More repurposing - felted sweater turns into a Vest for Little Miss A

I picked up the sweater for this project ages ago - months - and it sat on my sewing shelf and sat and sat. I just wasn't inspired to do anything with it. I'd notice it often tho. Then the other night I was lying in bed with Big Miss A waiting for her to fall off to sleep and the image of this little vest top popped into my head. When I got up I went straight to it and was done in no more than an hour including the handsewing and embroidery.

I tried this before a few months ago and wasn't nearly so pleased with the results - the fit is so much nicer this time that I think I will go and hack up the old one into the same shape/pattern as this one. This one ended up a little shorter than I'd meant, so it's not so much a dress as a tunic I suppose. I'll probably make the next one a little longer. It's perfect for core warmth tho :)

It was really really simple - I just grabbed a jumper dress she already had and used it to get the basic shape of the neck and arm holes. Sewed up the sides, and shoulders and then used a blanket stitch to tidy up around the armholes and neck. It just needed the little heart added for fun :) It's the perfect combination of wool/nearly free/mama love/warmth inducing ;)

And I still have the sleeves left ;) Who knows what they will turn into? It is a tad bit itchy when right on the skin, so I think they won't be pants or leg warmers.

Goodbye Gift Wrap - Hello Cloth Gift Bags

Last year after once again feeling dismay at the massive pile of paper on Christmas morning I finally decided to make the switch over to cloth bags. I bought a big stack of Christmas fabrics on sale (feeling ever so smart for planning ahead and getting them at 70% off ;) ) Then they sat on my sewing shelf for a whole year. In November I started to really think that it was about time. In early December I made a couple ;) I made the rest (35 or so) in the 2 days before Christmas, staying up until ohhhhh 2 am Christmas eve finishing them up ;)

It was so worth it tho! It felt amazing to see them all sitting there under the tree. Even more amazing to fold them all up and put them away for next year. My husband even made them with me :) He did all of the ironing for me enabling me to just sew sew sew as fast as I could.

The blue gift above is a playsilk - a gift from one of the kids. We often use the play silks for wrapping gifts -I love that it's become second nature to just wrap gifts in cloth. My oldest still feels that the ripping of the paper is the most important part. I didn't think to use cloth when she was young. I understand her feelings tho - I'll admit to stifling some of those feelings myself, *but* how can we not? I mean really - how sustainable is it to just throw away that much paper ? It just doesn't make sense. With so many problems in the world today - Re-using things is what makes sense. So many issues in the world today are beyond our control - this is such a simple thing to do. It's what really feels good - the kind of good that doesn't have guilt attached with it ;) I like that kind better.

And next year? Oh man - wrapping the presents is going to be *soooooo* easy! And every time I wrap a gift in one of these bags I'll get that lovely feeling of knowing that I've done a good thing. *And* hopefully I'm passing that value on to my children - changing things one step at a time.

Just a little cheese with our Christmas ;)

Matching *glow in the dark* pjs ;)

I swear I didn't plan to make them for everyone.....

It just ended up that way....

No one seemed to mind tho - and everyone liked them.

IT all started when my oldest picked out the fabric above to make some for herself - many many moons ago. She doesn't particularly like to sew- she just found herself killing time in the sewing store with me - and well her shopping urge kicked in and all of a sudden she felt like sewing. Until she left the store.

The boys begged and begged for that fabric - but you see it was hers.....

Soooooo first I decided to make them up for her for Christmas. Then I spotted the same fabric in many other colors at the same fabric store and decided to make some for the boys.

Then on Christmas eve when it became apparent that I wouldn't be finishing the night gowns that I had cut out for the girls (different fabrics) I realized that I had enough fabric left to make them some pj bottoms too and that seemed a whole lot more doable.

I do think that it makes for a pretty funny photo ;)

I didn't use a pattern for any of them - just grabbed a pair of their pjs bottoms and eyeballed it. I did learn that this method doesn't work so well once you're working with a body that has curves ;) It worked ok - but a pattern would have been better.

I hemmed the bottoms with bias tape - because I hate hemming - and bias tape just looks so good :)

Of course I used Angry Chicken's method - because it's the best :) Love her blog :) I got her latest book - "Bend the Rules with Fabric" - for Christmas - it wasn't a surprise at all that it is excellent :) I can't wait until I have more time to get aquainted with it......

Beatles Love

As my boys are getting older I'm finding it harder and harder to think of gifts I can make for them. The girls are easy peasy, but the boys not so much. I'm pretty pleased with what I made them for Christmas this year tho - to go with their love of the Beatles, I ordered 7 different Beatles themed fabrics and made them duvet covers for their beds.

For the backs I used flat sheets that I had already - Red for one, and Green for the other. Then some solid colored flannel with some of that back color on the front. I was a bit worried that the Beatles fabric might be too loud - which is why I staggered it with solid colors. I really love how they turned out.

I also love how I manage to justify the extra expense of buying organic sheets (I'm pretty tricky at finding good priced ones on ebay) by making such good use of all that fabric from the top sheet - which we all hate around here ;) A lovely big hunk of organic fabric :) Makes me a little giddy ;)

The boys loved them - in fact on Christmas Eve I was really pleased when S said " I wonder if we're going to get any Beatles stuff?" Yes - definitely pleased :)

Peace

So close!

The excitement is building - Mum and Dad are staying up wicked late finishing up presents (and nursing a sick Big Miss A who is thankfully well now this morning after a long 24 hours of ear ache and fever) The kids are starting to twitch with anticipation - Big Miss A has just been patiently waiting for Santa to arrive and checks the tree every morning. The boys can't sleep and S has declared it a near impossibility for him to finish making his gifts in time - we're working on that tho - in fact right now I'm typing one handed and helping him hold his fingerknitting with the other ;) - I'd best go give him my full attention - and besides - I hate typing one handed!

Enjoy the magic everyone :)

Messenger Bag

She likes it! :)

This isn't the best picture, but it's showing the inside of the bag- there are a variety sizes of

pockets in the interior of the bag.

We looked high and low for a school bag that met both my daughter's desire for something attractive/fashionable, and my need to buy something well made that wouldn't be in a landfill in a year or less ;) We weren't getting anywhere fast, so I decided to make one for her birthday :) - which I must say I'm starting to think is a lot less time consuming than shopping for hours. I like the end result a lot better too :)

The pattern is here

The fabric is from Anna Maria Horner's new line - in the oil cloth. It's a very high quality fabric - I'm quite impressed with it and it wasn't hard to sew with at all.

The interior fabric isn't fancy - I got it at Fabricland :)

I cut apart my own purse for the strap and clip/closure. The zipper had just broken and I was itching for a new bag ;) And besides I'd have had to drive to the fabric store an hour away to get those parts otherwise, so it really did work out perfectly :)

I think I will make another one in a smaller size ( the pattern comes in 3 sizes and is very easy to make) for myself :)