Do you have a mother, brother, sister, or friend who loves fabric and sewing? Are you at a loss for what to get them for the holidays? I'm here to help! I  love picking out gifts for people. I understand what my fellow fabric-o-philes want, especially since I'm surrounded by beautiful fabric all day at Purl Patchwork. So here, without further ado, are my 2007 Holiday Gift Picks:

For a Beginning Sewer

These basic fabrics and supplies would be great for anyone who is getting a sewing machine as a gift.

• 4 Assorted 1/2 yards from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope Collection These prints are bright and fun and work beautifully together.

• 2 yards of Kona Cotton in a rich color like Lagoon, Tangerine, Candy Green, or Blue Jay (shown in that order above). Kona Cotton is a lovely solid fabric that the beginning sewer will be inspired and is great for practicing techniques.

• Bend The Rules Sewing is a great book for beginners with lots of fun small projects. It's well photographed and simple, and the author Amy Karol write one of our favorite blogs, Angry Chicken.
  

• Gingher Dress Making Shears are a joy to cut with and will last for a lifetime. Find right handed shears here.  Find left handed shears here.
  
• Clover Seam Ripper, this is one of the most useful tools in a sewers arsenal.
• Assorted Thread, one spool each of, white, black, off white, and a couple of pretty colors should do the trick!

For an Embroidery Buff (or Even a Beginner)

• 6 Assorted Colors of Valdani Embroidery Thread. Valdani thread is hand dyed in Romania and comes in the most wonderful colors. This thread is thinner than most embroidery floss so you don't have to separate the strands. I love to embroider and I have almost every color of this thread. It's the best!
  
• 1 Yard Essex by Robert Kaufman in Ivory. This linen cotton blend is ideal for embroidery. 
• Iron on Embroidery Patterns by Sublime Stitching, Flower Power is lovely, fresh and fun.
  
• Pink Embroidery Scissors are functional and pretty.
• And why not put it all in a beautiful Small Silk Project bag from Lantern Moon?
  

For a Hand Quilter

• Making Welsh Quilts is a lovely book that has both pictures of inspiring old Welsh Quilts, as well as instructions on how to create your own.  
• 1 1/2 Yards each of two colors of Shot Cotton. I am so into all of the gorgeous Shot Cotton colors we have in stock right now. Any two colors look rich and nuanced next to each other and will make a stunning small Welsh quilt.
• An assortment of Guttermann Hand Quilting Thread would be appreciated by anyone who hand quilts!

For a Clothing Maker

• 3 yards of Liberty Tana Lawn in Olive Chestnut Road would be a perfect present for anyone who sews garments. Tana lawn is such high quality, finely woven cotton that it feels almost like silk. This isn't the flashiest or most colorful Liberty print but, in my opinion at least, it's one of the most wearable.

• Vogue Sewing is a great reference book and a welcome resource for even a very accomplished apparel sewer.
  

For a Quiltmaker

• Make a beautiful addition to any quilter's stash with 1/2 yard each of all ten prints in the new Anna Griffin line Blythe. I often find myself staring at these fabrics while I'm at the store. The palate is soft and pretty and the prints are reminiscent of old book illustrations. By getting a half yard of all ten prints the lucky recipient will have enough fabric to really play around with.

For Any Fabric Lover!

3 Assorted Yards of Echino Fabric by Kokka. This whimsical upholstery weight Japanese Fabric is ideal for making bags, pillows, drapes... anything that needs a little extra body. This would even be a good gift even for someone who didn't sew, it's just so neat to look at!

For a Bookworm

• Joelle's new book Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts is a lovely book for all skill levels. You can check out some of the projects here.

• Bold Improvisation is a small coffee table art book that I've been looking at ever since it arrived at purl patchwork. It contains photographs of African American quilts dating back 122 years. The quilts are all great and some of them are wildly inspiring.

• Any of our Japanese craft books would make an excellent gift for the adventurous crafter. The directions are only in Japanese but the illustrations are fairly easy to follow if you have sewing experience and the projects are exciting and unique. 

• OK, so technically Selvedge isn't a book, it's a magazine. However, it always offers so much inspiration and interesting information that I think it qualifies.

Still at a Loss?

There's always a gift certificate, redeemable at purl, purl patchwork, or online at purlsoho.com!