Sewing Blogger Secret Gift Swap

Recently, I participated in a secret gift swap with a group of sewing blogger friends. We've done this once or twice before, but this year, we decided to wait a few weeks after the holidays to exchange our gifts.

Here's how the secret gift swap works. Those who want to participate sign up and provide information on their favorite colors, fabric shops, or other useful information (like favorite chocolate). Then a designated organizer (that was me this time) uses a random method to assign each person someone from the list to make a gift for (the recipient).  Everyone gets a couple of months to decide what to make or buy and then ship it off to their recipient, but not before sharing a few little sneak peeks of the gift first! The recipient doesn't discover who sent the gift until it arrives.

We all love getting gifts in the mail, so it's a fun, fairly inexpensive way to brighten the day of a friend or even a stranger. My friends and I have gotten to know each other pretty well over the last few years, and the gifts we all exchanged with each other really showed that this time!


Since I was the organizer of the gift exchange this time, it wasn't a surprise to me who was making my gift. However, I was blown away by what she made me!

I received this absolutely beautiful black and white quilt from Elizabeth of Simple Simon & Co. She posted a sneak peek picture of it all folded up, but I hadn't thought much about what the design was until it arrived in the mail. I literally cried when I opened it and saw just how beautiful it is!

I love black and white together, and the design was completely coincidental with the clutch bag I made for my gift recipient (see below)! Plus, the quilting--random rectangles connected together--is stunning! Now my children and I fight over who gets to use my quilt each night we snuggle on the sofa!

I love the back of the quilt, too, and the quilting work shows up even better on the mostly black background.

Oh, and Elizabeth sent me this adorable sewing machine necklace, too! This entire gift ranks up on my list as one of the best ever that I have received! Thanks again, Elizabeth!

By the way, you can purchase one of these adorable sewing machine necklaces from the shop at Simple Simon & Co. HERE.

Now, on to the gift I made and sent to Delia of Delia Creates. Apparently, Elizabeth and I were on the same page with black crosses on white fabric! While I didn't make Delia a quilt, I did draft a pattern for this cute little clutch bag.

The awesome fabric I used is Geo Pop Canvas in Pepper by Robert Kaufman. I lined the clutch with a white denim and used silver piping along the side and bottom seams.

The black zipper was salvaged from an old leather briefcase (read my article on Upcycling Purse Hardware) and the silver metal zipper end was purchased from Emmaline Bags.

I also threw in a piece of African waxed cotton and a piece of gold leather for Delia to maybe use to make one of her own amazing creations. I kept some of that fabric and leather myself, so I hope to eventually sew maybe a wallet or small clutch with it, too.

photo via Delia Creates

All-in-all, the sewing blogger secret gift swap was a huge success! My friends really did an outstanding job in creating a unique gift or sending a very personalized care package to their recipients. A couple of things that were trending among our gifts were gold, zipper pouches/clutches, and chocolate!

I can't wait to participate in the next swap! This was a blast!

Have FUN sewing!