Grandparents’ Day Projects

These Grandparents’ Day projects can be tailored specifically to the intended grandparents, adjusting the fabric choices to meet their personal taste and style. From embroidered pillows to gardening aprons, this list includes various projects to make using your serger.

Grandparents’ Day is a wonderful opportunity to express your love by creating thoughtful, hand-crafted gifts for the people you love. Store-bought gifts simply don’t hold the same emotion as gifting someone something you took the time to make yourself.

Embroidered Handprints

This project combines two different crafts into one, but it’s a heartful gift any grandparent is sure to love! Start by tracing your children’s handprints and transfer the tracing to a fabric of your choice. Solid broadcloth or muslin allows the handprints to be seen easily, but you can also use any printed material.

Create a stacked design showcasing the different sizes, or arrange them to create the heads of flowers. Using embroidery thread, hand embroider the outline of each tracing. Then use the fabric piece to make an envelope pillow or a zippered pillowcase, creating a custom throw pillow that memorializes their tiny handprints.

Walker Tote

Moving around with a walker is no easy feat, and it’s nearly impossible to carry items for yourself while using one. This tutorial explains step by step how to sew a tote bag that hangs on the front bar of a walker. It’s perfect for carrying a water bottle, snacks, cell phone, and even a book or tablet.

This pattern could also be adjusted to whatever size you want. With some quick squares or rectangles of fabric, you could add internal pockets for small items or personalize it with embroidery.

Eyeglass Case with Snap Shut Closure

Whether it be for reading glasses or sunglasses, this eyeglass case tutorial goes a step beyond most of the other ones online and uses pieces of metal tape measure to create a snap closure. Many others online use a snap or pieces of velcro to hold the case closed. Don’t worry, though, the tutorial is still straightforward to follow and quick to sew up.

A few quick quilting lines on your sewing machine add padding to the lining of the eyeglass case to keep your glasses protected. Using a small carabiner on the handy loop, the case can be attached to a purse or hung on a key rack, so it never gets lost.

Weighted Shoulder Wrap

Do it yourself heating pads filled with rice or corn are trendy gifts to give. Throw them in the microwave for a little bit, and they provide comfort to sore, tired muscles. This shoulder wrap tutorial isn’t the standard rectangular shape but has contours that allow it to stay situated across the neck and shoulders better.

One quick tip, though, avoid using corn as the filling for your wrap. Over time it may take on a musty or mildewy smell that is very off-putting. Rice is less apt to smell, but flaxseed is one of the best materials to fill wraps with if you can find it. The oils in flax help to hold the heat, and they release a pleasing scent when warmed. Another tip for rice, place a cup of water in the microwave while heating to keep the rice from smelling burnt.

Scrappy Strip Placemat

If hosting huge family dinners are part of your grandparent’s Sunday plans, these placemats made from fabric strips are a fantastic gift idea. In under twenty minutes, you can create one of the beautiful placemats from start to finish.

This project pieces together strips of fabric — with the overlock stitch used as a decorative accent — making it a great scrap busting project. You can incorporate quilting cottons and heavier materials such as wool or denim to add texture to the finished placement. Make them to match your family’s décor, or choose a holiday theme. The edges are finished with an overlock stitch, so there’s no need to sew a binding on to enclose the unfinished edges.

BBQ Utility Apron

Grandpa can look handsome and keep his clothes clean while running the grill with this functional barbeque utility apron. This apron pattern also has a handy towel loop and pockets for utensils and spices. Everything the grill master may need can be carried in one convenient place.

For this project, you can use a heavier fabric like denim or canvas to give the apron base more structure, or you can choose to use basic cotton fabric to keep it lightweight. To add a little extra “oomph” to the project, make the base out of something heavier and the pockets out of a fun cotton print. You could even take it one step further and embroider grandpa’s name or a fun saying onto the apron.

Gardening Apron

Any plant-loving grandma will love her own handcrafted gardening apron. This pattern creates an apron full of pockets of different sizes to hold gardening tools, seed packets, and even gloves. It’s an incredibly functional gift that can also be stylish and pretty.

Opt to construct it using durable fabric like denim or twill, or choose from a beautiful floral print in your grandma’s favorite color. Or mix and match complementary or contrasting fabrics for a beautiful yet unique look. Just make sure to pick easily laundered materials; gardening can be a messy project.

Speedy Serger Quilt

Piecing together a quilt top doesn’t have to mean using a standard sewing machine to sew one-quarter inch seam allowances. This speedy quilt comes together using your serger to piece fabric strips together! Using your serger to sew the quilt top keeps the seams nice and even while ensuring they are durable and won’t unravel over time.

Quilts make excellent gifts and can be made using a collection of favorite colored fabrics, or you can create a memory quilt using clothing items from all of the family members. Without a doubt, it’s a gift they’ll treasure.

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About Amanda S.: Growing up, I was fascinated by watching my mom and grandma turn fabric into beautiful handcrafted items. In my early 20’s, I finally got brave, buying a sewing machine and teaching myself to sew. As I fell in love with sewing, my machine collection expanded, and I ran an Etsy shop sewing children’s clothing for a few years. As a single mom of 3 great kids, my sewing time has lessened, but I still try to find time to work on quilts, bags, and projects with my kids, teaching them what I love.