Often the charm of individual graphics are lost in the overall ‘busyness’ of beautifully designed fabrics. This can have its advantages though. If ever you have spent time gazing at curtains or upholstered furniture, and suddenly a creature materialises that you may have looked at and not seen on so many occasions, it can seem like a reward for your patient observation. So it was for me, when a second inspection of a leftover remnant from our cushion covers revealed hidden gems. And as such, that was how lavender sachets came to be this week.

Maybe some sachets need to ‘come to be’ in your home too. If so, when you have settled on your piece of fabric, it is a matter of deciding what size to cut your shapes. Mine measured 5 x 5 1/2 inches, simply because they were the best dimensions to capture my images. Once you have your shape measured and cut all you need do is:

1. Cut a backing piece from plain fabric to the same dimensions.
2. Pin both pieces right sides facing and sew around the two sides and top edges.
3. Turn your sachet to the right side and press under 1/4 inch of the open edge.
4. Fill with lavender.
5. Hand sew the bottom edge closed.

If you make an afternoon of it, you will finish up with lots of sachets – some to keep and others to gift.

The whole business of producing a pile of lavender sachets is a rewarding one. Employing skerricks of treasured fabrics with limited yardage for little else, does good things for the soul. Spending an afternoon in lavender infused surroundings does likewise. And that sense of productive satisfaction settling within as the finished articles stack together, that intrinsic reward humans seek, which cannot be purchased but only experienced from a job well done, is the unanticipated by-product of this simple process.

Postscript: with a special day on the horizon, it may be opportune to have some set aside for those treasured maternal figures who like these hidden gems, often blend into the background of our busy lives and really deserve the spotlight.