May is Mom’s month, and in honor of Mother’s Day on the 14th, we offer a project that children of all ages can create: a fragrant sachet made from a doily. It can be as simple or as elegant as you like, depending on the materials chosen.
Open up that old cedar chest in the attic and root around for a vintage handmade doily, or pop into a craft or department store to purchase a mass-produced version of the home decor staple. If you’re really ambitious, you can even crochet a doily of your own to use for the project.
The design doesn’t really matter, as there are several ways to make the sachet, but if you want to copy our sample, you’ll need to find a doily with lots of open work in a circular pattern.
Having selected your doily, the next step is to decide which potpourri you plan to use, as this will determine whether or not you need to line the sachet and what kind of material you’ll need to run through the open spaces. For instance, rose potpourri will be larger than lavender buds, so you won’t need a lining and a few small gaps here and there won’t matter much.
Even the smaller florals won’t necessarily require a lining, but you’ll need to make sure that the spaces and gaps in the doily are few and far between. Otherwise, you may have tiny buds or spice pieces escaping from the sachet.
Ribbon is probably the easiest choice for running through the open work in the doily, but don’t overlook other possibilities. We used netting, cut into thickish strips, for one of our samples and were very pleased with the results. Yarn is another option, but we weren’t too happy with the finished product.
Simply thread your material of choice onto a large-eyed tapestry needle and – beginning at the center of the doily – weave it in and out of the open spaces in the doily, pulling it into a spherical shape as you go, and stopping when you get to within one or two inches from the edge. If you have to use several strands of material, just tie the ends of each strand together on the inside of the sachet to secure.
Don’t clip the end of the last piece too close when you reach the top, just weave the tail into the inside of the sachet, being careful that it doesn’t show through on the outside. To make the closing tie for the top of the sachet, cut a length of ribbon (or other material of choice) long enough to run all around the opening and with enough to spare on each end to tie a generous bow. Weave the final piece through the open spaces and pull it together slightly (making sure that the ends are even) but don’t close it completely just yet.
Add your lining at this point, if necessary, by cutting a piece of netting to fit inside the sachet. It’s OK if the edges stick out a bit around the top, as this will add an additional texture to the ruffles at the top. Put the netting inside the sachet and smooth it into place.
You can now add your potpourri, either by using a funnel or by small scoopfuls, until it just reaches the final piece of ribbon or other material. Tap the sachet gently on a hard surface so that the potpourri settles a bit, then pull the ribbon tight to close the top and tie an attractive bow.
If you like, you can use beads or other embellishments to decorate the sachet.
Should you find a square, lacy handkerchief in that old cedar chest and decide to use it instead of a doily, you can forget weaving the ribbon or other material through the open work and just go with a lining.
Lay a piece of netting – cut the same size as the handkerchief – on top of the hanky, but with the corners in between the corners of the handkerchief so that a kind of eight-pointed star is formed. Cut a long length of ribbon (or multiple ribbons) to be used for tying around the top of the sachet.
On top of the netting, in the center of the “star,” place a scoop of potpourri. Don’t use too much or it will be hard to close the sachet.
Very carefully, pull the corners of the netting and the handkerchief together and hold them in place with the fingers of one hand, while wrapping the ribbon around the gathered edges with the other hand. When the ribbon is loosely holding the top edges in place, release the edges and pull the ribbon tighter, but don’t close it completely.
Enough of an edge should be left to give a frou-frou effect to the top of the sachet, so add only enough potpourri to fill the body of the sachet to about two inches from the top, then pull the ribbon tight to seal and tie a frilly bow.
Remember to add a homemade gift card to the sachet, and for an extra special touch, include a poem – either borrowed or original – in honor of Mom.
Leave your sachet in a place where Mom will find it on Mother’s Day morning, or use it as a festive addition to a breakfast-in-bed tray.
You’ve made it through the instructions for this project, and now it’s time for a surprise: Go back and write down the first letter of each paragraph to spell out a special Mother’s Day message.
Contace Jonetta Coffin at jrocoffin@aol.com.
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