Blueberry

Introducing Blueberry.

He’s from Make Your Own Soft Toys. The pattern is called Ruby the Dachshund but you can see why I’ve called him Blueberry. Once again I didn’t construct the toy to the full pattern instructions. I attached the limbs differently. I sewed the limbs and ears on using dental floss so the thread would be a bit stronger. The eyes are also different to the pattern. I made the pom pom nose and am really happy with how it turned out.

This is my last Christmas gift for 2013. I completed him on Friday 13th. I’ve set a new record for getting Christmas gifts completed now.

A Taggie For Christmas

A special little bub is getting Taggies as part of her Christmas gift.

I can’t remember where I on the web I found the Taggie tutorial I use. If you have a look there are so many Taggie tutorials if you’re wanting to make one. I use 100% cotton fabric squares in mine just so by chance if baby happens to put in near their face when sleeping they can still breath. On these ones I did some embroidery in the centre of the plain square. Taggies are another simple gift to make. Babies can cuddle them, chew on them, play with them.

Eye Pillows

I was wanting to add something to a charity Christmas hamper and came up with idea of eye pillows.

The fabric I used was scraps from when I made the Ipad rests

Here’s the basic way that I did it

• Cut 2 fabric rectangles 3.5″ x 7.5″
• Right sides together sew all around leaving a gap
• Clip corners and turn right way out
• Fill with rice.
• Add 2 teaspoons of dried lavender or the contents of a herbal teabag
• Slip stitch closed

Don’t over fill the pillow with too much rice. You want it to be very floppy so that its not too heavy on the eyes and moulds around the face.

As these are just mini heat packs you can treat them the same and put them in the microwave or pop them in the freezer as soothing eye pillows.

2 More Ipad Rests

2 more Christmas gifts finished.

As I’ve mentioned in my previous Ipad Rest post I do like making them. They are gift that you can make for anyone by just changing the colour. People of all ages these days have Ipad or Tablets. They are really quick to make and also very inexpensive.

When I made them this time I really stuffed them firmly I think more than before as I had a little trouble topstitching the edge. It was so heavy on the end of my machine. I remembered I had an extension bed that came with my machine so for the first time in over 3 years of owning the machine I took it out of the plastic and used it. It really made a difference. The ipad rest is meant to be stuffed firmly. I think its a case of the more you make it the better you get at it. When I was slip stitching the filling gaps closed I kept adding teaspoons of rice which really gave it that firm feel.

Christmas Potholders

Potholders have been on my wishlist of things to make. They are a useful gift and around Christmas you can never have enough potholders or trivets when entertaining.

4 people are getting potholders as their gift this Christmas. I raided my fabric stash for any Christmas like fabric then designed the top of each potholder using the fabric I found. I knew what the finished potholders size would be and it was fun working out the 4 designs and calculating how wide to cut the strips. I’d sketched out designs on scrap paper with little measurement marks. I made 2 of each design so they would match as a set.

I cut the fabric into strips and using foundation piecing and stitch and flip methods stitched the strips onto some white fabric I had. This was the first time I done either method and found it really easy. My potholders have 4 layers the obvious top and bottom layers but also a layer of Insul-Bright and a layer of cotton batting. As these are potholders which are designed to hold hot items I wanted the heat resistant layer as well as the cotton batting. I found this tutorial to be really helpful to construct the layers of the potholder and to sew around the border. Even though they look quilted they aren’t as the stitching is only on the top layer.

When making this project I was using all the little craft gadgets I’d brought over time. I was remembering what gadgets I had and actually using them. I can’t imagine how I would’ve stitched the binding without my Clover Wonder Clips holding it all in place. Using hexagon templates to get the sizing accurate each time. I’m always picking up craft gadgets thinking I’ll use them one day.

Santa Sacks

I was asked to do these by a friend.

These are just store brought Santa Sacks that my friend purchased after last Christmas. My original thought was just to hand stitch the kids names onto the edging. My embroidery skills are poor. I started to back stitch the names and frankly it looked awful. I then got the idea of using my sizzix cutter to cut out polar fleece letters which I blanket stitched on. I am really happy with the result. I kept checking back to the paper I had the kids names typed on to ensure I spelt the names correctly.

These didn’t take long at all to do. They were tv jobs basically. I had each name pinned so it was just a matter of adjusting the pins as I went to make sure it all looked nice and neat whilst I watched tv.

Hopscotch Anyone?

This is something little I whipped up over the weekend.

I’d been planning on making this for months. This is based on a pattern from a magazine called Australian Homesewn but I never followed the full layout. They had more numbers to what I remember having on it when I played as a child. The pink blue and purple calico are the ones I dyed myself. The background is just raw calico. The numbers are polar fleece that I’ve also used inside the mat as a batting.

The backing is from a roll of fabric I brought years ago. I think it goes in well with the purple and the blue tones. The ribbon to tie it up I found last minute. I think I brought it years ago to make myself a belt but it was perfect for this project.

I’ve never made a quilt before so binding the 3 layers together gave me a new found respect for those amazing people who whip up quilts in no time. I remembered how to attach the walking foot this time so that part was easy. Manoeuvring it around the machine was a little tricky. I’m glad I did it in the evening as quilting is not a summer sport. Even cutting and pinning something that large is new for me.

This project was a real trip down memory lane. Every time I look at I become 7 years old again playing it at school or drawing it with chalk in the backyard. I really like this mat. I’m planning on making at least one more next year. I’ve still got more the dye fabrics and the backing. I may need to find some other fabrics for the background and fleece for the middle as my stash of those are running very low. Bit sad cause I’ve used them in a few projects and they have been handy materials.

So this is one more Christmas gift done. Feels good to actually get something completed over a weekend.

Bella Boo

This is another Melly and Me project taken from her book Kaleidoscope

Once again I didn’t follow the construction instructions to the T. I stitched her in a way so that I could stuff the main body and the limbs after I turned her out. I tend to leave too small of a turning gap which leads to having trouble turning out bulky items so if I can avoid it I do. Also the original pattern has her wearing a dress. I took the lazy option and used a fabric with a bold pattern so she doesn’t look naked as such. I’m really happy with our the face turned out. This is the first time I’ve sewn a felt face that I’ve already pre-created onto a stuffed softie. Previously I’ve always done this before creating the body.

One more Christmas gift finished now. I’m still on track to get them all done even if I do keep throwing in myself other challengers.

Jefferson and Read aka Percy and Herb

These 2 little guys I’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks and now they are done.

Jefferson and Read are what I’m calling them but Melly and Me named them Percy and Herb.

Ok as per usual I may of done things a little different to the pattern. I didn’t do some top stitching when I was supposed to, one propeller is missing cause when I stitched it the end result was something that didn’t look like a propeller and they should have mouths on them but I decided I liked them without the mouths. These little differences just mean these guys are one of a kind.

This pattern is great cause the body is the same for both. You add either wings or propellers to make the different toys. Sewing them in the same colour combination meant I didn’t have to change thread colour on the machine. I did all my orange stitching first then all my blue stitching.

Almost No Sew Tutu

So this is a simple no sew tutu well almost…..

There is a tiny amount of hand stitching in this tutu and that’s only to join the elastic together to form the waist band. This tutu could not be any simpler to make. All you need to do is knot the tulle around the waist band. I brought a metre of each colour (cutting each piece in half to give the length I wanted) and cut the pieces all into 1.5″ strips. I think I have enough leftover strips to do another tutu.

I will admit that I may of been the crazy sewing lady who went to a department store and measured the waist bands on a couple of children’s skirts to make sure I’d make it to fit the child its for.