolate Mint Cookie Bark. :o)
Then the gifts were all tucked into a box, a nice note written and away they went…
I wish you all could have been winners, but please know how much I enjoy each and every one of you who is a part of my little blog world…
See you tomorrow, Stay WARM…
Blessings, Jeanne
What a thoughtful gift. It’s very personal too. Thanks for sharing.
HI Marilyn,
I had so much fun making the bowl…I am definitely making more of them… and believe me I have the scraps!!!
Thanks and many blessings to you on this cold, cold Sunday,
~ Jeanne
How very thoughtful of you to do this! All those special touches make for a very special gift to the receiver! I’m not sure when you find time to do all this, but no wonder you are always so busy!
I still have lots of fabric left from when I used to make my daughter’s clothes and wonder if I have enough to make a bowl. That would be such a nice gift for her, and I would be using them, not having them stored in a box. Thanks for showing us these great ideas!
Hi Linda,
You can always make a bowl or a hot pad using the clothesline cording. Maybe I’ll show that too. It is a little easier to do because you have to just wind the fabric around the cord and then spiral it around in the circle…
You also just do her some hot pads with the scraps. I’ve been doing these for years…
Have a great Sunday, Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, your talents never cease to amaze me. The trivets and the bowl are really neat and beautiful. You are such a thoughtful person, and I agree with Linda, no wonder you are always so busy – creating and I would also say, you are always doing for others.
The book on style yesterday was interesting, however I am glad I didn’t live in those days with the tight waists and severe hair styles. Not wanting to live back then is certainly more than because of style in clothes and hair, especially for women. (medical, hygiene and transportation among a few) . I’ll settle for watching movies of that era on TV. I love the movie “Little Women” with June Alison. That movie and the newer “Little Women” with Claire Danes too, has the most gorgeous of clothes.
Have a blessed day, Jeanne!
HI Paula,
Thanks so much for your kind comments…
I have always said I’d like to have lived in the era of the big hoop dresses, but I don’t really think I would have enjoyed it…it’s much more fun to create them in my jammies or my jeans
than it would have been to wear them, but they certainly were my favorites…
I love to watch movies with fancy clothes in them… although I can be a bit of a bother when we are watching a movie at home…when I ask my hubby to stop the movie so I can sketch something down… seriously, I’ve been known to do that… oops!
Thanks Paula,
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, a very kind gesture to your top buyers!
– hunkerd down in north TX.
Thank you Jeannie,
I hope they all liked them… I had fun putting them together…
I just checked our temperature here in Southern Illinois and it’s 22, but with the wind chill factored in, it feels like 11 degrees… How about sewing today???? that’s a nice-stay-inside activity for me….
Blessings, Jeanne
I lovethe bowl! A memory bowl i thnk. lucky first place buyer.
HI Jan,
Oh, I like calling them that… a Memory Bowl!
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
There is nothing like a Thank You …and a surprise “Thank You” is even better! You are a very thoughtful seller. I immediately wanted to make those Hot Pads ( mine so are worn out…and who has a closet full of fabric? )…so from what I can tell there are 2 pieces you sew on together to start…then press them open and add pieces on each side as you go? What size are yours? ..I suppose they could be any size ?
I MUST take the tree down…then I can play 🙂
We are warm…Santa brought us a new furnace…but darn his buttons…he left the bill too!
HI Kathie,
Thanks for your thoughts…
Yes, the hot pads are made with 2 pieces of scraps right sides together in the middle. Then you stitch down one side keeping your seam straight. Open that up and press them flat. Next you take a strip and line up the straight edge of it somewhere so it covers the first two pieces… then press it open…then you keep going around the block, until you get it the size you want it. The pieces don’t have to be perfectly straight around the block like a log cabin quilt block. I put some of mine at an angle sometimes. If you use a heavier fleece or even warm and natural, or the silver pot holder fabric, you can make them for really hot things to be sat on them. When you get it as big as you’d like, square it up with a rotary cutter, then add your lining right sides down on top of it, flip it over and stitch along the edges of the cut block. It’s easier to work with the edges sticking out a little bit than it is to fit 2 blocks perfectly cut pinned together. Stitch around the edges leaving a 2-3″ opening. Clip the corners at an angle to reduce the bulk and turn the block. Stitch up the opening. Kathie, I hope this helps.
Blessings, Jeanne
You are such a thoughtful and creative person. Lucky winners twice over. Your energy level scares me!
Yesterday’s post inspired me to get the picture of ancestors out of the closets and drawers, realizing how lucky I am to have them. The oldest ones are of great-many-times-over grandmothers on my mother’s side who were born about 1820. I’ll look up the actual dates. The first pictures were taken in the early 1860s, I believe. They look pretty dour like the ones shown in the book. I think one of your followers was right about it being because of having to hold still for Daguerreotypes. I’ll send pictures so you can see the details of the costumes, especially the necklines, which are exactly as described in the book.
Thank you Susette,
It’s so neat that you have actual photographs of your ancestors just hanging out in your closets. I would love to see those necklines on the dresses. That is my favorite part to figure out…
Blessings, Jeanne