More Christmas Gifts

Besides the laptop tote in my last post, I made a few other things for Christmas. My favorite was a personalized outfit for a little girl named Jada who loves Dora.

I used the Sugarplum Skirt pattern from Tie Dye Diva and appliqued a long sleeve shirt to coordinate. The skirt has a flat front waistband and elastic in the back, along with a big (optional) bow in the front. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of most of the character fabric I've seen, but kids love it. This pattern offers the perfect solution--the end result is so pretty it doesn't matter what fabric you use!

For the shirt I used the Stitchy Applique Font from LynniePinnie. I think it's a neat look and would like to use it again on some stuff for my kids.

I used a single piece of fabric and trimmed afterwards.
It was a little tricky because the I put the letters so close together.

I also made two doll dresses, but my photos were awful, so I only have pictures of one to share. This is the Carousel Girl dolly dress from Ellie Inspired (who is no longer going to be selling doll patterns separately). It is beautiful, but was time-consuming to sew--the bottom ruffle was 6 feet long before it was ruffled! I used fabrics from the Bubble Gum Swing Dress I made Danielle and it turned out so pretty.

Here is the back which has 4 rows of ruffles making a bustle

I also made the Made for Mermaids Rapunzel dolly dress which had velcro along the back to close it and would be great for younger girls. It coordinates with the girl-sized version I made for Danielle for Halloween and which I finally got better pictures of to share.

Finally, I used the Made for Mermaids Cinderella pattern to make dress-up dresses for some special little girls. I have been making quite a few princess dresses, so I have lots more to say about Megan's great patterns, but I'll save them for another post :)

That wraps up my Christmas sewing posts! Coming up I have lots of princess dresses to share, including the sisters from "Frozen" :)

Laptop Tote

I guess it's past time to share my Christmas sewing! First up is a laptop tote I sewed for a special family. I used this Laptop Bag pattern from Aivilo Charlotte to make a custom-fit bag.

I love the bow detail on the front

The bag is a basic tote, with a bow detail on the front and an elasticated pocket on the back. It's made to fit the laptop but there was enough ease to get it in and out easily.

It was a pretty straightforward sew, but I made a few adjustments. First, I decided to use velcro instead of a covered button. I didn't have a big enough button that I liked and I thought the elastic loop would look too homemade. I have some magnetic snaps but didn't want to use them for a computer bag. (I had a sad incident back in the 90's where I erased the entire contents of a 3.5" floppy when I set it on my hard drive. Lesson learned--for life!). I stitched the Velcro close to the top and there is still plenty of room to fit the computer inside.

The back pocket was perfect for the cord

The measurements for the back pocket elastic pulled the sides of the bag in too much (which you can see in the pattern listing, so I made mine longer. The pocket still stays shut and the back keeps it's shape better.

Here you can see the velcro a bit better, along with the fun lining

I used a fun print on the inside. I love it and wanted to use it for the outside, but you take a chance when you sew for others so I used the more conservative polka dots as the main fabric.

This picture shows the laptop in the bag (the first photo showed the
bag empty). I was pleased with the nice,slim fit.

I looked at a lot of different bags to find just the style I liked. I wanted something that was just meant to hold the laptop, would be easy to open and close, had room for the cord, wasn't bulky, and was cute.  This fit the bill perfectly and the calculations to make a custom fit were clear and easy to follow. The instructions were a bit confusing to me, but maybe that's because I've been sewing mostly clothes lately. Overall I'm very pleased with the results.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve is coming to an end at my house, and I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas!  I have 11 items left to complete on my (revised) list of 29, most of them quick or already half-done.  I have a little more time to work, so I will get done what I can.

Wishing you the merriest of Christmases!

Regardless, the most important work for Christmas has already been done...many years ago...in a manger in Bethlehem.  When God gave the world the best gift of all--His son, who would later die for our sins so that we could spend eternity with our Heavenly Father.  I pray that you and yours have a blessed holiday!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:6

The Big 3-1

I was having trouble keeping track of everything I wanted to make for Christmas, so I made a list a few days ago. I counted and realized I have THIRTY ONE items on my list and there are only 8 days until Christmas!! Obviously, some of them will have to give, but I have been known to work well under pressure so I'm going to try to do them all anyways. They are a mix of embroidery, hand sewing, crochet, applique and sewing--but mostly embroidery. Several of them are in-the-hoop designs, so those might actually get done quickly.

**Updated to add:  Lest you think that 31 items is do-able:  one of the items on my list is to make Christmas pj pants for the family.  That's 4 pairs.  And I've got half a dozen items that I need to make double of, because they're for my twin nieces.  Why am I still on the computer?!?!?

My goal for today is to get 7 items finished. It wouldn't be so hard, except my husband has been waiting a year for this video game to come out. He has early access to it (because he signed up forever ago) and his computer is back from the repair shop. So, yeah, conflicting priorities in our household, since someone has to watch the kids :)

I probably could get more done if I wasn't trying to blog about everything I had to get done, whoops.  But I wanted to post some quick pictures of the other 2 sets of pjs I finished up for Danielle last week.

Ballerina flannel from Hancock Fabrics

I figure these pictures are as exciting as hearing about my to-do list, so this post is cohesive after all :)

Cat face flannel from the fabric angel
who donated the flannel for the last pjs

Anyone else working on their own Christmas miracles?

Christmas Outfit Preview

I'll be taking a picture of the kids in front of the Christmas tree for our Christmas cards this year and they had to have coordinating outfits, of course.  I decided not to start from scratch and mixed store-bought with home-made items (my part being the easy stuff).

Danielle's sweater dress with
poinsettia barrettes I made her

Samuel's sweater vest (button down
onesie not pictured), with black
corduroy pants I made him

The time I saved by not making their formal holiday outfits will be used to make matching pajama pants for us all (except for my grinch of a husband who doesn't want Elmo on his pjs). 

Reindeer Scarf

This Christmas, I will be making most of the gifts I give, which is something I started last year.  My family is fortunate to have what we need, and enough of what we want, so handmade gifts fit the spirit of the holiday (and my budget) better.

I have really gotten into machine embroidery this past year (though I've had my machine for a bit longer than that), and plan to use it more than my sewing machine for gifts this year.  I love to sew, but am just plain running out of time.

First up is this early present for my mom.  She saw this reindeer and wanted me to embroider it on something.  Since she picked out what she wanted and I will be sending it to her as soon as I can get to the post office, I'm not ruining any surprises here.

Isn't this fella cute?

This is my first no-sew scarf.  My MIL gave me one a few years ago and that was when I discovered that fleece is magical!  It's warm and cozy and I don't get overheated without warning.  I ♥ fleece!

Reindeer from Stitch on Time

My mom and I just happen to have the very same cream jacket hoodie, so I asked my reluctant happy-to-help husband to take a picture of the scarf being worn.  I am in love with it and wish I had a bigger piece of leftover fleece to make myself one.

*sigh* I want to keep it for myself...

 

Danielle must be feeling a bit jealous lately, as she enthusiastically yells "My turn!" every time we do something that looks even remotely fun (apparently, Samuel eating smashed green beans qualifies).  So she wanted to get in on some reindeer scarf action also.

She didn't quite understand that we
were supposed to see the reindeer :)