Nothing is as special as a homemade gift! Sweet smelling lavender bags, perfect for scenting underwear drawers and suitcases, make thoughtful and indulgent gifts. Help your child make her own lavender bags using easy-to-find, basic materials like fabric scraps,inexpensive handkerchiefs or fabric cocktail napkins, ribbons, and dried lavender flowers. This fun and easy activity requires basic sewing, making it a great learning project for an inexperienced sewer!
What You Need:
- 3 teaspoons dried lavender flowers
- 7" x 2 1/2" piece of printed fabric
- Lavender Bag Sewing Guide
- Thread
- Needle
- Pretty ribbon (a color that contrasts with the bag material works particularly well)
- Cotton wool ball
- Drop of lavender oil
What You Do:
- Have your child to sew a seam along one of the long ends of the fabric (see Figure A). If you are using a handkerchief or napkin, use one of the ready-seamed edges instead of sewing a new seam.
- Ask your child to fold the fabric in half (see Figure A) and iron the fold.
- Ask your child to sew two sides of the fabric to make a bag (see Figure B).
- Have your child to put a drop of lavender oil on the cotton ball and put the dried lavender into the bag.
- Ask your child to put the cotton ball into the bag.
- Have your child tie the bag securely with sewing thread halfway up, and make sure she knots the end tightly.
- Over the sewing thread, your child tie on a pretty ribbon and finish it with a bow.
- Have her trim the ends of the ribbon to make it look tidy.
- Now for the fragrance! Invite your child to gently squeeze the bottom of the lavender bag to release the fragrance.
- The lavender bag is ready to give!
To make a rose-scented bag, use dried rose petals and 1 drop of rose oil on the cotton ball in place of the lavender.
You can also vary the size and shape of the lavender bag if you like. Just follow the basic pattern guide and change the shape. If you own a pair of pinking shears your can cut the top edge with the shears instead of sewing a seam.
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