What I ended up making for Christmas

Hi everyone,

I've seen some lovely homemade gifts on this site, and have been so inspired!  Sadly my Christmas gift planning was a complete fail.  I didn’t make any of the things I planned to make, but did end up making something I wasn’t really planning to make at all.  Thanks to a comment from Marie I decided to make a pair of boxers for my boyfriend.  I used Kwik Sew pattern 1672 and am totally chuffed about how well they have turned out. 

Not least the amazing fluke pattern matching at the centre front, it’s (almost perfect).

I also made some embroidered gift tags, partially inspired by this purl bee tutorial, although I made the tags bigger and embroidered the names on instead of using card.

I hope everyone elses Christmas making plans went well.  Happy holidays everyone!!!

Embroidered Jam Pot Covers...

Back in the Autumn I made a couple of varieties of chutney as Christmas gifts. Spiced Marrow Chutney and a Tangy Beetroot Chutney using a combination of recipe ideas from this brilliant site. They've been "maturing" since October so should be perfect for the Christmas table by now. The only thing left to do was make them look all Christmassy and add a little personal touch to them; so I opted for some hand embroidered jam pot covers tied with grosgrain ribbon....(I actually had about 12 jars in total but some had already been gifted before I had a chance to take these photos!)

I got all OCD on getting the right size circle for my covers. Just didn't like the idea of cutting a square and trimming it to size once in place. I just KNEW I would screw it up that way. So if anyone else is as mildly obsessive about these things as me here's my method...


I had several sizes of jar so just repeated the process for each different size. Firstly draw round the the lid of the jar on a sheet of paper...

Then find the centre point of the circle by folding it in half lengthwise then across the width. It's actually the circle itself that needs to be folded in half so I held the paper up to the light as I was folding so as to see through it and line the edges of the circle up as I was folding...

Measure the diameter of the circle, let's say this one was 3". Then mark a point the exact same distance, 3", from the centre point, extending out beyond your original circle, on each of the four fold lines...

Then find a plate/bowl/object (or use a compass if you want to be super precise!) and use it to draw a circle that encompasses these four points equally(ish)...

Et voila...Cut out your template(s)....

Because I planned to emroider my covers I cut out heavy weight iron on interfacing the exact same size as my jar lids....

And some squares of fabric (thrifted and upcycled of course!) slightly larger than my templates.....

Place fabric square RS down on the ironing board. Centre the interfacing sticky side down on top of the fabric and press to adhere. Then pin the template on top of this making sure the centre circle of the template lines up with the circle of interfacing....

Cut around the template with pinking shears...

It should look like this...

I then embroidered snowflakes on each cover with embroidery floss. These are a combination of French Knots, Lazy Daisy Stitch, and Back Stitch and took about 15 mins each to do so great as a last minute personal touch...

Secure the covers to the jar tops with elastic bands then tie with ribbon......

There are so many ideas out there for "Gifts in a Jar" and these would add a nice finishing touch to anything in a jar. Not just chutneys  :)
Px

Felted wool needlecases...

School's out for Christmas! Today was my last day of college this year. I like to take a little something in for my fellow students to mark the start of the holidays, that's just the kinda gal I am ;) . A couple of years ago it was homemade Elderflower Champagne (literally the best taste in the world!). Last year I made some dinky little pin cushions for everyone. This year I thought I'd whip up some needle cases and try my hand at some embroidery in the process. I kept it kitsch and silly. The overall effect is definately handmade, but I think they turned out pretty cute!

The blue felted wool that I used for the main body of the cases came as part of a joblot I picked up from freecycle.  The inside cover from thrifted fabric. The coloured felt was left from another project and the embroidery floss and buttons were all from my stash. So there was no outlay at all for these. In case you're interested, here's what I did...
I found something roughly the size and shape I wanted (yes that's an allotment card. I took on an allotment this week. Eeep!) and used it as a temlate to mark out my needle cases on the felted wool...

I cut out the number I needed plus a few extra in case I messed up...

The felted wool was a little too floppy on it's own and as I also planned to embroider the covers I interfaced using heavy weight iron on interfacing, a few mm in from the edges...

I cut the "inside covers" from a medium weave pure cotton (a thrifted curtain to be precise)and pinked the edges to limit any fraying. They are marginally smaller than the needle case but large enough to obscure the interfacing...

Then I applique'd (does applique have a verb form??!) and embroidered each cover with a different design using felt scraps, buttons, beads and embroidery floss(sorry about the picture quality. Light levels have been awful!)....

Sewed the "inside covers"  on to hide the back of all the stitching etc et voila!

I sewed with the RS up to make sure I didn't ruin things by sewing over the applique and used a dark thread on the spool and a cream thread on the bobbin to match the stitching to the colour of the two fabrics...

They're not perfect, but considering they were made from just what I had at hand, not too shabby either, and they were certainly snapped up at college with lots of  "oohs" and "ahhs" and exclamations of "did you make these" Ofcourse I concluded that they were just being polite but I did at least refrain from pointing out all the mistakes, lol! I'm getting better ;)
Px

Felt decoration fun!

Last year I went on a one day felt decoration workshop.  It was so much fun, it totally sparked an interest in felt and embroidery!  I went a bit nuts at home and made all of these beauties.  Some were inspired by decorations I found images of on the web, others are my own creation.

I could make a million of these things.  These two are my favourites.

 

Hypotrochoid hankies

Hiya Christmas Crafters!  Stitchybritt reporting in for duty.  I see you're all pumping through your Christmas to-make lists.  Well done!  Only a month to go now, which on one hand is scary, but on the other - I can't wait!  Yay!

Hypotrochoid hankies were an idea I had ages ago but only just got around to making.  What's a hypotrochoid, you ask?  Remember these spirally things you used to draw as a kid using a special wheel with holes for your pen inside a circle stencil?  Yeah, those!  They are a bit cool and scientific looking, and I've got a friend who's into both sciency things and crafty things, so I thought some of these embroidered on some hankies would make a great Christmas gift.

I actually made the hankies using soft cotton from a screen-printed pillowcase that didn't quite make the grade for a Christmas gift last year.  I just cut up the pillowcase and hemmed the edges, then proceeded to embroider.

To get the hypotrochoid shapes I got out my trusty Tate Modern Hypotrochoid set (I knew there was a reason I bought it as an adult) and drew a whole bunch of hypotrochoids, experimenting with different wheels and 'gauges' (holes that you put your pen in).  When I had chosen two that I liked (and wouldn't be too intricate to embroider) I traced them onto the hankies and embroidered away.

I hope this encourages you to do some wacky Christmas embroidery of your own!

Stitchybritt xx

Lullaby Lamb Felt Doll

Hi, everyone! I'm Amanda from Virginia, USA. I blog over at Sewin' in the Rain and this is my first time posting at Crafty Christmas Club. I credit CCC for motivating me to finish my first handmade gift of the season!

A little girl in my family is turning 1 around Christmas so I made her this cute little "Lullaby Lamb" doll out of felt, fabric and embroidery floss! The pattern is a design from Gingermelon, an Etsy shop with a bunch of adorable doll patterns available. She's based in Canada but her patterns are sent through e-mail and I got mine almost right away!

The lamb came together pretty easily and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Basic embroidery stitches are used to join the pieces. The original doll height is described as 3.5" (~9 cm) sitting down so I doubled the size of the pattern pieces to get a larger doll. Most pieces are whip stitched together and then stuffed with polyfil, including the wee snout!

Materials include:

• High quality woolen cream felt for the body from Purl Soho in New York. It doesn't pill like cheaper felts and has a smooth feel (though I admit using cheaper felt for the flower at the head and the pillow.)
• Leftover fabric from my first-ever skirt for the foot pads and inner ears.
• Seed beads at the center of the flower.
• Silk satin ribbon at the neck, also from Purl Soho.

I attached the pillow to the body of the lamb so it wouldn't get lost. As you can see, I also added a little message on the pillow! I'd love to make this again or try some of her other patterns. I know it'll go a lot faster now that I've done it once.

Have a wonderful week, and happy crafting!

~Amanda

My List

Firstly, a big Helloooo! to all fellow crafters and Christmas aficionados, and secondly, a huge thank you to the lovely Tilly for dreaming this up and making it happen.

I'm Elisalex of Stitch me Softly... Fairly new to blogging but no stranger to creative DIY; I was wondering how I would go about keeping my Christmas crafting secret, while also wanting to share it on my blog... So I couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of this network, not only to share my ideas and preparations and absorb the collective inspiration, but also allowing me to unashamedly express my excitement about the coming 9 weeks of pre-Christmas festivities!  (Anyone else notice how non-crafters think it's crazy to be getting excited about C-day mid October?  What they don't realise is the time that goes into a handmade holiday...)


So, without further ado, my To Do:

Decor

• embroidery hoop tree ornaments (that will also double up as little gifts) along the lines of this:

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• crochet snowflakes, (endless patterns here) and this year I will starch them to keep their shape.
• a wreath.  I've never had a wreath, let alone made one, but having seen some beautiful not-so-traditional wreaths, I'm feeling compelled to get involved.

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• stockings.  I made a fairisle one last year for my son, and I can't deny I felt a little jealous on Christmas morning!  So this year I'll be making a couple more chunky cabled stockings like this:

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Food

• Nigel Slater's Christmas Cake.  For anyone who doesn't like traditional Christmas cake - hit them with this. 

• Christmas Breakfast Buns from Xanthe Milton's Eat Me.  Beyond delicious.

The Christmas Present List is soon to come... Just need to wrap up some Autumnal projects before I completely immerse myself into all things Christmas!  Until the next time, over and out.