Whatever your sewing motivation, some fabric stores and online shops have special summer savings, semi-annual fabric clearance and major coupon offerings to take advantage of this time of year. In addition to local and online fabric shops look over your incredibly useful scrap fabric collection, left-over fat quarters or remnant textiles for fabric resources. Many gift sewing projects can shrink that fabric stash in no time at all.

Consider the following ideas when sewing inspiration is at times hard to come by. The suggested sewing projects are easy-to-sew using just basic sewing skills, some fabric pieces and most instructions can be found online at numerous sewing sites on the web.

Christmas in July - time to begin planning for cooler-weather-to-come and easy gifts to sew, make a list check it twice! Cute pincushions in a vintage oval frame or delicate porcelain tea cup, kitchen potholders with pockets, fabric trivets, easy bordered table runner, hanger closet safe, hanging kitchen towel, cute fabric ornaments

New Grad Gifts - travel neck pillow (butterfly shape works well too), weekender bag, eReader or tablet case sleeve, tie-dyed throw pillow, fabric covered planner, T-shirt memory pillow using transferred images, luggage tags

Off to College - dorm room gift ideas: embroidery hoop sewing kit. Create a pocket on a large square or circle of fabric to stretch onto a wooden embroidery hoop. Fill the pocket with a few thread colors - black, white, navy and tan, package of hand sewing needles, small scissors, safety pins, a few straight pins on a felt square, tape measure, seam ripper and a few buttons. Easy to hang on a wall over a desk with a removable adhesive hook. Instead of a sewing kit, turn the embroidery hoop pocket into a first-aid kit with band aids, aspirin, antibiotic cream, tweezers(for nasty splinters), alcohol cleansing wipes, throat lozenges

Far from home students may appreciate a monogramed laundry tote, taco-style cord keepers or fabric roll-ups to keep all those power cords corralled and a sleep mask for hopeful sweet dreams

Back to School - reusable snack or lunch bag, roll up pen/pencil case, hair scrunchie, fold-over or drawstring gym bag, pillowed lap desk, locker caddy, pocket tissue pack holder, fun pajama bottoms, reading pillow with book pocket

Get a jumpstart on Christmas gift giving by sewing heartfelt handmade items, let the new grad know they are about to begin a new journey but memories they will carry are forever, give the off-to-college freshman a great start with a personalized gift sewn or crafted with care and reassure back-to-schoolers they are begging a new adventure.

Christmas in July, Gifts to Sew found on Pinterest.com

Free sewing videos, projects and ideas found on AllFreeSewing.com

Sew happy, sew inspired.