Around here, at Christmas, we make things. For one, it is the perfect time of year to hibernate inside with a fresh pot of coffee, Christmas carols on the radio, scissors, glue, glitter, fabric, and whatever else we come up with to turn into a creation to give to someone special.
And, in the current culture of saving money, saving resources, reusing, and recycling, the making of Christmas gifts seems to fit right in.
Gift making is also a way to try out new projects, patterns, and recipes. It is a way to involve my children in the process of giving, while teaching them new skills along the way.
This year, like every other year , I had a huge list of projects that would be the "perfect gifts." Yes, idealistically they would be perfect, but lest I forget one minor detail of what the making of all things takes, and that, of course, is time. And after realizing this, I pared down my list to a more reasonable number of handmade creations, the first of which were new stockings for some well-loved nieces and nephew!
They were made from this pattern, although I did tweak it a bit by not adding the fringe or the pine cone ornament. I thought it looked a bit more classic this way. The pattern was slightly more detailed than I originally thought, with each stocking involving 21 cuts of fabric. This is mainly because of the 3 layers - the knit on the outside, padding in the middle and a lining on the inside. Let's just say lots of cutting!
But what I love most about these stockings is that the knit fabric on the outside comes from old, wool sweaters of none other than Uncle Dan! How is that for recycling?
But somewhere in this flurry of making things; late nights, early mornings, whatever it took to get them done, I realized that there is another reason, probably the biggest, why I make things to give away.
It is my love language.
