A Handmade Christmas

In the spirit of my renewed interest in all things sewing and craft, the Hunky Hubby and I have decided to have an all handmade Christmas this year. We are both realists about this and realize that it may not be possible to hand-make every gift we give. We are also committed to giving only things that will be useful for the recipients. We could make everyone babyfood jar snowglobes or brooches with our faces on them but we wanted to leave some crafts available for Lil A to make when she is 5 or 6.

We have also decided to publish the list of gifts we are going to make as well as do our best to take pictures and post tutorials as we go along. We know that members of our family and friends read this blog so we won't say who is getting each gift but we wanted to share our trials and tribulations and show that it is possible to have a handmade Christmas that makes you proud. We have done tons of research and stolen tons of ideas from all of you crafty bloggers out there and we will do our best to give credit where credit is due. That said, if you stumble upon this blog and see an idea that seems the same as yours, please leave me a comment or email me with a link and I'll check it out. I have seen so many different blogs that sometimes I can't find my way back and thus I can't post the link. Trust me, I want to link to you, as your tutorials are bound to make much more sense than mine.

I also want to publish the gift list to keep both the Hunky Hubby and myself accountable. I don't want to spend the last 2 week before Christmas chained to my sewing machine, breathing in Speedball screen printing ink fumes, frantically trying to get finished in time. I want to stick to a schedule and I want you to send me encouraging disappointed emails and comments if I get too far behind.

So here we go, the master list. I will add the dates I intend to make each item as soon as I figure out our budget.

Waldorf Doll with Doll Clothes and a Doll Sling

Lap Quilt from Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew

Makeup bags: maybe a couple of these boxy little pouches from Three Bears or this box bag tutorial from Drago[knit]fly

Car organizer from the tutorial on The Mayfly car garbage from Make it and Love it Cashmere Lap Quilt Corsage scarf using ideas from the Enchantresses3 (who did it on T-shirts) (3) Cookbook and Cooking DVD and Apron (3)Fabric necklace using a tutorial from Froogal And artsy clutch (Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew)

(5)Tissue holders using the oh so great tutorial on Skip to my Lou With some embellished pencils and magnets (earring/fabric) Woolen leaf scarf (Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials Plus Tips & Resources for Earth-Friendly Stitching) or Corsage scarf

(5) Stenciled t-shirt - the Hubby is in charge of this so I'll add some links when he decides what he is doing Music portfolio - I am going to work this out myself, I'll post the tutorial

(3) Crayon roll - another Skip to My Lou gem Or pencil roll all with pad

(2) Wool bonnet or maybe fleece? - again this is one of mine - tut to follow So there you go - my christmas list. I will post info as I go along. I am going to do my best to add links to the great vendors I use so that you can use their awesome stores as well. Wish me luck!

Sew Cute

Since my father graciously offered to pay for a seat for the Darling Daughter and the plans to fly to Montreal to visit the relatives have been solidified, I have been trolling the internet for ideas about how to make the flight easiest. Something I have come to again and again is to have a little stash of brand new toys for the child to play with on the flight. Since we are not exactly rolling in extra cash, I thought I would see if there was anything interesting and age appropriate I could make for her. 

My first search for toys I could sew offered and bonanza of free patterns and tutorials. Thanks internet. For my first project I thought I would try the "Itty Bitty Oddity" from Odd-Dotty Dollmaker.

Here is the result of my attempt:

So cute huh? The Darling Daughter is sort of interested in this little gorgeous gal. Hey - help me name her, suggestions welcome in comments. 

My next search was a little more pointed. I was looking for something that had tags on it. You know how baby's are - give them a new toy and all they want to play with is the tag you forgot to cut off. I came across the Craft Schmaft Tag Monster Pattern and thought with a few alterations I could make one that looked a little more girly. 

Here she is:

I added arms and sewed the tags so they formed a sort of monster tutu. I also embroidered green circles in the centre of the eyes and then used a blanket stitch to rim the eyes. Scary cute?

The Darling Daughter just loved, loved, LOVED this one so I am feeling pretty smug. I'll let you know if it remains remotely interesting during the plane ride.

Cobbling for Dummies

Right before I had the Darling Daughter I took my sewing machine in to be serviced. It was acting totally crazy and I thought it was going to cost me a fortune to have it fixed. Luckily all it needed was a tune-up and it came back running like a top. But by the time I got it back I had just given birth and I was much too busy nursing, changing diapers, napping and staring in utter amazement at this enchanting little creature to sew anything.

Now that the enchanting creature is a little older and happily spends time in her exersaucer and sitting on her own, I can squeeze a little time into my day to do some sewing. I have found some great sewing blogs with free tutorials to help me get started on some fabulous one of kind clothes for my fabulous one of a kind daughter. I posted a photo of a great little dress a few days ago but since then I have completed a gorgeous kimono top from some Heather Ross fabric that I fell in lust love with at the fabric store and a tutorial found here.

Oh my gosh - isn't the fabric just delicious - the kimono is so much cuter on the baby - it is so perfect with the chocolate brown binding. I could just eat her up! The Hunky Hubby loved the little shirt so much that he asked me to make him a big boy version. So now I go on the hunt for the perfect pattern for that.

I have also been lately lamenting the complete and utter lack of baby bonnets that exist in my immediate shopping vicinity. That's right, I exist in a baby bonnet vacuum. As cute as the Darling Daughter looks in the parade of toques, berets, sun hats and baseball caps I have plopped on her head in search of the perfect lid, I have longed for the nostalgic simplicity of a basic baby bonnet.

I finally took the dilemma in hand last weekend and decided to look for a sewing pattern. Although there are many different baby bonnet patterns out there, none of them really lived up to the picture I had in my head. I mentioned this out loud to my husband and his eyes got that wild look associated with my quest to find the perfect black flat that exists in my head.(We've been together 9 years and I am still barefoot sneaker-shod.)

I quickly assured him that I had taken an intensive sewing course in high school and drafting a pattern to match my imagination was not beyond my capabilities. After a few wonky paper patterns I had a workable version that quickly translated into a gorgeous brimless bonnet. Some cute buttons and satin ribbon later it was on her head and better than I imagined.

Now I just need to figure out why the Hunky Hubby keeps leaving Home Cobbling brochures around the house.

Home made baby

I made a dress for the Darling Daughter yesterday out of some fabric I bought for $4.00. I used some grosgrain I have for my hair bow making and voila - the cutest dress ever!!

You can find the really easy to follow tutorial at Habitual. Oh and I made the headband and baby legwarmers too. I make them a little different than the tutorials that are out there so I'll post those soon. I think there is enough fabric left to make some matching bloomers. I am going to work out a pattern for the bloomers with Velcro to make diaper changes a little easier so when I do I'll also post that tutorial too. Enjoy the cute!