70 Lavender Sachets

https://www.justletmequilt.com/

Thank you Carol for another wonderful blog hop. The challenge was to make a heart project, only the heart couldn’t be red. I created 70 lavender sachets, several shaped as hearts, for my Assisted Living residents at work. Yup, you heard me right, that’s 70 altogether!! I’m only showing you a few, but each one is different and they’re all handmade. I intend to attach a little “friendship” note to each sachet for Galentine’s Day (see explanation below), but that step remains for my colleagues to assist me.

Sachets need not be filled with just lavender. There are many different spices and even medicines that can fill a sachet. Wondering about the word sachet, I researched a bit online. Sachet is a French word, and while historians debate where it first originated, it’s clear that the the use of a sachet goes way back in time.

In medieval Europe, a sachet worn on one's clothing was meant to ward off illness or parasites.  Called a "plague-bag," it was filled with sweet powders, aromatic calamus, cloves, and other fragrances from an herb or flower garden. Perhaps due to poor hygiene back in the day, Queen Isabella of Spain wore a sachet filled with items such as dried rose and carnation.  Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, was known for using a sachet to help induce sleep.  Sachet's are well known throughout Chinese history to ward off evil or bring good luck.  In today's China, sachets are popular in the province of Gansu.  They are filled with herbal medicine and and worn on clothing.  Children and adults wear it especially during the Dragon Boat Festival,  in hopes of increasing their intelligence, peace, and health.  

I wanted to make these scrappy to use up pieces in my stash. This created some interesting combinations.

You can see my hand sewn tiny whip stitches which close up the holes.

Because I had a stack of 2″ squares calling me, I also made these 9-patch sachets! I had a variety of colors to work with, since I had cut 2″ squares without thinking of this challenge. The sachet in the middle here was a UFO that I found in a pile. It also was turned into a sachet because, why not!?

My supervisor at work has decided that we're calling this year's Valentine's Day,  "Galentine's Day" instead, after Leslie Knope, Amy Poehler's creative character from the hit series Park's and Recreation.  Many of our residents are widows or widowers and Valentine's Day can be a sad time for them.  Therefore, we're making it more about friendship this year than about lovers.  If you're unfamiliar with "Park's and Rec," check out this video clip below.  The quirky show invented this February 13th holiday, (yes, the day before traditional Valentine's Day.) During these pandemic times, gals can't go out to a restaurant as seen in the show, but with creativity, you can still connect with your girlfriends.  Mail them a sachet for starters!!  (Full disclosure: I am including men in this gift of a sachet, but the original intent of Galentine's Day, as you'll see in the video clip below, was for gals only.) 

Play this video clip to learn more about the creation of this new holiday called Galentine’s Day.

SO HOW DO YOU MAKE A LAVENDER SACHET?

Materials needed: fabric scraps, ribbon, polyfill batting, lavender seeds, a funnel and a needle & thread.

A) Hearts: I found this tutorial from Craftsewcreate.blogspot.com very helpful for the heart shape template and overall sewing process. I mostly followed her method but preferred to use a crumb-style approach to use up some of my fabric scraps. Once I had formed “new fabric” from scraps, I ironed and starched my piece flat and then cut it out using her heart template. I made the heart backsides all one solid piece as much as possible. After I sewed the sachet pieces together, leaving a hole of course, I then ironed it all again. There’s no right or wrong way to make one of these sachets so have fun, use your creativity and try something new if you are inclined.

B) Squares: These square sachets were too easy to pass up on. I had a jar filled with 2″ scrap squares and this was the perfect time to use them. I worked to pull together a 9-patch using interesting color schemes. I initially avoided red to follow the blog hop rules, though eventually I dipped into my reds as well. I was careful to nest my seams when sewing together the nine squares. The final piece gave me a 5.25″ nine patch, as seen below. Cut a fabric piece the same size for the backing. Follow the same method above to sew the sachet with a loop of ribbon and remember to backstitch the seam around the hole where you will fill the sachet. (For anyone who would like, here’s a tutorial for a 9-patch block. You can use any measurements, but mine were from nine 2″ squares that finished as a 5.25″ block.)

I made two styles of sachets and for both, I filled them with a little fiberfill stuffing and then funneled in some sachet seed pods (you can make your own funnel with rolled paper.) I repeated this process so that the pods would be distributed all over the inside of the sachet. This way, my sachet feels like a pillow and isn’t filled only with lavender seeds. Finally, I stuffed a bit extra fiberfill to plug the whole and keep the lavender seeds from spilling out. Finally, I hand-sewed the hole closed using a tiny whip stitch.

The lavender seed order came with 3 bags like the one here. I haven’t even reached the bottom of the first bag and I’ve done 70 small sachets. So order less than you think!! One pound of lavender seeds or pods is more than enough for even 100 small sachets. Should you want some of my leftover lavender, let me know. We can work something out but honestly, it’s also easy to find online.

Here are just some of my favorite finishes.

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  Hearts in the middle of course!

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  I love the center fussy cut bird here that’s carrying a heart!

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  The koi fish scrap is a favorite of mine.

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So that’s my heart project, it’s pretty simple, except for the sheer volume that I took on! (I didn’t show you all 70 but suffice it to say, there are a lot of these.) I am loving the process, especially the hand sewing part. Plus, my whole house smells like lavender! Luckily, I’m stuffing them at work, so the mess from the seeds isn’t my issue at the house. However, if you do this at your residence, put a sheet or drop cloth down to catch the roaming seeds. Your house will smell amazing, even if you lose a pod or two.

Please check out the other HEARTS ON FIRE blog hop participants. This many talented folks should not be missed!! Leave a comment if you can because it’s always nice to feel the community support.

Monday, January 18

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Life in the Scrapatch

Freckled Fox Quiltery

All Thingz Sewn

Den Syende Himmel

That Fabric Feeling YOU ARE HERE!!

 Tuesday, January 19

MooseStashQuilting

Websterquilt

Words & Stitches

Vroomans Quilts

Quilt Schmilt

Cynthia’s Creating Ark

Songbird Designs

 Wednesday, January 20

Selina Quilts

Stitchin At Home

Samelia’s Mum

Just Sew Quilter

Scrapdash

Karrin’s Crazy World

The Darling Dogwood

 Thursday, January 21

Quilt Fabrication

Ms P Designs USA

Beaquilter

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Ridge Top Quilt

For The Love Of Geese

Sew Many Yarns

Quilting Gail

Friday, January 22

Just Let Me Quilt

Karen’s Korner

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilt In A Not-Shell

Storied Quilts

Kathy’s Kwilts and More

Homespun Hannah’s Blog

There’s a Pinterest page just for this blog hop. Check it out HERE!