How to Make Sewing Kits for Operation Christmas Child Shoebox

Putting together sewing kits for Operation Christmas Child is a great summer activity to do with kids. And they’re ready to go by the Operation Christmas Child box collecting season.

These went together in 2 resealable bags. One bag contained the fabric and the other bag contained everything else.

Because of the way my brain works, I coordinated the fabric and embellishments as a set that was included in a box.  So I would have a bag of fabric, usually 2 coordinating pieces, and then I had a bag of everything else.  And that bag would include things like thread, buttons, and embellishments that coordinated with the fabrics.  These 2 bags created the “kit” we would include in a box.

What did I put in my sewing kits?  Well, I researched what other folks had done, and then kind of put my own spin on it.

List of Supplies to make sewing kits for Operation Christmas Child

You can use all of these, some of these, or use them as a starting point for other ideas:

• Resealable plastic bags – I used freezer quart size (for the fabric) and sandwich size (for everything else)
• Cotton fabric – I used two 1 yard pieces (Note: you could also just use one quart size bag with 1 yard of fabric AND all the notions)
• Bobbins of thread, colors coordinated to the fabrics they went with; I used 2-4 bobbins full of thread. You could also just put in a couple small spools of thread
• Needle
• 10-12 Pins
• 2”x 6” piece of felt to place needle and pins in and roll it
• Small scissors (great to buy during school season sales)
• Buttons, coordinated to the fabrics they went with
• Ribbon, coordinated to the fabrics they went with
• Embroidery floss, coordinated to the fabrics they went with
• Small measuring tape
• Safety pins
• Printed pattern/instructions – One pattern was a skirt, the other pattern was a drawstring bag
• Elastic for the skirt
• Cording for the drawstring bag

If you have a very specific pattern or project how-to you want to send along, include the printed pattern, along with any supplies specific to that pattern.

One year I included a printed pattern to make a simple skirt as well as a printed pattern for a drawstring bag.  One of the patterns I found online and tweaked because it referenced sewing it on a machine, so I changed that to hand sewing instructions.

Because I included both of these patterns, I also included elastic and cording for the bag. 

I added in a few fabric flowers I had cut that were leftovers from another project thinking they could sew them on to the bag or the skirt.  Some leftover bias tape also went in the bag, again, thinking of it for trim purposes. 

Needless to say the bags were a bit full, but that was the goal!  I just kept adding more and more stuff. And I feel like I’m forgetting a few things!

Assembling the Sewing Kits

In the quart size bag, you’ll place both pieces of cotton fabric.  How do you do that, you might ask?? It’s all in the roll.

Many times I will use coordinating fabrics so if they want to use them together, they can. Lay the fabric out and fold on the long edge, fold again, fold again. Your “strip” will be roughly 4-6” wide by about 1 yard long. Roll it tightly.  Do this to the other piece of cotton fabric.  Place both of these into the quart size bag and seal it.  You could also tie them with ribbon.

Into the sandwich bag go all of the remaining pieces.  You can include anything you think could be used for hand sewing.  I usually try to pack this as full as possible. Remember these girls do not usually have access to a sewing machine so you have to assume they will hand sew.

Organizing the Kits

The year I made these, I believe I made 20 or 30 sets, so 40-60 bags.  I wanted to make sure each fabric bag made it into a box with its coordinated embellishment bag.  Using a sharpie, I numbered each of the bags.  The fabric bag was #1 and the coordinating embellishment bag was also #1.  Then the next set was #2 and #2, and so on. 

When we laid these out at the assembly party, I had a note on the fabric bag that if you take one out of this pile, you find the coordinating bag in pile #2 with the same number on it.  The kids totally thought that was cool.  It was one adult that actually messed that up. LOL. At the end of the event we had one embellishment bag leftover but all of the fabric bags were packed up.

We would have gone back through the boxes, but we had over 100 boxes we had packed that night.  We agreed that sending the fabric was still useful.  They could use it to craft up a bandanna, or a wrap skirt, among other things.

Concluding Thoughts on Making Sewing Kits for Operation Christmas Child

When you’re making these sewing kits, really look around at your sewing stash. Do you have leftover supplies from another project that could be used? It’s amazing the fun combinations you can make. And imagine being the recipient opening this up!

What are you putting in your sewing kits for Operation Christmas Child? Drop me a note in the comments.