Christmas Craftiness 2015 - The Round Up

Well, here we are.  That time between Christmas and New Year's where I can sit back, relax for a few minutes and take a bit of a break from all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.  Christmas was a lovely day for us, with everyone home bright and early in the morning for opening gifts and then having a huge brunch before they had to head off to their various Christmas dinner plans.  (although not as bright and early as the little boys felt they should have been here of course - they were up just after 5am this year, so had to wait a wee bit for the older ones to arrive)

Once again this year, I felt like I didn't get as many projects done as I had hoped.  Things went a bit crazy busy around here in the late fall, which set me back considerably, so there were a few things that got left off the list.  I'm not going to tell you about them though, because I'm saving those particular projects for next Christmas instead.   The silly thing is, last January I decided I was going to be super ahead of the game and start making projects then in order to avoid the "It's the week before Christmas, and oh my goodness I need to make sixteen bajillion gifts" panic.  I made precisely one project and then promptly forgot about my resolution.  Let me tell you, I thought I was still sitting smug and pretty until life got busy and then boy oh boy I regretted not following through on that "ahead of the game craftiness".  This coming year, I'm going to really try to do things ahead of time.  hahahahahahahahahahaha.  I know.  I know.  I live in a world built on delusion. ;)

Anyways onto the fun stuff!

The little boys set to work a few weeks ago making some new wall art for the holidays.  We did this last year and it was such a fun project we thought we'd try it again!  I think we'll try and keep up the tradition for at least a few years.  I envision down the road, years from now when the little boys are grown how precious it will be to have their teeny tiny hand and footprints hanging on our wall every Christmas!  They also did some art at school as gifts for us.

The top two are the ones we did at home, the "mistletoes" are Baby Boy's and the tree, Little Man's.

For my craftiness, I'll kick off (see what I did there?  ha ha!) with some hand knit socks I knit for my beautiful girls - G and Nick's lovely girlfriend, A.

These were my "ahead of the game project", Piccolo Mondo Anitco socks
I have no idea why I took a picture of just one. G does indeed have a pair of them!

A pair of Water for the Elephants for A to commemorate her trip
to Cambodia where she rode an elephant!

Next we'll move onto the knits for the "big boys" - J, N and G's boyfriend, B.

This one was for J - a Lansbury cowl, modelled by the handsome Baby Boy

And for B - Little Man is modeling the ever popular Oats pattern by Tin Can Knits

N's Wooly Bear Freestyle Cap almost didn't make it on time...
I cast off and wove in the ends at 3:30am Christmas morning! 

Of course no holiday crafting would be complete without some fingerless gloves in the project list (or so it would seem given my lists for the last few years!)

The first pair are "Leaves" for A, then the remaining four pairs were teacher's gifts
from top to bottom: Clary Mitts, Give em the Slip, Diamond Hand Wristwarmers and Magic Loop Mitts

That wraps up the knitting, so lets move along to the sewing!

The girls both wear scarves all the time, so I made them each a cozy flannel and lace infinity scarf
(my own pattern)

Earlier in the fall my nephew, who had requested "footie pjs" last Christmas, told me he'd outgrown his pair from last year and would really love a new pair.  I found out my niece also needed a new pair - not surprising since I think I sewed her pair almost two years ago!  So of course I obliged and they wore their cozy new jam jams home from the family Christmas Eve party.

The kids will be cozy warm this winter for sure!
Pattern is Kwik Sew #2704

Every Christmas I make the little boys a new pair of matching pjs for Christmas Eve.  I love surprising them with them, but this year I was really worried I was going to run out of time.  I even looked at some pjs at the store but held off buying them in hopes I could miraculously get the mama made ones done despite the time crunch.   Somehow I did manage to get a pair started for each of them on the 22nd of December and finished them up late the next night (Ack!!!! Moment of panic ensued when I found absolutely no buttons in the button jar to match.  How is that even possible!?!  Thank goodness I had snaps that would work!).  Taking a photo of two overly excited, overly tired little boys proved to be quite the challenge, so this is about the best view you get!

Wearing their new Batman pjs!
Pattern is a vintage Simplicity #6427
(How can it be vintage?!?! It's c.1974, which means its YOUNGER than me!)

The last project I sewed for Christmas this year just about did me in.  It's nothing untoward with the pattern, it was that I was tired and somehow between that and checking out my topstitching and just plain old not paying attention, partway through the back seams I sewed through my finger.  Bonus points go to me for not dripping blood on any fabric, but holy doodle that hurt like a son of a gun.  I've not had a "sewing through a digit" incident in almost 30 years and it's one I'd rather not repeat EVER again, thank you very much.  I almost gave up right there and then.  I also then had issue with the pockets and the zipper facing - not injury inducing, just pulling out my hair type issues.  The end result was worth the heart ache and hassle though, but I really felt it could've been a better experience.

G in her Greenstyle Creations Sundance Jacket

There were also a few other crafty projects for the holidays!

Some festive mugs done with Sharpie Oil Paint pens
for G and B to sip their mulled wine from

Every year since my kids were born I have given them a new ornament for Christmas.  I always tried to stick with a matching theme, which was significantly easier when there were only three of them.  Now that there's five plus the older one's significant others trying to find a matching theme became quite a challenge, so a few years ago I started making the ornaments instead.  This year's ended up getting done just under the wire - mostly because I just couldn't decide what I wanted to do.

Indecision.  It'll be my undoing some day.

Anyways - I finally made a decision and dashed outside shortly before we had to leave for the city on Christmas Eve and cut my branches.  Then at 11pm when we got home my wonderful husband carved the tops and drilled the holes for me while I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, doing some hand sewing on G's jacket, wrapping presents, and putting presents under the tree and doing other miscellaneous odd jobs on my to-do list, then I set to work with some acrylic paints and an oil paint sharpie.  Sometime just after midnight I had seven cute little Santa ornaments ready to go!

Ho ho ho!

The little boys had two very special gifts that they had me help them make this year as well.  It was very hard for them to keep them secret and they were pretty much bursting by the time they were finally able to present them to Daddy on Christmas morning.

First up was a mug for him to use at work on his coffee breaks - I think this is likely going to become yet another tradition as they did one for him last year too and they're already talking about next year's mug.

Various views of the Daddy's new coffee mug

They also made him a new painted t-shirt.  I'm a bit worried that I didn't put enough fabric medium into the acrylic paints because it faded a whole lot when I washed it, but hopefully the initial fading is as much as it's going to do, because they really did work hard on their shirt and I'd hate for it not to last!

So that's it for the Christmas craftiness this year, but  I do have another project to show you that I just made as a birthday gift for my little niece.  I used pajama fleece and shimmery stretch satin for this  and it was a really fun project - fairly quick to make and low stress.  She was really pleased with it too I think, putting it on as soon as she opened it.  It's from Rissa's Mermaid/Fish Tail Lounge Sack pattern from The Plucky Butterfly Designs and I can definitely see making more of these in the future!  Unfortunately all the pictures I took of the little lady wearing her mermaid tail turned out blurry and out of focus.

As we approach the new year I'm going to work on some easy, relaxing projects.  I've got an Andi Satterlund cardigan, Anouk, on the needles for her latest knit along on Ravelry.  I've also got a Paprika Patterns Zircon Sweater on the sewing table that I'd planned to have done a few weeks ago and didn't manage to get done due to a bit of a fabric choice mishap.  And then?  I'm going to start on the those gifts for next Christmas.  (go ahead and laugh, we all know how likely it is that I'll actually follow through on that plan... LOL)

I hope you've all had a peaceful holiday season,  with whatever holiday or tradition you celebrate and that your New Year is full of happiness, good health and wonderful adventures!

A Round Up Of Christmas Crafting - The Sewing

Since I showed you the knitting portion of my holiday crafting yesterday, I thought today I would do a round up of the sewing!

I took leave of my senses sometime in early October and decided I just had to sew each of the little nieces pjs and matching doll pjs. Now, if I'd acted on this notion right away I would've been in good shape come Christmas time. However one thing led to another which led to another, which led me to not even buying fabric until December. Now, I've had to come to accept the fact that sewing when Baby Boy and Little Toddler Man are awake is just not a wise idea. There are just far too many interesting things for toddlers to do down in the basement, none of which include playing with the toys that reside in my sewing area. It's hard to sew and keep toddlers out of trouble at the same time. Unfortunately, once the toddlers went to bed I was so tired that I often followed close behind them into the Land of Nod, which was equally as detrimental to progress. Eventually, the week before Christmas I was able to start. (BF)G's first day of holidays I woke up, said good morning and hightailed it downstairs by 7am to start sewing. I was like a woman possessed. Sanity was left in shreds, but progress was made and by 10:30pm, December 23rd, all gift sewing was DONE!

Flannel Nightgown 1

Flannel Nightgown 2

I used a vintage nightgown pattern and modified a remake of a vintage Simplicity
Pattern for two of the nieces' nightgowns and matching doll nightgowns. I think the girls were happy despite the fact both nightgowns turned out much bigger than intended. Both little girls donned their nighties shortly after opening them on Christmas eve and proceeded to wear them the rest of the evening. It really made all the last minute sewing frenzy worth it!

Flannel PJs 1

Flannel PJs 2

Waldorf Style Pocket Doll

I used a new pattern for the other two little nieces pjs - its the same pattern I used back in the fall for the Two Year Old Birthday Swap present. It's a fun little pattern. The only thing I modified was to do a button with an elastic loop rather than buttonholes. The pjs for dolly were modified slightly from the remade vintage Simplicity Pattern to match and the Waldorf Style Pocket Doll was from a tutorial on the Bamboletta website. I hear from my sister that my niece loved her monkey pjs so much she just finally got her out of them yesterday to go out. Glad to hear they were so well received. The little two year old niece who got the doll with her jammies seemed pretty pleased with her "baby" on Christmas eve, giving it lots of love when she opened it.

I really had fun making the doll. I bought a needle felting needle last time I was at my LYS and thought I'd give the needle felting method a whirl for making the head. It was amazing! It makes such a nice firm, cohesive inner core for the head, and the puncture wounds I gave myself during my learning curve have all healed now so I can look fondly on this method and say without hesitation that all Waldorf style heads made by me in the future will be aided by a needle felting needle (and perhaps some protective gear for my hands...). I suspect I will be making more of these little pocket dolls in the future. I have several baby gifts needing to be made (the baby boom continues all around me it would seem) and both Baby Boy and LTM were quite enamored with it as well. I have to give kudos to (BF)G on the suggestion of the ribbon bow. It took the doll from being Plain Jane ordinary to super cute I think! He comes up with some pretty good suggestions. It's why I keep him around. Or at least partly why anyways. ;)

Superman PJ Pants

I dragged N with me the day I went shopping for flannel and while there he saw the superman print and hinted broadly that he'd like a pair of pjs out of it. So, my next trip to the fabric store included a couple of metres just for him! He was happily wearing them when he left on Christmas morning to go back to the city so I'm going to say they were a success. (although clearly he missed lesson #552 when growing up. Pjs are for at home. Not out and about! Even if a bajillion teenagers and far too many adults would disagree with me...)

Inside view of make up roll

Outside view of make up roll

G, as I mentioned yesterday, makes gift making and giving so easy! I saw a tutorial online for a makeup roll and had found the perfect fabric for it. To top it off make up brushes were on her wish list. What better way to make a nice little gift?! And really, what says glamour better than 1940s Paris? I modified the tutorial ever so slightly doing a plush binding along the top of the pocket and an elastic wrap around closure using a satin finished narrow FOE (fold over elastic).

Sleep Mask and Flax Heat Pad

Using the same "glamourous" fabrics I made a flax heat pad and sleep mask for my 17 year old niece who often muses on Facebook that she wishes she had a weekend to just relax. I wanted to put together a "relaxation in a box" gift for her. I used a tutorial from Sew4Home for the sleep mask.

Earbud Cases

Last but not least, J had complained to me a while ago that he was always getting his headphones tangled in his pocket so I thought I'd make some funky cases for him and N to store their earbuds in. Unfortunately due to trying to sew with toddlers afoot, they're not as perfectly round as I would have liked them. Apparently, when sewing a circle it's a good idea to look at the seam you are stitching rather than continuing to sew whilst repeatedly craning your head over your shoulder to ensure two toddlers hell bent on mischief are actually still in the room with you. Lessons learned.

So, that brings us to the end of the madness that was gift making for Christmas 2012! I think if I'm going to plan on such a large selection of handmade gifts for next Christmas I had better start in January. I won't of course (start that is), but I should.

Help! I'm Buried Under Holiday Crafting!

It's been ages since I did a crafty post. Mostly because I've been too busy crafting to do much of anything else. You see, I had this notion that I'd really like to do more handmade gifts for Christmas this year. Now, while that may be a noble and worthwhile goal, it also takes some dedication, organization and NO procrastination if one is to actually succeed in such an endeavor. Or at least succeed with a shred of sanity left in tact. I'm a little lacking in item number one and two and have a huge abundance of item number three, so it's been a challenge. I feel as though I am somewhat buried under the number of items still left on my list. Ah, but what would the holiday season be without a mad panic dash to the gifting finish line?

I can't tell you what all I've been up to in that department. Hush, hush! All in due time. I promise. But I can show the few things that I've tossed in the crafting mix as I've been madly working on gifts.

First off! In big news, possibly only to those living under this roof, Baby Boy decided about a month ago to potty train himself. Seriously. I should let him out for hire to teach parents how to potty train their stubborn toddler. He did a remarkable job of it all on his own. I'm still not sure how. All I know is one day I was asking if he'd like to try the potty and it was, "No thanks. I fine" and suddenly he vanished from sight the next day and when I found him he was happily sitting on the potty saying quite proudly, "I peed!" Blow me over with a feather and grab the training pants! Took him one week and he was out of diapers during the day. Now a month later he's getting up in the night to go pee. Amazing.

Anyways, I'm sure as I mentioned, this is probably really only exciting to us, so moving right along. Training pants! He needed a few more pairs I figured. And since I don't get to sew diapers anymore I thought I'd might as well sew trainers!

Here's a couple so heavily modified there's not a whole lot left to the original "Tinkle Time Trainers"!

Patriotic Pants!

A nod to his Scottish ancestry

Who doesn't like cowboys?

My very favourite is the oh so patriotic Maple Leaf one. Although it really does remind me of a 1970s Speedo, I think it's pretty cute. And Baby Boy's pudgy little belly suits it much better than say a 60 year old man with a beer belly.

The other thing I have made other than gifts lately is a "Dear Santa" mug rug. I had seen one on Pinterest that I thought quite adorable and got the starting off point from that. I then incorporated my other favourite mug rug pattern for the diagonals. I'm not terribly good at embroidery so I kept it fairly simple and since I couldn't find a white background print fabric I liked, I used white Kona cotton and stamped it with acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium to make it washable. Little Toddler Man has his letter to Santa waiting already in the pocket. The milk and cookies will have to wait though much to his dismay.

Santa's very own mug rug!

So that's a quick "drive by" hello from me while I wait for the iron to heat up! Happy crafting and Happy Holidays to all celebrating in this festive season! I'll be back after Christmas to show you all the rest of the things that have been keeping me up late at night with a Christmas Craft Round Up!