A crafty evening

last night I finished the 3D Chicka Chicka Boom Boom felt tree for an Xmas present (I'm of course also making one for Brodie) :) I used a styrofoam cona that I glued to a wooden base, then wrapped felt around the cone. I sewed a pipecleaner into the leaves so if bent they will stay where you put'em. Then I cut out the entire alphabet out of different colours of felt. The other little boy apparantly loves Chicka Chicka Boom Boom as muhc as Brodie so I hope he likes it!

Then I got this awesome asian inspired cherry blossom print and made 2 belts, then 3 headbands. This is one of them. M

they said I'd never create that mouse army!

Directions to make your own army of mice here.





-A

One for Me, One for a Sister

When I showed my sister the vogue bag pattern she raved about the cheetah print version so I made her this one for $mas and delivered it last night. I also made a matching dog leash but still have way too much cheetah print fabric left over. Maybe I will make Melissa a cheetah print poncho with matching headband for her birthday this year.



I also indulged on this for myself. I saw it on a local second-hand site weeks ago and hemmed and hawed about it for a long time. But I started a new* project this week and those wooden scroll bars are hard on the wrists. Plus now I can be an uber-nerd crafter and stitch with one hand over and one hand under.



*okay, not new, but a project I wanted done for this year and didn't happen, so I am making it for next year.

And how cute is my kid when he sits beside me to do his own sewing with this little wooden apple? Very.



-A

Percival Feltboard

Last night at about 11pm I remembered that I was about 80% finished this feltboad that I needed to send with dh to work this morning. EEP! So I got out the felt and went to work! It goes with the book Percival the Plain Little Caterpillar, for the life of me I can't rmeember how to run the tile of the book into the link so here is the link (i'm so useless...)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1740471091/ref=sib_dp_pt/104-2348049-7324745#reader-link


I took the picture with my new snazzy camera :) M

We Eat a Lot of Oranges

My little guy was lining up boxes today to make a train when I felt something funny in my head (my brain working?) and I tied them together with yarn with a yarn loop for a handle, using the holes the boxes already had. He's happy enough as is, but bigger kids could cover their boxes with paper or paint them or decorate them however they wanted.

My favourite new bag

is the one I made with this pattern:
http://store.sewingtoday.com/cgi-bin/voguepatterns/shop.cgi?s.item.V7862



It's such a nice bag because it's so very hands-free plus it has a little pocket in the strap for your cell phone or a small wallet to be easily accessed.

I have to say though, following patterns is hard when you're used to making things up as you go. Lots of confusion and the invisible zipper was really frustrating, but cool enough that I want to keep trying to master it.

-A

What I've Been Up To

I am sewing bags this year instead of wrapping paper, with fabric I bought 3 years ago for this purpose. The seams are kinda wonky as I let my two and a half year old step on the pedal for me (idea M gave me). I am also busy filling those bags but not much more left to do.

Some Xmas gifts

Since people are going to have some of these presents right away I figured what the heck might as well post them! Everyone is too busy to look here right now anyway! M

A wrap baby carrier (terrible picture but I didn't look at it til it was already wrapped so too bad! lol)


Vintage button magnets. These magnets are so freaking strong I bet I could attach myself to the fridge...




An ocean themed feltboard and a dinosuar themed feltboard.

Super cool Xmas countdown idea

How cute are these numbered envelopes?!

http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/sewing_room/index.html

Dragon and Christmas Embroidery

Two teatowels I made last year. The reindeer is clipart and the bunny is from a set of vintage patterns I bought on ebay.



Baby onesie:



Next on the embroidery schedule are these elves from Wee Wonderfuls.



-A

I have issues

Do you think I could make one ribbon headband?! Lordy no! The ones that are gifts have extra elastic sticking out so the recipient can adjsut to fit their head if needed. I am keeping 4 of them :) They look ever so country club on me...might need to start calling me Missy again ;) M

Bippity Boppity Bibs

I love sewing bibs, they are quick(ish) to sew, you don't need a lot of fabric and they are a nice showcase for the fabric, embroidery or applique. Unfortunately they also mean working with my arch nemesis, Bias Tape. I will defeat you yet, Bias Tape!

24 hours of crafting

This is what I've been working on the last 24 hours. 10 wreaths, 10 scarves, 2 belts, 2 bags. Phew. Tis the season! M

Belts

Bags, these are the first bags I've ever made...and I have learned I ahve the attentions span of a fruit fly....LOL Amanda I now know how much work must go into yours!




Ornaments, a better picture than the ones from a few days ago. Funny what difference a little light in the room will do ;)

Handcrafted Play Food

Wow, I tried to make some felt foods but these are just wonderful. From Mahar Drygoods, click photos to link to site.





-A

Scarf ornament

yes you guessed it I am focusing on the ornamanents at the moment...I cut this scarf out of the ribbing of a sweter I "felted" the same sweater I used for the little mittens below. Little vintage button to embellish. - M

wreath ornament

Thank you Martha! I picked up her latest special issue all about handmade holiday gifts Holiday Handmade Gifts. This gift topper was in it, but instead I am making them into tree ornaments. I wrapped green pipe cleaner around a donut shaped piece of cardboard. Then I sewed on the bow and beads. its too bad but the picture doesn't show how sparkly these cute little beads are :( M

Can't Afford a Christmas Village?

Make your own! The fun part about this is that the kids can help decorate the houses too. I've been saving boxes and for mine I want to cut windows and put tissue paper in them with lights inside and use evergreen branches as little trees. Click link for instructions with templates. If I get mine done I'll post a picture.



-A

Shadow and a Bee Block

So it turned out Sonic was a big hit, and I got a request for Shadow the Hedgehog for Christmas.




I also put some of my fabric scaps to use before my scrap drawer exploded. (If you're looking at the photo mystified, it's a baby toy.)



-A

Christmas ornaments

I've been busy trying all sorts of Christmas ornaments. I want some of them to be a surprise so until I have given them away I will only post these. I bought a 100% wool sweater from Salvation Army and washed it a few times to "felt" it. I finally read a tip that dishsoap helps the process and it does! So finally with my felted wool I cut out these little mittens and then sewed in the string. I think they are pretty sweet :) M

Black Train Backpack

The black fabric is from an old pair of pants, I found the train fabric at a craft store. It took me 2 naptimes to finish.



-A

Yes, more bags

Sorry for the redundancy of my posts, it's gift-making time.



But for fabulous holiday inspiration check out this flickr group:



-A

Stroller Blanket

This blanket is for Brodie. His fave colour is green :) Its the windproof/waterproof fleece on one side and this pretty green flecked with other colours wool on the other. I thought it would be great for the stroller and car trips. M

My First Etsy Purchase

was this print for my son's room



You can see more of the artist's work on her blog The Black Apple. Scroll down and you'll see why I suddenly really, really need some trees in my living room.

-A

Assorted Gifts and Crafts

Quilted christmas wallhanging. Quilting requires patience and precision, so I don't do much of it. Look at my loops, they are crazy lopsided and I will have to include that specific stick with the gift to make sure it hangs straight.



I whipped up another bag out of the remnants. I always request or purchase extra fabric in case I make a mistake and then if it all works out I have remnants to play with.



Embroidered bear bib. It has the sweetest blue, white and red Red Riding Hood print on the back, but I couldn't get a nice picture of it.





-A

baby mittens

I've concluded that baby mittens you buy in stores ar a joke. They are super short, super thin and can generally be removed by a baby in about 5 seconds. So (or sew) waterproof/windproof fleece was 50% off the other day and I got some to make some real baby mittens. the kind that basically go up to the baby's armpit lol. I'm trying them out in our -40 weather today. Next out of this fabric will be car/stroller blankets for the boys and a pair of mittens for Brodie, his will be slightly trickier because his will need thumbs ;) . M

Xmas Stocking

Here is a simple stocking for Brodie. Its hard to see int he picture but it does havea a cuff around the top. - M

Tea towel

An embroidered tea towel bday present for a friend. Long live the satin stitch :) M

Tree ornament

I cut this little tree out of felt, then embroidered the garland then sewed some sparkly beads onto it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy tree decoration! For the next one I am going to make the galrand look more draped..M

Free Vintage Holiday Embroidery Patterns

at Pattern Bee. I like the dancing santa and the teddy advent calendar, myself.

-A

Marvelous Muppets!

Gah. I cannot believe all the work and creativity that went into this quilt. It was made by Roxy Nova on Craftster. Click to see more pics.



-A

Christmas Stocking Ornament

I got my monthly Martha Stewart Living magazine a few days ago. It had the most adorable gift card holders in it. They had made them out of paper and I thought they would make excellent tree ornaments if I miniaturized them. Here is the very first one. Sewing on the ribbon was a pain! I may stick to a paper border at the top and jsut glue it on, although the sewing really reinforced the loop for hanging on the tree. I need to get some craft paper with a really condensed pattern, for such a small item big prints are kind of useless. I had snowflake paper but they were so spread out that some stockings didn't even get a snowflake! lol

Here is the Martha link. M

Paper Stockings

Some for me

Took a moment to make a couple of belts for me! the top is my "child of the 70's"reminiscing moment which is super wide and worn over the belt loops. The below is my more reserved through the loops lol. M

Throw Cushions part 2

I used this quilting fabric to cover the 2nd set of pillows on the couch. (see black set down below...) I loved how bright and retro it was. Its got a bit of nice stretch to it so your cushions won't look crinkly sitting on the couch. Boo on crinkly cushions! M