All of the holidays from Easter to graduation season, birthdays, anniversaries, back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas looked different and hit me differently in 2020. Incomprehensibly, time seemed to stand still and rush by.
Being creative at home has been the balm I needed for these unprecedented times. It is too easy to get up in the flurry and flutter of life outside the house, and I have appreciated the much slower pace and enduring calm of simply being at home.
Staying at home much more has meant more time to sew and craft.
Earlier this year, I was looking for easy household items to sew, and I found some cute patterns for fabric baskets. I assembled some, and remembered (re-learned) the importance of paying attention to direction in fabric and to the placement of images. Here is an example of what happens when you’re not being mindful about cutting.
I experimented with some different materials to give the baskets structure, and after all these months, I am still not sure what I prefer.
I made this with interfacing only:
These have fusible fleece inside:
These are supported by foam:
The best part about making baskets was that my mother fell in love with them and we spent some time planning baskets for her friends and work colleagues. My mom is very social (not to mention generous), so her list was long, and I started working on her baskets and spent blocks of time in November and December sending her pictures of fabric samples, finished baskets, and seemingly endless questions about her list. The best one was that I mistook her handwriting of cars for cows. I even ordered a piece of spotty black and white cow hide inspired fabric for that.
My aunt also reached out to see if I could make some masks for her Christmas gift giving. She sent a list of about 20 styles and themes, and I cut and sewed the fabrics I had and ordered and waited on specific pieces of fabric. In 2020, fabric shopping got nutty. Lots of things weren’t available – like black thread or black fabric, team fabrics, and licensed prints (like superheroes). For the mask orders, we ended up waiting on a piece of Arizona Cardinals fabric which finally came so I could finish it up. She asked for other things I hadn’t considered like more masculine geometric prints like this one:
This fun guitar print that reminds me of the movie Coco. I had used this for a basket, but it made a cute mask too:
Here is the basket using the same fabric:
A poker mask:
I even experimented with printable fabric to make this anime mask:
I enjoyed working with all of the different prints and motifs she chose for their friends, and my mom was visibly excited when I delivered the big box of baskets to her. I mailed the masks to my aunt, and they took a full week to get halfway across the state, but she did get them in the nick of time.
The opportunity to connect in this way was an unexpected product of the pandemic. It helped keep them away from stores, supported by little business and allowed for thoughtful gift giving in a time where connection matters more than ever.
I don’t think they know it, but the process of working on these gift baskets and masks with my mom and my aunt was a real gift to me.
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