Christmas Gifts Part 1

Now that the first round of Christmas parties are past, I can “safely” post the gifts that I made =)

Tuesday night the ladies at church had a Christmas party.  The “rules” were a gift for $10 or less.  So, I made a note card holder.

It was made from fabric I had in my stash, so no money spent there.

 

I filled it with some note cards/ greeting cards and included a gift card to Starbucks.  After all, who doesn’t enjoy coffee?  The holder is small enough to fit in your purse and is closed with an elastic binder and button.

Last night we had our Sunday School Christmas party.  The “rules” were to spend $5 or less on a gift.  Again, I used what I had in my stash…

A set of four Christmas tree napkins.

 

And a snowflake ornament.

Now it’s time to move onto the presents for family.  Some of the things I won’t post until after Christmas though =)

For the dessert I brought to the party, check out this post.

Little Froggy

See the little froggy Swimming in the pool
The water’s great- It’s nice and cool
When she gets all cleaned up Out she’ll hop
Squeaky clean From bottom to top.
See the little froggy On the lily pad
Trying to catch flies She’s getting sad.
When she catches one, She’ll gobble it up
Back in the water She’ll go Ker plop!

 

 

Many months ago, I downloaded this pattern for a frog.  And now I can’t find the link to where I found it =(  If anyone knows, please let me know so I can properly credit the designer.

Little Froggy is about 7.5 inches long and is filled with barley to give her that bean bag feel. 

Fields of Blue

I came across this pattern in my stash.  And I had a piece of blue flowered fabric that I had no idea what to do with.  It seemed to be a match made in heaven lol!

The pattern is Simplicity 5320 circa 1972.  And the fabric...  Let's just say I got it in the same bag that the pattern came in =)

Not really wanting another dress, I shortened it a bit more to a tunic style.  Added a black belt at the waist and Voila!  You have Fields of Blue.

The fabric is sheer, but not sheer enough to see anything underneath.

I think I will definitely be making another shirt using this pattern. 

Juliet

I came across this pattern at a local quilt shop and thought I should try it out.

You can't really see the gathered bust line in the picture (mostly because of the pattern on the fabric). 

I cut the pattern for the above the knee length and then realized that it needed a bit more length to be modest enough =)  So, I added the ruffle on the bottom.

I had originally planned on this being my Easter dress, but didn't get it finished in time.  So, it became my Mother's Day dress.  Wore it with a cute fitted blazer because it wasn't quite warm enough to go sleeveless. 

I plan on making this again.  Might even play around with mixing different fabrics.

Chiffon Cascade

A quick, fun, and easy project. I took a piece of embroidered silk chiffon I had (I bought it without really knowing what it was going to be) and cut it so the selvage edges were at the ends of the scarf. The sides were finished using a rolled hem on the serger. The fun detail is the "grape" clusters at each end of the scarf.

The scarf is wide enough that it can also be worn as a shawl.

This project was inspired by Pretty Ditty.

Polka Dots and Pearls

I came across this pattern on fiddlehead and just knew that my Girly- girl needed one for herself.

I figured I had *just* enough fabric to get every piece out and was really proud of myself that I had very few scraps when Junior decided he wanted to help me and cut the tie straps into pieces :( Now what?

Fortunately Girly- girl saved the day by reminding me that I had pretties she liked to wear. A few quick stitches and she had a pretty sewn to her shirt to help keep it up.

Now she's all ready for the hot summer months... If they ever decide to show up around these parts.

All to say Thanks!

I wanted to share a fabulous idea I found on MADE. What a great way to personalize cards for whatever reason.

I needed a quick creative Thank You card.

Turned out pretty cute, don't you think?

All Tied Up

I've always admired tie front shirts. I just never dreamed they were this easy lol! Six seams and it was done. Took me all of about 20 minutes to cut the fabric and sew it together. I was able to wear it to a party that night. And looked fabulous =)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there =)

I finished this up for me =) It was pretty simple. The fabric was already smocked. Now I just have to decide if I want to wear it as a skirt or a top.

DH votes for a skirt, because it "billows" out too much otherwise and makes me look pregnant lol!

Something for me

I finally had time to finish something for me. I actually started this a couple months ago, but got side- tracked with other projects. Paying customers are a priority =)

This is a simple tank style dress with ties just under the bust line. The skirt is gathered slightly and then falls away in an A- line cut.

The fabric is something I acquired from Craigslist. I had bought a bag of vintage fabrics and patterns. They were cleaning out grandma's house and didn't know what to do with the sewing stuff they found. It is a jersey knit with clear sequins all over it, so it's "very sparkly."

I can't wait until DH and I get a date night so I can wear this lol!

Something Amazing

This was another custom order from Etsy. I really enjoyed working with this client and creating a dress for her.

She wanted a dress that matched this picture (birdcage not included):

After searching a couple stores, I finally found the fabric on one of my on- line sources. So glad I did :)

The dress is a simple wrap style top with an open back detail. The skirt is gathered just below the waistband which is accented with a blue and silver ribbon.

I love the way the dress turned out. It's very light and feminine and "floaty." My DH told me it looked like it is the type of dress that you would wear to an afternoon garden party lol!

Still trying to figure out the best way to photograph the finished projects. Most of the time the pictures I post just don't do the outfits justice. So, if anyone out there has some tips, please leave me some comments :)