Christmas At Last?

Now I know this post is a little late (nearly 7 months!!), but better late than never.  And what better way to take our minds off the heat of summer than by browsing through something a little more wintery, right?

As I said in my last post, oh so long ago, I decided to make all Christmas presents and such only from materials I had on hand at the time, spending absolutely no money.  It worked, a little too well.  The fact is that my craft stash was and probably still is fairly well stocked, it just makes things too easy.  I would love to say that this has inspired me greatly and that I haven’t bought any new supplies since December in order to further use up my stash and work my creative muscles, but I can’t since I have only realized all this now. Several months later.  But enough of this, time for the crafts.

First off, the ornaments.  Every year, for who knows how many years, I always make some sort of ornaments.  Nothing says holiday cheer like a homemade ornament, so last Christmas was no exception.  I actually made two sets of ornaments.  Both made from Christmas-y print fabrics I got for free from church along with some ribbons and cords.

This first set was similar to the ones from the previous year(see Yo-Yos and Buttons) except for these I added little bows and jingle bells.

The second set of ornaments were a bit different.  I learned how to make little kanzashi flowers and thought they would be perfect for ornaments.  They are just as fun and easy to make as the yo-yos, but one difference.  For yo-yo ornaments I only need to make two yo-yos for each one, but for the kanzashi ornaments I need to make six petals to form one.

It came to making about 138 of these little folded and sewn petals…

…To make these 23 finished ornaments.  They were well received though most of the recipients thought they were poinsettias.  That actually makes them perfect for Christmas.

Remember the cute baby blankets and such I made for my friends (See Sewing for Baby)?  A certain little boy thought the cute fabric would be perfect for a blanket for him.  And since I had plenty left over, he got this larger size blanket for Christmas.

For a certain little girl, I made this pretty pouch for her to keep things like lip balm.  It’s made from scraps from the two dresses I made earlier last year (see Time for Some Catching Up).  It came out better than I thought it would, mainly because of the zipper.  Zippers still are a total pain for me, but thankfully I’ve improved with them over the years enough so they aren’t something to be feared.  I guess that’s saying something.

I’m particularly proud of this one, a vintage style collar.  It’s made from scraps leftover from the teddy bear and jacket I made along with that baby blanket.  I kind of eyeballed the pattern a little, managed to luck out.  I actually have been wanting to make one for myself since I still have enough fabric leftover, just not right now.  It hit 111 degrees the other day.  Maybe this Christmas.

To go along with the collar, I made this pretty hair clip.  It’s made similarly to the broaches I made in my tutorial years ago (see Button Broach: A Tutorial). It’s actually very fitting since I bought the fan shaped button with the buttons I used then.  I just hadn’t found a use for it.  The only difference is I added the chocolate brown bow on the front…

…And glued a clip instead of a pin back on the back.  That and my gluing is probably a lot neater looking, thankfully.  I guess it means I’ve improved since then.

Here’s something not so vintage looking but still unique.  It’s a dice bag and it’s fully lined.  I used some fabric remnants I got in a baggie from a thrift store some time ago.  I meant to use them for some previous projects but never did sadly.  The red pinstripes give the bag a sophisticated grown-up look, however the pattern on the lining has a different effect.  I won’t reveal what that is, that is strictly for the owner’s enjoyment. 

Now a little something for myself.  I got a great deal on some of this cute plaid material from a thrift store (see Bagging It On Black Friday), and I thought it would be perfect for something to wear for the holiday season as well as year round.  I couldn’t decide to make a dress or a skirt so I sort of did both.  I made a skirt and matching top, so I can wear them together for a “dress” look or just skirt or top with other pieces.  So far I’ve done just that almost every month since December. Very versatile indeed.

So now Christmas is done, but I’ve still got several months to catch y’all up on.  So much has happened with so much stuff sewn. It’ll have to be covered in several posts.  Look forward to it!