Children, Grandchildren and Christmas can stir all kinds of creativity inside one’s soul. And I am no different. It is so fun to give from the heart, and I’ve been sewing gifts for Christmas longer than I care to remember. What I most enjoy is that I get to think of something that is made with just one person or group of people in mind. It’s personal, and it’s heartfelt.

I usually wait to post Christmas presents until after Christmas because the gift’s recipient might see the post! But the person receiving this gift won’t see it because he is so young. I want to inspire you make a gift this Christmas even if it is only one, so you can get warmth of giving from the heart.

So here it is – one of my Christmas gift projects:

My grandson Aiden saw some fabric I had bought for a camp and just loved it. He said that it looked like dragon scales. That is high praise from a little boy who adores dragons! He wanted me to make him a shirt out it but  there was one problem: the fabric was red and it just had to be green to fulfill Aiden’s vision.

So I went on the hunt to find this fabric in green. After a long exhausted search I decided that it didn’t matter which fabric it was but that it was green and looked like dragon scales.  It wasn’t long before I found the perfect fabric and the perfect pattern.

What do you think?  I added a dragon head coming out of his pocket and found these red eyes in my button stash. I was going to add a tongue but was afraid that Aiden would pull it out. He is almost 5 but I am hoping that the head stays put for a while and doesn’t disappear right away.

Naturally I had such fun with this pattern. Button-down shirts are not for the faint of heart, but luckily this pattern was on the easy side. I wanted it to look more like a shirt he already had so I changed it up a bit. The pattern called for two pleats in the back, but instead I did one in the center. I made flat welt seams, which is fancy way of finishing off mens shirts, and changed the front placket where the button holes are.

I love the finished product. I hope he does too!

Merry Christmas and good luck making gifts form the heart.

Happy Sewing,

JoLene