This year's sew.simply.creative Teacher Gifts

This year, time is an issue for me.  Additionally, I have more teachers to make gifts for this year as well.  Not a good combination for me, ha!  Thankfully, I have some Key Fobs (tutorial can be found HERE) in my stash that I can use for small gifts, so I paired them with an ornament that my son selected from JoAnn's (60% off right now!!).  Such a clever and creative little gift! Love it!

My other son's 1st grade teacher is really dear to me, so I wanted to do something a bit more thoughtful for her.  Last evening I whipped up a wristlet/zippered pouch for her.  Usually I pipe the edges and add an applique of some sort, but again, time is an issue for me.  I've been wanting to make a zippered pouch with some depth to it for awhile now, so I decided to try that out for her gift.  Pulling from my stash, I selected a fabulous Amy Butler Nigella home decor weight print and found a coordinating quilter's weight cotton for the lining.

This was really easy (if you know the basics of constructing a zippered pouch):  I used 8" x 8.5" rectangles for my fabric pieces and inserted a 7" zipper.  Using strips of 1.75" wide fabric for the wristlet straps, I folded them twice, top-stitched them and added a lobster clasp and O-ring.  Done! And super cute!  I'll be making more, I'm sure.  I mean, really, who can't use a zippered pouch??? They are the perfect gift any time of  year.

If you'd like more specific instructions for this pouch, please comment or email me, and I'll consider a tutorial for this!

So, lastly, what have YOU made for teacher gifts this year? If you still need some simply creative ideas, check out my tutorials over in the right sidebar.

Merry Christmas!