Hawaiians for the boys and some pjs

These are the last of my Christmas sewing. I made dh's shirt last year but since he was deployed I never actually saw him in it. This year I used the left over fabric to make the munchkin a matching shirt- they sure looked cute!


And these are the pjs I ended up making for my nephews and one niece (between age).

On to bigger and brighter projects!

more embroidered Christmas stuff

I actually did a lot of embroidery this Christmas, its fun. These were the gift card holders- only 2 this year.


I made these embroidered ornaments with names for my sil's stockings. They looked really nice all together. I used the leftover silk duponi from my little one's baptism outfit.


These are the cell phone holders for my nieces. The design is from Embroidery Garden, stitched out really nicely.

Spiral Skirts

These are the skirts I made for my little nieces, I think they are so adorable. I'm not sure how my one niece will take it since she's not terribly girlie, hopefully she'll at least like the shirt.


Here's the last one:Update- my sil called and said my two nieces (butterfly and last one) loved their skirts, Yeah!

Indygo Junction Hobo Bag

While the version I made for myself didn't turn out so great- more due to my modifications than the pattern itself- the bags for my nieces are really cute. Overall the pattern is easy, directions are clear. The only things I didn't like is the lack of closure (I added a button closure) and the straps were too short (I added 2 inches). I also made matching cell phone cases and added a d-ring to attach it to. My one niece also got a pencil case but I needed to make changes to the design so my other niece didn't get one. I'll make her one once I change the design a bit.

More pics:

January Plan

I so need to get back to sewing for me. Actually I just need to get back to sewing in general. Today was the first day I sewed since the 23rd, eeeck!

So I decided today that I'm going to make January UFO and sloper month. Pattern Review has a UFO contest going on so it seemed fitting to do it. Then my darling hubby bought me PMB Womens for Christmas, yeah! So I'm going to work on the slopers this month. This way in February I'll begin sewing from custom fitted patterns designed by me! How exciting.

Okay before that UFOs must go. Without really searching this is my list:

I have this Maggie London Dress cut in a dark gray dance wear type of fabric. I was really excited about it for the fall when dh told me we'd have a ton of events to go to. Uhm... he went to a ton of dressy events, I got stuck at home with no babysitter.

I have to rework the straps on the bag I made using the Indygo Junction pattern, they were too short and I was supposed to use the same fabric for both sides but for some reason I flaked on that part and ended up using a slippery lining fabric so the strap falls off my shoulder. Duh.

I also have a swim suit cut. I'm not sure about that one since I never ordered the right elastic, well I still can so that will have to make the list.

Of course my coat goes on the list- hems, buttons and buttonholes.

An apron from 5/6 years ago. I made my family matching aprons one year out of one of those panel fabrics. I thought it was pretty funny, anyway I never actually did mine. Now is the time!

I know there are more but I'll start with these. Fun, fun!

Embroidered ornaments

Here are the embroidered ornaments I ended up with for the exchange on Fiber Arts. I think they turned out nice, a bit bigger than I had wanted but much smaller than my original design. They are about the size of a baseball but flat. The Santa is a freebie on CinDes Embroidery Designs, she has some really adorable stuff on her site, check it out.

Now technically I didn't make this particular ornament this year but I made one like this for an ornament exchange. It was a big hit. I actually have several of the embroidered panels made up but who knows when the ornaments will actually come together.

So those are all the pics I have for now, I haven't uploaded the gift pics yet. Which, as it turns out is a good thing, since the gifts are still at my house! Oh well.

Only 10 days left!

Uhm... I'm beginning to think that my presents will be late yet again. Always seems to happen the year I decide to make gifts. I've got 2 skirts for the younger girls and both nephews' pjs waiting for elastic and hemming. I am still looking for the matching shirts for the skirts- I'll buy them tomorrow, hopefully. I have 1 purse cut and I keep flip-flopping on the fabric for the second. Now I'm thinking of doing pjs for the middle niece after all. Urgh... Hopefully tomorrow will be a productive day.

More?

So I pulled out the fabric for the bags for my older nieces. I think I'll be able to make them out of my stash. I'm planning a trip to the store tomorrow so I needed to be sure. Unfortunately I'll have to buy fabric for the little ones. My stash is so huge but not coordinated. Live and learn. I'm going to double check on the fabric for the nephews that way I can make this my last trip.

Of course I was checking out the projects at SewForum and someone posted their version of this pattern: moon shaped santa

I love it. Urgh... add another project, I just have to have it.

Well, not off to the best start

I didn't actually get any sewing done yesterday. Oh well. I did try to finish cutting out the skirts for the nieces only to realize I don't have enough coordinating fabric for all three skirts. So off to the fabric store I'll need to go. Hopefully I'll get to go on Friday, its just easier to go without the little one but with dh leaving on Saturday I'm not sure what would be the best- sew in peace or shop in peace. Uhm?

Oh- I just realized Project Runway is on tonight. Fun, fun.

Christmas Sewing!

Today is the day, I WILL start my Christmas sewing. I have an ever growing list of projects lined up for Christmas. I just realized today that I'll be gone for a few days next week, so that means I can't sew on those days, urgh.

Well, my plan is to cut, cut, cut then sew, sew, sew. Hopefully that will make things go faster. We'll see. Here's my list and plan:

1. the skirts for the little nieces- they're all getting the spiral skirt from youcanmakethis.com with matching embroidered tops. I'll do the tops while I'm working on the nephew's gifts.

2. The nephew's gifts- pajamas. I know so boring but they're boys.

3. Bags for the older nieces. The two older ones are getting the hobo bag from Indygo Junction and the younger one will get a messenger style bag.

4. Cloth grocery bags for brothers and sils without kids.

5. Ornament for Fiber Arts Exchange.

So those are the definite projects- I want them all finished by the 15th. Now if I have time before then I'm also thinking of adding some projects for my brothers and sils but we'll see. After the 15th, I'll start working on the projects closer to home:

1. Embroidered ornaments for fil & girlfriend and for sil.
2. Christmas outfit for crumb-catcher.
3. Pajamas for crumb-catcher and dh (if the ones I made 2 years ago don't fit) plus shirts to match (just embroidered tees).

I think thats all, again we'll see. The list doesn't look so daunting on the screen. Oh- I have to finish my coat this week so I can take it on my trip. I guess I'd better get to it.

No excuses

Now I remember why I never kept a diary, I forget. Don't get me wrong, I'm composing posts all day long- I just don't get them on the computer. Oh well.

Things have been busy around here. We hosted Thanksgiving here and all went well. My fil said the food was good but "different"- uh? Oh well, dh did the cooking so what do I care. I, of course, crafted for the event. I rushed out to Walmart the day before looking for some simple paper tablecloths. No luck, oh they had Christmas ones but no Thanksgiving. In fact I had to dig through Christmas stuff just to find some napkins for Thanksgiving- they were hidden with all the Christmas ones. Urgh... So I ended up buying 3 yards each of some $1 a yard fabric they had at Walmart. I cut them in half, serged and did a rolled edge on the cut edges. I think the turned out pretty good.

I also ended up using the runner that I was making for my brother and sil for Christmas- the embroidery on one end was crooked, and if anyone would notice- it would be my sil. The embroidery turned out so pretty, I'll use the runner.



What else? Oh my non-existent crumb-catcher got a turkey shirt. It was adorable.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend.