It may seem like it’s too early to think about Christmas, but when you run an independent craft brand like Meloca Designs, you usually start thinking about Christmas in July!
And anyway, if you start thinking about and buying Christmas presents earlier in the year, it’s easier to spread the cost and make everything feel a lot more affordable.
Crafts make great Christmas presents, whether the recipient is an expert or a complete beginner - learning or perfecting a skill is always an enjoyable experience.
Here are 7 lovely Christmas gift ideas for the crafters in your life.
1. Otters in a Hoop Needle Felt Craft Kit, £24
Needle felting is the art of sculpting figures and shapes with unspun wool, using a special needle to mesh the loose wool together. Sometimes the result is a 3D figure, or you can create flat needle felt artworks on a pre-felted canvas.
This 2D otter needle felt kit is so adorable, with two otters floating together on a soft blue felt background. It’s suitable for beginners, and should take around 2 hours to complete, making it a lovely stocking filler gift for all sorts of crafters.
Inside the box, you get all the wool you need, plus the felt fabric backing, a foam mat (to place underneath as you make your artwork), felting needles, embroidery hoop, needle and thread, and instructions.
If you think your crafty loved one would prefer to make a 3D needle felt, this Baby Sea Turtle Needling Felting Kit from Hawthorn Handmade (£13.95) is super cute too.
2. Pack of 6 Cross Stitch Needles, £1.55
As a crafter (and specifically a cross stitcher) I believe you can never have too many needles. They’re easy things to misplace, so it’s good to have a constant supply on hand.
For that reason, I think they’re a very useful and thoughtful Christmas stocking filler gift for crafters who enjoy cross stitch or embroidery.
These needles are specifically for cross stitch, with rounded ends that easily slide though aida fabric, and eyes big enough for embroidery threads.
3. Mini Cross Stitch Kit - Blue Bird, £6.95
Of course, I can’t create a crafters’ Christmas gift list without any cross stitch kits, and this one is perfectly dinky enough to fit in a Christmas stocking.
It’s suitable for beginners, or could be a lovely quick project for an advanced cross stitcher to complete in between more intricate projects too.
The Blue Bird cross stitch kit from Rex London contains everything you need to create a super cute blue bird design, including fabric, an embroidery hoop, a needle, coloured embroidery threads, and a chart to follow.
4. Make Your Own Felt Christmas Decoration Kits, £4.69
These felt Christmas decoration kits are so cute, and there are a whopping 25 designs to choose from, including a festive fox, mistletoe, gingerbread house and reindeer - there's a perfect kit for every crafter.
In the Christmas-stocking-sized sewing kit, you get felt shapes with pre-punched holes, thread, beads, needle, brooch pin and step-by-step instructions to make a 3D Christmas decoration.
One of these kits would make such a lovely Christmas stocking gift for a crafter - when they hang their Christmas decoration on their tree year after year, they’ll think of you.
5. Needle Minders, £9.95-12.95
A needle minder is a handy little magnetic tool, which prevents you misplacing your needle. You place one magnet on the back of your fabric, and the decorative magnet on the front, and then you can place your needle onto it and it will hold securely.
They’re a great Christmas stocking gift for any crafter who enjoys cross stitch, embroidery, needlepoint, quilting, dressmaking, general haberdashery, or any other kind of sewing.
Most of the needle minders stocked at Meloca Designs are based on our popular cross stitch designs, although we have a few others, including this Ginger Cat Needle Minder, and a Father Christmas one too, which would be lovely gifts to slip into a Christmas stocking.
6. Magnetic Fabric Clips, £5 a pair
This is another handy magnetic device, but with the fabric clips, the magnets are connected by silicone, making them useful for keeping your fabric tidy when working on a large embroidery or cross stitch.
Most crafters prefer to use a smaller embroidery hoop or Q-Snap frame (you can read more about the different types of embroidery hoops here) even when stitching a large project, because it’s easier to hold in one hand while you stitch with the other.
This can mean there is a lot of loose fabric, which can get in the way of stitching - that’s where these silicone fabric clips come in handy!
If your crafty friend loves cross stitch or embroidery, chances are they’ll really appreciate this useful Christmas stocking filler gift. They come in 8 different colours too, so I’m sure there’ll be one that suits your loved one’s style.
7. Make Your Own Christmas Bauble Joy, Peace, Love Cross Stitch Kit, £11.95
We’ve shared these teeny-tiny cross stitch kits from Marvling Bros before, in our blog 5 ultra-quick ‘n’ easy cross stitch kits and patterns for beginners, but they’re so perfect for a Christmas stocking filler gift.
This little matchbox-sized kit comes with everything you need to make your own cross stitch bauble, which you can hang on your Christmas tree when you’re finished.
Inside there’s festive red aida fabric, a needle, threads, a mini wooden hoop plus full instructions to make four different designs, including a candle and a Christmas present.
So there we have it, 7 crafting Christmas presents that your loved one will be thrilled with on Christmas morning, plus they’re the perfect size for stocking fillers.
If you’d like more crafty gift inspiration, check out my other blog posts, 8 creative & colourful cross stitch patterns for animal lovers, 5 small projects to get beginners started with diamond painting, and 5 other DIY crafts to try if you love cross stitch.