Discover some fun, easy sewing project gift ideas for beginners with free sewing templates available to download and print off at home. Smaller sewing projects like these an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon while drinking a nice cup of tea.

These sewing projects are the perfect way to use up any small pieces of fabric you have in your stash and gift on to friends and family. You could find a lovely gift basket to pair with an eye mask, candle and chocolate. People love to receive thoughtful gifts. These sewing projects are all beginner-friendly gift ideas.

Easy Sewing Projects - Gifts Ideas

There is a certain satisfaction that comes with using up all of your fabric scraps. You all know I love to use up my materials in the most efficient ways and reduce my waste. I also just hate seeing big messy piles of fabric all over the place!

So first things first. Invest in a scrap basket like this one here. It’s a great way to keep all of your small fabric scraps in one tidy place, it’s easy to move around and store away. When your scrap basket is established you can start to reduce your waste by popping useable bits into your scrap basket.

Once you have a small collection you can get really creative! If you are an avid sewer you may find you have plenty of lovely fabric scraps to get creative with. Did you ever think about starting an Etsy store as a side hustle? If you find yourself enjoying making small fabric scrap crafts this is such a great way to make a few extra dollars a month!

Easy Sewing Projects Gift Ideas by Makyla Creates

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These sewing projects are always great to make with your kiddies or just for yourself after work to help you relax and wind down. Grab yourself a cup of tea and enjoy an afternoon of sewing with me.

You will need a few simple sewing supplies to make these projects

Easy Sewing Projects – Gift Ideas

  • Mini quilt hoop wall hanging
  • Pattern cutting weights
  • Eye mask
  • Fabric napkins

MINI QUILT HOOP

This is the cutest little project I have ever worked on and im obsessed! I had this small embroidery hoop in my craft supplies that I really dont use so I wanted to get creative and make something with it.

Easy Sewing Projects - Gifts Ideas scrap quilt hoop wall hanging

I am currently sewing a quilted jacket and boy is it a lot of work but it’s also super relaxing to sit down in the evenings and cut out a small piece of beautiful fabric and piece them together again. Anyway, I just felt inspired to try a fun quilt pattern to pop into this hoop.

Honestly this is super quick and fun to make.

MINI QUILT SUPPLIES

Fabric scraps – long enough to cut strips. Tip – Find prints that look pretty together!
Embroidery hoop – any size works!

Easy Sewing Projects - Gifts Ideas

To make a mini quilt hoop cut your fabric scraps into 2″-3″ wide strips making sure they are longer than the length of the inner hoop. You could cut a variation to get different sized strips on your mini quilt. I did this and love how mine turned out!

Once your strips are all ready to go start to play around with the colours and prints and take a photo so you remember the layout when you start to sew the strips together.

Easy Sewing Projects - Gifts Ideas

Now is the exciting part. Start to sew your quilt strips together with a 5mm seam until all panels are pieced together. By now you will have a cute mini quilt. Grab your iron and press the seams open to help everything sit nice and flat.

Pop the quilt on top of the middle hoop and place the outer hoop on top. Make sure you have your quilt in the right position and start to push the top hoop down. This will hold the quilt tight and in place.

Easy Sewing Projects - Gifts Ideas

When you are happy with the position of the quilt on the hoop (remember to pop the metal bit towards the top if you plan to hang this onto your wall) you can trim off the excess fabric on the back. PS, Don’t throw this away!! Check out some of my other scrap project ideas here and you will be able to use up these tiny scraps.

Easy Sewing Project - Gift Ideas

PATTERN WEIGHTS

Pattern weights are so much easier to use than cutting out with pins in my opinion. I like to place my fabric down on a flat surface and use paper weights to hold down the pattern pieces and chalk.

pattern weights made using scrap fabrics and rice

To make these pattern weights is very simple and affordable. If you look at buying pattern weights they can be around $20 each so its a great alternative to make your own and save money.

PATTERN WEIGHT SUPPLIES

Cotton or linen fabric
Rice, marbles, fishing sinkers, lentils or pastry pie weights for filling

Start by cutting rectangle strips. I cut mine to 3 1/2 inches wide by x2 the length to create a square when folded. You can make these much bigger if you prefer. I mention in my video that I think it would be better to make these bigger and have heavier weights.

Easy Sewing Project - Gift Ideas

Fold the pieces of fabric in half and pin together on the sides. Sew 1cm seam allowance.

Easy Sewing Project - Gift Ideas

Fill the insides of the pattern weights with rice and a heavier filling like marbles, lentils, fishing sinkers or other small heavy items. Leave enough room to fold the tops down inside and pin closed. I folded my tops down and twisted the seams to meet to create a triangular shape.

Hand sew the tops together with a simple hand stitch like this one or you can machine stitch them closed.

Easy Sewing Project - Gift Ideas
pattern weights pinning closed and sewing up

EYE MASK

Add a touch of luxury to your evening routine or to wear on a long flight. Eye masks are a fun, creative way to use up small fabric scraps and especially nice if you have any silk laying around.

I made mine from a small silk remnant and I love how it turned out! You could make these as little gifts along with chocolates and even matching scrunchies in a small draw string bag. I have a diy scrunchies tutorial here.

white silk face mask sitting with rose petals

EYE MASK SUPPLIES

Silk, linen or cotton fabric
Elastic (1 inch wide)
Batting (Small piece)

You can download our free eye mask template by signing up to our subscriber-only library. To sign up join my email list and you will receive an email with the password to gain access.

Once in you can print off the template and cut out your fabric. You will need to cut out a pair. Also cut out a casing for your elastic that will go around the back of your head. I cut mine slightly bigger than 2 1/4 inches so I had space for my elastic to move and seam allowance.

white silk and batting cut into eye mask

Next, sew the casing by folding it in half lengthways, right sides together. Turn through to the right side using a safety pin and thread the elastic through. Pin the ends to the casing and tack to hold in place.

Pin the elastic to one side of the mask where the notches are marked. Sew in place. Place the mask pieces right sides together (the elastic casing will sit inside). Then place on top of the cut out batting. Pin these three layers together and sew around with a 1cm seam allowance, leaving a small opening to turn the mask through.

Cut around the curves to reduce the fabric bulk from the seams and turn to the right side. Press to get the mask sitting nicely and hand stitch the opening closed.

eye mask with batting

FABRIC NAPKINS

Fabric napkins are becoming very popular at the moment and I can see why! They are so cute and great for the environment. You could use linen or cotton for this project. These add a lovely touch to your table decor if you are having friends and family over for dinner.

pink linen fabric napkins on table

FABRIC NAPKIN SUPPLIES

Linen or cotton
Contrasting thread

To Make these napkins find some fabric scraps that are big enough to cut about 7 x 7 inches sized squares.

pink linen cut into 7x7 inch squares

Once you have cut out around 4-6 squares, change the colour of your thread to be contrasting. I used pink linen with a lime green thread to add a lovely pop of colour!

Change your sewing matching settings to a decorative stitch or to the buttonhole setting (step 2) and sew rows about 1cm in from the edge of the fabric. You can either trim the edges back to the stitching edge or leave them to get a small frayed edge.

sewing machine with green thread

I hope you found some inspiration for ways to use up small pieces of fabric in your sewing room. It’s nice to be able to make things that are useful and reducing rubbish. These items make cheap gift ideas that you can pop into a gift basket with chocolates or a candle.

You could look into selling some of these items on a platform like Etsy as a little side hustle. A great way to fund your crafting hobbies or to make some extra income and save.

You can find some great beginner-friendly sewing patterns like the Camille Top or the Chloe Dress in our shop.

Check out more of our quick sewing project ideas for beginners below.

Happy sewing!

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