More for Sew Hip and Christmas Decorations

I've spent most of today making the second of my items for Sew Hip magazine.  So again I'm going to say you'll have to wait for the magazine to come out to find out what I've been making, but I think I may be able to give you a clue.  These are the leftovers!

I know as clues go, its not a very good one, but you can rest assured it is very colourful!  Obviously when the relevant issue comes out I'll let you know so you can all dash out and buy a copy!

While I was sitting at the table needle in hand, my daughter and her friend decided to do crafting too.  Luckily I'd been to Hobbycraft yesterday and bought a few Christmassy craft things so I could pull out the wooden decorations and let them loose with colouring pens.  Even my two sons came and joined us, so we spent a lovely hour chatting, crafting and singing along to the radio.  This is one of the wooden decorations my eldest son coloured:

I got each of them to write their names and the year on the back, so when they're married with a Christmas tree of their own, I can produce these ornaments for them to inherit! 

Christmas Stockings

Decided that today was the day I was going to cut into my beautiful Christmas fabric, and although it was hard to do as I love it so much, I'm pleased I did.  Here are the results:

I followed a pattern at Seamzine blog.  I printed it out at an A3 size and then added another 3" at the top as I wanted it to be slightly longer than their pattern.  The pattern itself was pretty easy to follow, although I do still have to unpick one seam on the blue one as I managed to stitch the lining in back to front, but that was just me having a ditzy moment, nothing to do with the pattern.  I've got enough fabric to make another 4 or 5 so it looks like my stall on 20th November may have a few stockings to sell.

The good news with doing festive crafts this early is that I'm getting into the holiday mood a bit earlier than usual - maybe this year will be the year I finally get organised and not have to dash around the shops on Christmas Eve, but then again maybe not!

A Monster Effort

Yippee, have finally finished making the monsters and bags I started weeks ago!

So, a family portrait of them all:



I'm hoping to sell them at the Christmas Craft Fair I'm doing in Wimborne on 20th November.  However I will probably take a couple up to the local country market on Saturday and see if anyone is interested. 

Am also turning my mind towards Christmas decorations and am wondering what I should make.  This year I'm at a bit of a loss.  I've bought some gorgeous fabrics from Fabricworm,

but they're so nice I really want to make something special with them.  Am leaning toward Christmas stockings, but just wondered what anyone else was planning on making this year?  Has anyone found any gorgeous patterns? 

Purses and Scarf Knitting

Quiet day on the crafts front today, because my youngest 2 children have been off school with a tummy bug.  Luckily the sickness part of the bug had finished by last night, so although I had to be on hand, I was not needed for any yucky stuff!

My 6 year old loves crafts so she was happy to sit at the table making cards for her friends and writing stories while I  made a couple more purses for the market on Saturday.

I saw crazy patchwork somewhere recently, (and can't for the life of me remember where I saw it) but I liked the look of it and thought I'd have a bash with the contents of my scrap bag.  I made both sides similar, here is the reverse:

I've lined them with white poly cotton, and added a bit of ribbon on the zip.  Quick and simple to do with children around.

The other thing I've been doing of an evening is knitting myself a scarf.  I saw this wool in a shop on Sunday and thought it would make an interesting scarf.

Its not very clear from the photo, but its quite lacy.  The reason being is I used larger needles than recommended  (I wish I could say because I'd aimed for a lacy look, but really it's because I get bored quickly & wanted to knit something quickly).  Its about half as long as I'd like, so hopefully a few more days & it should be done.

Just thought I'd leave you with an image of a card my daughter made me while we were sitting at the kitchen table together - its lovely & cheerful and was just what I needed.

A+ Skirts earn an A+ for simplicity

You may remember a couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a pattern for an A+ Skirt from Make it Perfect.  Well today I finally made the skirt, and here it is:

I couldn't believe how easy it was to make.  I've never ever done any dressmaking before, and I made it without having to unpick a single stitch.  The instructions are so clear, so if you're thinking of making a skirt, I can thoroughly recommend this pattern.

Here is another view of the skirt - this time with me wearing it (although I've cut off my head as it was a terrible photo of me!)

I'm so excited I want to make more of them, so tomorrow I'm off to the fabric shop for more fabric, and soon I'll have a whole wardrobe of fantastic skirts.  I think perhaps a funky patterned corduroy next, with a pair of chunky knitted tights underneath - makes me cosy and warm just thinking about it.

Christmas Fun

As I've not managed to do much crafting this week, I thought I'd share our Christmas plans with you all. 

Several years ago we decided that for the adults in our family we would only buy presents costing £2.  This lead to some of the funniest and most useful presents we've ever had (Sock clips anyone?).  After a couple of years we got a bit bored and began to have themes, so far we've had "handmade" and "recycled".  This year we've taken things further & all presents have to be free - yep you heard right, completely and utterly FREE!

Now, if you are a member of my family, and are expecting oodles of free gorgeousness, please STOP READING NOW, for fear of spoiling the anticipation you have ready for 25th of December.  Others of you are welcome to read on:

These freebies have been sourced mainly on the internet but also through visiting stands in shopping centres, completing surveys, and through entering competitions.

As we are getting closer to Christmas with all the special offers in the shops, I'm also planning on adding some Buy One Get One free offers to this selection. 

If any one's interested, comment below & then I'll even share how you can gift a safari experience (of a sort!) for £2!

PS - This is what happened when I left my 10 year old son & husband alone with a pumpkin and a sharp knife - Just thought I'd share!

Half Term Chaos

Bit low on the crafty posting this week, it's half term here, and as well as having my own children off school, I'm playing host to family visitors. 

Haven't had time to touch my sewing machine, however I did watch Cats & Dogs 2 at the cinema, have been to McDonalds, and tomorrow I have the joy of attending a Halloween Disco on roller-skates?!  Will the fun never cease?

Rest assured that next week normal service will be resumed - I'll be sewing so fast that my sewing machine will have flames coming off of it & I will be drowning in fabric goodies.

Enjoy your half term whatever you are doing.