Teacher gifts are always fun to give. Thanksgiving seems like a perfect excuse to make a little craft for giving thanks and expressing gratitude for the wonderful people who help nurture our kids. Today we made lavender sachets for the kids’ teachers. They were super easy and the kids helped out. I often want to help my children to do more to express their gratitude. I was hoping that we’d do some hand sewing for these, but that was a lofty goal. I’d rather them do a little with joy, than a lot with whining 🙂 So my wee one filled the sachets and the big kiddo wrote “Gratitude” and “Luve.”

Lavender sachets are such an easy gift: fun, fast, pretty, and filled with thanks for the teachers who enrich our lives so much. I happened to have a charm pack of Ellen Lucket Baker’s “Quilt Blocks” fabric for Moda. Charm squares (pre-cut squares measuring 5″ x 5″) make this project even easier, but you can make them any size.

Here’s how to do it:

1.  Place two 5″ squares of fabric on top of each other with right sides together. Pin a folded tab of ribbon or twill tape anywhere inside the seam allowance (fold facing the middle–raw edges aligned with raw edge of fabric). This adds a special and modern touch–like a signature.
2. Sew along three sides (using a 1/4″ seam allowance) and backstitching at the beginning and end. Leave one side open for filling.
3. Trim threads and clip corners. Turn the sachet right side out and use a chopstick or small paint brush to gently push out the corners. Press.
4. Fold the remaining unfinished side under 1/4″ and finger-press in place, then press with an iron to set.
5. Fill the pouch with a heaping 1/2 cup of the following mixture: 4 ozs lavender flowers, one cup white rice for heft, dried eucalyptus leaves and dried rosemary leaves from the garden (or whatever dried flowers you have on hand). I found my lavender at a local natural foods market. It was $3.84 for 4 ozs. This quantity will fill up to 12 sachets. Also, slip in a hand drawn note, or word on a slip of paper like a wish. We used “Luve” and “Gratitude.” I could not correct my son’s beautiful misspelling of love.
6. Edgestitch the sachet closed, back stitching at the beginning and end. Voila! 

Add a little note…

For an extra special touch, let your children hand-sew the edge closed. It will look wonderfully messy if they are willing. Every little stitch, when sewn with love and gratitude for a teacher or other special recipient becomes an oh-so-special bit of loving kindness.