More stocking making pics

Just in case you were actually waiting to see if I did post up any more pics of the stocking saga here they are ...

As mentioned before I made a design error and this it:
 

 The cuff, which was 4 separate pieces, would have been much better if I had made it from 2 bigger pieces with only one side seam.

As it was where those 4 seams joined up at the main point was pretty tight on for space once you turned it out, leaving quite a noticeable lump. 
This is after trimming inside corners and pressing (a wooden clapper would have come in handy here):

 And in case it wasn't obvious :

 Once that had been dealt with it was just a matter of pinning it the hanging loop (ric rac )...

...and making sure I pinned the cuff on the right way so that it faced the right way once turned right side out...

Pinned up and ready to sew with the very un-glam calico lining on show:

 The seam where the cuff joined the stocking would be hidden once everything was turned right side out and the cuff folded over, so I just zig zagged it after a final trim. If it was something I was going to sell or use more than once a year I would probably neaten it with some co-ordinating binding.

And there you go, stockings sewn:

Happy sewing :)

In the meantime...

We've been very busy here recovering from Christmas/New Years and potty training (so much fun with twins...), so sewing has gone on the back burner AGAIN!
 I do have a couple of mega-large cushion covers ready to sew up, but honestly I don't think anyone wants to see photos of them cut out ;)

I thought I'd put up some pics of the stockings being made up, so you can see all the fiddling around I sent myself part crazy with in the lead up to Christmas!

This is what took up the lions share of sewing time, hand stitching the names:
 

Close up of Millie stitching front

Originally I just intended to do small circles for the "i"s on Millie's name, the spirals came about by accident.

Millie stitching back

 Tried to keep the backs as neat as possible, but sometime lack of thread or sheer tiredness made it a little sloppy...luckily the fabric was interfaced so threads being run behind don't show through.

Close up Kate stitching front

Back of Kate stitching

And of course I decided that the name embroidery alone wasn't enough so I added some holly:

Button and felt holly decoration

 

 

The finished cuff fronts:

Cuff fronts embellished and ready to be sewn to cuff back and sides.

There were a few more issues with making these stockings, mostly a design error on my part that I would fix if I ever were to make them again. I'll post more pics up of that when time permits.

Happy sewing!

Stockings are DONE!

Yaaaay! 
Thank all the Christmas fairies that this project is done and dusted!!!
These stockings were a LOT more fiddly to make anticipated. 
A lot of that is my own fault (of course), with a cuff design error leading me to have to wrangle some unwieldy cuff points in an effort to get them to lay flat and  -as if that wasn't enough fun- I also decided that it would look really "nice" to hand sew the names and applique the cuffs. *Sigh*

 Still now they are done the pain of making them is fading and I have to  say I'm pretty happy with the end result :

I finished them yesterday afternoon, which is amazing by my last minute crafting standards, nothing like a deadline to inspire creativity ;) 

Soo 48 hours to go til the big man makes an appearance by the yule tree.. guess that leaves me time to whip up those Santa sacks!

Thank goodness it's only once a year :)
 

Happy Festive Sewing!

:)

Perth Burdastyle Christmas deco swap

Finally I can show you the Christmas decoration I made for the swap at the December meet up, so here 'tis:

 

In case it isn't obvious it's a felt gingerbread house. I found the website and pattern through this pin on Pinterest (my newest net surfing obsession- waaaay to easy to waste time there!). 
The roof was meant to be white felt "snow" with tiny felt circles for "sweets" on top. I had no white felt so the buttons ended up being my solution to the problem as they seemed to be able to hold their own and luckily I had enough in boiled lolly colours to tie in with the gingerbread theme. Also sewing buttons on seemed darned easier than stitching lots of tiny felt circles.

This is what my lucky number drew out of the swap bag- isn't she cute?:

How funny that I ended up with a gingerbread girl after making a gingerbread house! She is currently (or is that currantly ....dad joke I know...) right at home sitting on my tree, having -as yet- escaped mauling or abduction by either of my children :) 

I really enjoyed taking part in this swap - a nice easy challenge this time of year and lots of fun too. 
Will definitely be taking part again if the group decide to do it again next year.

Happy Christmas Sewing!!!

Christmas swap

Burdastyle Sewing Club Perth is having a Christmas decoration swap as part of its December meetup!

Here's a sneak peek of what I'm making to put in the lucky dip:

Can you guess what it might be?

I'll post a full pic up of what I made (and what I drew out ) after the December 16 meetup :)

Til then Happy Sewing!!

Pre-Christmas-op-shopping bargain

Swinging by a local charity store on the way home one day netted me this Christmas crafts magazine for 20 cents:

A bargain I think given that we are in November and every op-shop is starting to do their Christmas stock displays, pulling out all the tinsel and whatsits.While some of the fabrics and styling are a little dated I had been hoping to find just a basic stocking pattern to play around with and inside was this:

 Might not go the whole teddy bear motif but the shape is right.
Have been mentioning to hubby that I might try making Santa sacks this year to cut down on the amount of wrapping paper we throw away. Guess what else was inside ?

Again not quite my choice of colours (I'm not super into the "country decor" look) but just think how wonderful it will be for using up odd leftover bits of Christmas fabric. Given my fabric choices I think these will be some very BRIGHT and rocking Santa sacks!
Watch out Mr Claus, you are going to need your sunnies when you visit us this year! ;)

Christmas fabric buys

It's getting towards that time of year again when everyone starts thinking about Christmas crafts (or - if you are more organised AKA not me- has already made their crafts!).
This year I'm looking to make a few Christmassy items up for each of the kidlets :)
To that end I've rounded up all the Christmas fabrics I've brought over the last month or so from Spotlight and Textiles Traders, so I can start planning my projects.
This is the batch so far:

Being pre-Christmas the prices of some fabrics were more than I would have liked, take this really cute cat print from Spotlight:

$19.95 a metre ouch! Originally when I saw it I was planning make the kids stocking up out of these and the matching dog print, that is until I saw the price. So I've made do with half a metre and hopefully will find a way to put it to good use.

This flannel reindeer print was an absolute bargain from Textile Trader's at $2 for a metre (end of roll):

I know its pyjama material and flannel is like totally the wrong season for our hot Aussie Christmases but its so bright and cheerful I thought surely it would be OK for craft and at $2 a pop I wouldn't break the bank if it ended up in the bin.
I must have been on the right track as DS broke into my sewing room (OK I forgot the door was open) and I found him trying to stash this piece into his t-shirt drawer (never trust a quiet toddler)! Now I know he likes it I will be sure to use it for him :)

The rest of the fabric I brought were around the $9.95/metre mark. The lady at Textile Trader's Midland had to point out the cute Babushka- style nativity scene on this fabric:

Each time I look at it it grows on me more and more, no doubt I will regret only buying one metre :(