Fabric Gift Boxes for your Sewing Friends
We all love the idea of gifting our sewing friends something for their hobby, but fabric is such a personal choice that we thought it would be great to make a fabric gift box filled with some sewing gifts, which will make them smile. Or just make a fabric gift box for your non-sewing friends too, which they can use to store jewellery, scarves or hair accessories. It’s a lovely sustainable and personalised solution to gifting and you can have fun choosing the fabric for each friend or family member.
A fabric gift box is cost-effective as it only needs small quantities of fabric which you might already have in your fabric stash; you can use recycled cardboard in the construction, and you can embellish it with those personal touches that the recipient will appreciate.
But with our vast range of cotton prints, if you suddenly find you don’t have ther perfect print for your friend or family member, we almost guarantee we will have a print to suit everyone. Whether it be a novelty print, a plain to allow for extra embellishment or a ditsy floral print.
We have picked out 3 easy fabric gift box patterns and tutorials and even have some of our own suggestions for DIY fabric gift boxes.
Materials and Tools for a Fabric Gift Box
Sew Can She Free Fabric Gift Box Pattern
Obviously, you will want to choose the fabric for the gift box first. For Sew Can She’s free fabric gift box pattern (it’s free), you will need 30.5 cm of fabric for the box exterior, the same for the interior lining and a 36cm square piece of fabric to make bias binding for the edges and seams. Sew Can She recommends using a non-directional fabric.
If you want to make the larger fabric storage bin with a see-through front, you will need a metre of fabric for the exterior and interior fabric and 30.5cm fabric for the binding and handles as well as a 17cm x 30.5cm rectangle of 12 or 14 gauge vinyl.
You will also need foam stabiliser, a plastic snap and snap setter, sewing clips, a fabric marker pen and a sewing stiletto in addition to your usual scissors, cutting mat, rotary cutter, ruler and sewing machine!
Fabric Box Construction
Threads Magazine Fabric Keepsake Box
We love the simple and clear instructions for Thread Magazine’s Fabric Keepsake box with a free downloadable pdf pattern which you could size up to make a larger sewing box. There is also the option of inserting a divider.
- You start by cutting the exterior and interior fabrics according to the pattern, aligning the pieces and sew around the edges with the right sides together leaving the left and right sides open to insert the cardboard at a later stage.
- Then turn the fabric right-side out and press the entire piece flat.
- Next, make the cardboard inserts through the open ends, then secure the ends.
- Fold up the base sides and hand -stitch the corners, then repeat with the top sections.
- Hand stitch the back piece upright in the same way as the base sides and lid.
Although the instructions are simple, it is super important to measure and cut accurately, as well as leaving the correct seam allowances. Neither of the two projects has a zip so don’t worry if this is a challenge.
Embellish your Fabric Gift Box
Cyberseams Fabric Gift Box Pattern
You could think about customising the gift box with appliqué or patchwork letters with the initials of the recipient.
Cyberseams has great ideas on how to embellish your fabric gift box with ribbon, sewing beads and motifs.
Sewing Box Content Ideas
This is the fun part! You can choose gifts that match the recipient’s sewing skill level or add some of your own handcrafted items like pin cushions or scissor cases. Other useful sewing basics to include:
- Elastic
- Some fabric they have had their eye on for ages - possibly something you know will suit them down to a t.
- Interfacing fabric - it’s always handy
- Maybe a real treat - a piece of Liberty Fabrics Tana Lawn™, even half a metre is always a real joy and perfect for lavender bags or just looking at in their stash.
- Lining fabric
- Ballpoint needles - perfect if they are thinking about starting to sew with jersey but aren’t very confident.
- Maybe a pattern they have have been lusting after for ages or if you need inspiration, check out The Foldline.
- Webbing
- Ric-Rac Trim
If you know the kind of thing they like to sew, be brave and choose a pattern and fabric length instead.
They might also appreciate one of your old patterns and something from your fabric stash for brownie points on repurposing your own sewing inventory!
Ready to Make Your Sewing Gift Box?
We hope you like checking out our 3 sewing gift box tutorials provided by Sew Can She, Thread Magazine and Cyberseams. These gift boxes make eco-friendly gifts, and the best part is you can be as creative as you like with both the box and its contents. Let us know any of your own gift box tutorials you have found that you like and don’t forget to browse all our gift box fabrics in our quilting collection.
