We love Christmas and have been busy sourcing new and unusual stitch kits & sewing accessories for our customers to gift this year. We have also been developing our own unique sewing kits using some of the beautiful designer fabrics that we stock! It's been a busy few months but well worth it to bring together a collection of contemporary, fun products and gifts.

We never cease to tire of the beautiful way in which Merchant & Mills package and present their products. Even the humblest of products such as a box of sewing pins is elevated to "must-have" status due to their stylish branding and packaging! If you've a modest budget, then why not select a few of their sewing notions and create your own bespoke gift. You could present these items in a glass jar or a gift box. Either way, the contents are sure to delight!

If you're unsure which items to chose, then why not take a look at our Merchant & Mills Needles & Notions Set? We've carefully selected our five "must-have" items, ones that we simply couldn't do without when sewing, and brought them together in the boxed set below.

Merchant and Mills Rapid Repair Tin is another great gift item, and reasonably priced at £15.00; or there's the Leather Needle Wallet, which includes a pack of the 25 Finest Sewing Needles and a free pair of Baby Bow Scissors!

We've a great range of Stitch Kits for you to choose from, most of which are suitable for beginners, making them an ideal gift.

When we were researching products for our launch range last year we were so excited when we stumbled across Heather Lins Stitch Calendar Kits on Pinterest and simply had to stock them! Judging from the response we had to them, you loved them as much as we did, so they're back again this year, but repackaged in clear plastic boxes.

Choose from Stitch the Stars with the corresponding constellation for each month in "glow-in-the-dark" ink and embroidery thread; or The Year in Stitches, which is a modern take on the cross-stitch sampler. Both are really easy to stitch and are suitable for those with little or no sewing experience. At just £17.50 these calendars make a really unusual gift.

New for this season we're delighted to have a selection of Floss and Mischief Cross-Stitch Kits. These contemporary kits bring the art of counted cross-stitch right up to date with their modern take on the weird and wonderful world of taxidermy! A great gift at £15.00.

We're also really thrilled to have recently launched our own label Sewing Kits. We've deliberately started with projects suitable for beginners but have selected fabrics that will also appeal to the more experienced sewists out there.

Choose from a Cushion Cover Kit or Tote Bag, both in a selection of designer fabrics by Kokka and Robert Kaufman.

 We've been adding to our collection of Sewing Patterns throughout the year, so why not select two sewing patterns for the dressmaker in your life? We'll then tie them with gingham ribbon at no extra cost; simply state your chosen colour (Red, Black, Green or Grey) in the comments box at the Checkout.

We hope we've given you a flavour of the products that we've lovingly selected over the recent weeks and months; and that we've also given you some inspiration for your Christmas shopping? Do remember that we also sell gift vouchers which can be redeemed online at a future date! 

If you're still unsure, please do feel free to email us via the contacts page and we'll try our best to help you find the perfect gift for the creative in your life!

We've just added a selection of Prym sewing accessories to our range. Choose from various types of glass headed sewing pins, including extra long ones which are perfect for both sewing and quilting, household & embroidery needles, needle threader and tape measure.

We love the contemporary look of the Oliver + S childrens sewing patterns and have had our eye on The Carousel Dress for some time now! The image on the pattern cover shows the dress being worn by a young girl, however the modern panel pieces and top-stitching make it equally suitable for older girls.

For our first make of this pattern we've used Robert Kaufman's Washed Indigo Denim with contrast stitching for a modern look; and we're making View "B" with the smooth hem panel. This pattern has no buttonholes to contend with or set-in sleeves which makes for an easy sewing project.

If you're going to top-stitch the dress, it's worth taking the time to experiment with different colours before deciding on the colour to go with. And always worth asking the wearer what she thinks too!

Worth highlighting is the fact that these patterns only have a 1cm seam allowance compared to the more standard 1.5cm, although this is referenced throughout but we thought it worth a mention here too.

The instructions are well laid out and very clear. That said, do make sure that you're reading the instructions properly, this might sound obvious, but most of the time when we're sewing we're placing the two "right" sides of the fabric together, so do take care when you pin the pockets to the two side panels that you follow the instructions and pin the WRONG side of the pocket to the RIGHT side of the panel piece! Unlike me the first time round, see the photo above for what not to do!! And below is "take two" with the pockets pinned correctly.

Other than that our make was pretty straightforward, and came together fairly quickly. We decided against the top-stitching round the hem panel, as for this project we felt it was just a little too much.

The button at the back neck is secured with a thread chain loop, this is really easy to do and looks really effective. For detailed instructions click here.

We really enjoyed making this pattern and love the end result. This is a style that you could make over and over; and depending on your fabric choices it would look different every time! It would look great for instance in Robert Kaufman's striped Navy & Cream Railroad Denim, or one of our Organic Cotton Ginghams.  A Colour-blocked version in our Organic Cotton Crossweaves would also work really well, as would a patterned version with solid colour cuffs and hem. 

As you can see the possibilities really are limitless! We'd love to see how you make yours, so do send your photos in via the email address in our contact page.

We discovered these Counted Cross-Stitch Kits by Floss and Mischief at "Thread... a festival of Textiles" in Farnham last month and instantly knew they'd make a great addition to our range of stitch kits.

These contemporary kits, designed by Genevieve Brading, bring the art of counted cross-stitch right up to date with their modern designs. Her concept for the brand was born out of an argument about taxidermy of all things! Her boyfriend, wanted to fill their home with on-trend stuffed and mounted insects and, understandably, she had to put her foot down. And who can blame her!!

As a piece offering, Genevieve, designed and stitched some beetles for him, and that's how the idea behind Floss and Mischief was conceived!

We've selected four of their designs, choose from Aqua Moth Trio, Flutter, Mint Butterfly or Purple Beetle.

These stitch kits retail at just £15 which we think makes the perfect gift... for the modern maker

We loved these beautiful stitch calendar kits by Heather Lins the moment we saw them and simply had to have them for our launch collection last year! Judging from the reaction we got to them then, you loved them too, so we couldn't not re-order them for this year!

Firstly we have "Stitch the Stars" each month is screen printed using "glow in the dark" ink with the corresponding constellation from the zodiac, so January is Capricorn for example. The embroidery thread glows too!

The "Year in Stitches" is a modern take on the cross stitch sampler, the letters of each month are artistically arranged for you to cross stitch, as you can see above!

Both kits are really easy to do, no sewing skills are necessary making them the perfect gift for both experienced "sewists" and those new to sewing.

Whichever kit you decide on we hope you enjoy stitching your way into 2016!!