By the time we were ready to take the Yule tree outside, we had little fir needles all over the place. They still had a delicious aroma and I knew tossing them outside just wouldn’t do. A special fir needle and lavender sachet, using a sleeve from my husband’s old dress shirt, was in the making. You could easily hand-sew this sachet using a backstitch; but we chose to use the sewing machine this time (a goal of mine this year is learning to sew on a machine).
You need:
-long sleeve shirt with buttoned cuffs
-2 cups of herbs- we used evergreen needles and lavender but of course you could use any herb mixture for this sachet; I think fir needles, dried orange peel, and cloves will be our next mix
-thread
-needle or sewing machine
To do:
1. Cut a sleeve off the shirt making it 15 inches long from the bottom of the buttoned cuff.
2. Leave the sleeve right-side out, sew a straight seam close to the cut, making a pocket for the herbs.
3. Turn the sleeve inside out and unbutton.
4. Stuff with about 2 cups of herbs.
4. Sew a straight seam to close up the herb pocket. This is a little tricky because the herbs will want to spill out, decrease the amount of herbs if need be.
5. Pull the cuff over the herb pillow so the right side of the cuff is showing, then button the cuff.
There you have it, a sachet for the gentlemen in your life. Now, Dave just laughed when I told him it was a gentleman’s sachet, and the little ladies took off with them and put them under their pillows. They were pretty sentimental about them because they were made from Dave’s old shirts.
Another idea using evergreen needles is Julia Daby’s balsam squirrel, directions at the wonderful Rhythm of the Home online publication. Be sure to visit all the wonderful articles there! Enjoy!
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great great idea. wish i would have seen this earlier (i’ve been a bit behind catching up!) so i could post it on believing nature. i know most people are done with their trees by now.
What a great idea! I bet they smell amazing. I think I’m going to try this next year..and maybe toss in some lavender.
What a lovely idea…yum, I bet they smell divine!
thank you thank you for this. i saw something similar selling for $15 and i thought “i am going to make one myself!” you just saved me from figuring it out!
sweet project.
nicola
http://whichname.blogspot.com
that is a fantastic idea. I swept up about 3 dustpans worth of pine needles last week. As I tossed them out the door, I got the most beautiful waft of that smell. I wished I had a way to preserve that. Now I do! (next year)
Very creative project. I am hosting an art giveaway that you might find interesting. Stop by when you have a chance and take a peek.
Blessings
Diane
SO sweet.
I have a friend who makes bean bags out of her husband’s beat up shirts. TOo cool!
~Karen
Cool idea! I just made another batch of snow cream. This time we threw in some frozen berries with the vanilla. Very yummy, but verrryy cold!
So clever! Ours will go right under the girls’ pillow too: Love their daddy! Love their tree! Thanks for the great idea…
Really cute—and it must smell delicious!
These are brilliant. And perfect for me because Ron likes sleeveless button up shirts in the summer so I have a bunch of sleeves but no uses. Now I have a use. Thanks for sharing!~
I mentioned, and linked to these here. (Related but unrelated.)
Yes, what a great idea. They turned out so cute.
Suzy
What a great idea! we had so many pine needles, and I was waiting for some inspiration on what to do with them. This is just perfect!
I recently tackled the sewing machine lesson this past month and boy is it fun. I am a knitter and enjoy the slow pace of it but sometimes it noce to have instant gratification crafting:) Those sachet’s are a great idea!
NICE HEY!!!!!!!
You ladies are so clever!! I bet they smell wonderful.
This is such a great idea! A few weeks back I used an old dress shirt to make cushions for a little reading nook for my boys, leaving the shirt pockets on, so they could put toys and what have you in them.
Eek! You always have the craftiest ideas using little bits of nature found here and there. I love it! We have this tradition of keeping our xmas tree out back until 4th of July…and then burning it in our firepit…so maybe I’ll have to go out there and collect some needles!
I love this idea! I bet those sachets smell wonderful.
I could have made a shirt or a dress out of that blue shirt!!! But on another note…I can totally picture Dave laughing at this!!!
what a really wonderful idea…I love all the repurposing! thanks for your kind words on Heather’s blog…
blessings~
elizabeth
Great idea Lisa…and since our fir tree is propped up in a snow bank in the back yard…this shouldn’t be too hard. (except for the sewing part.)
Aww, I love this idea. And my Christmas tree is still up and getting more fragrant by the day. Hmmm…. Thanks so much, I’ll be linking.
What a clever way to use up old shirt sleeves and pine needles. I wouldn’t have thought of the double pocket idea.