A November Sewing Marathon . . . . . . . . . . . .

Greetings lovely friends & readers & Welcome to December 🎄 

(warning - a photo heavy post - I've tried to condense my pics as much as I can)

November was a really busy month in which I tried to get a lot done so I would not feel so pressured once December rolled around.  I am slower these days & need to factor in that creating takes me so much longer now. 

I made up the little kit of the "Ted in Bed" that I purchased at the Quilt Show as it came with everything required.  It was a sweet & simple project to whip up.  I then decided to make my Grandsons & my step-grandaughters one each for Christmas.

I used some wool blanket offcuts for the girls "beds", lined with Tilda fabrics, & contrasting felt for the Teds.  I enlarged the pattern slightly for the boys & made theirs using Minecraft fabric offcuts.  I made their Teds in bright flouro colours & then knitted them a scarf each.  These are going in their Christmas stockings.

I completed an order for 16 lavender sachets for my friend Sally using muslin that she provided.  I ran out of satin ribbon but Sally said to leave the others as she had ample herself.  These were made using last seasons homegrown lavender.

I made each Grandson a Minecraft pillowcase using this simple tutorial Here..  Little One very kindly gave me a lesson in scissor safety seeing as he is such an expert on the subject 😉

Many many years ago (over 10 in fact) I tore this picture (top left) out of an old Country Craft & Decorating Magazine. I'd always loved it & wanted to make my own handmade Christmas Crackers.  

This year I finally gave it a go using toilet roll tubes covered in wadding, all fully reusable, just untie the ribbons at each end. I did put a cracker snap in each one (purely for fun) & filled them with gourmet choccies.  I used double sided cellotape to hold the fabric closed, a yo yo heart & a christmas charm tied on - such a fun project 💗

Last year I purchased the pattern above for Santa's LongJohns from * this etsy store *.  It is called Santa's Union Suit in the pattern.  I decided to make it up as I came across this velvet curtain in my cupboard, purchased for $5 from the Hospice Shop in Mum's town (so quite sometime ago then).  It was a fairly simple project though in hindsight I would've have enlarged it as it's more like a child's size rather than fitting a grown-up Santa.

Sally kindly loaned me her number stamps so I could make the tag that comes with the pattern download.  I had rusty bells in my stash to embellish it & wiped dark wax over a pale wooden coat-hanger to darken it slightly. 

Here it is hanging in my lounge ... Yes dear friends, I Am rapidly running out of wallspace to hang things (!!)

My friend Gail cleared out a lot of her Christmas fabrics & very generously gave me a pile.  I loved these two above & decided to make a stocking each for my step-grandaughters Juno & Sadie.  I used quilted calico for the backs, lined them with fabric & wadding, appliqued their names on & made a little pocket in each stocking. 

I stitched a strip of the complimentary fabric to the top, added some festive braid so I could hand sew some christmas charms along the top.  

The reason I added the pocket is because I planned to make a little felt toy to sit in the pocket of each one.

Using this free molly and mama download I made little felt Angels but I stuffed mine with wadding rather than just having them flat as the pattern calls for.  I found some silver charms in my stash with the girls initials on "J" & "S" so I sewed these to their necks.  I've added a tie to the back of the head in case they want them to be tree decorations. 

When I went hunting in my drawer for the Santa's LongJohns pattern I came across this very old craft magazine - Vol  2, No 3.  I'd made the flat doll Angel in it years ago for an Order so I thought I'd quite like to make myself one.  

I put the finishing touches on her last weekend & have yet to find just-the-right-spot to hang her.  She is so sweet.  Instead of Love Blooms in Christmas Hearts, I stitched Christmas Wishes on my banner.

(When I made her for an Order I'd enlarged the pattern by 200%)

She is meant to have Perle thread for her hair but I'd run out of the right colour so just used some mohair that I had in my stash.  Her wings, arms & dress are all Liberty fabric. 

If you've made it to the end, give yourself a pat on the back! (You may all need a little Lie down now)

Well done & Thank You 💗for reading my waffle ramblings.

Wishing you a great rest-of-the-week dear friends,

With much love & friendship to you all,