The Christmas Dress

My sewing machine has been working over time lately!
And for a 20-something year old basic little Janome, it's been doing a brilliant job.
I do love my sewing machine!!

After I finished the 9...nine...Christmas aprons, I had small piece of the gorgeous birdie fabric left to make a Christmas dress or skirt for my Miss 4. I needed to match it with some other fabrics but I knew that wouldn't be difficult because there are so many beautiful Christmas fabrics around at the moment. So I went to Lincraft and chose red spot, and red owl & hearts fabrics.

And Miss 4 helped me pick this pattern...


McCall's 5838

 I hadn't made a Christmas dress for her before...I know...slack mum!!
But I was excited about making this one.
It turned out I didn't have quite enough birdie fabric for the frill, so I added an extra red spot frill.
So, after cutting out 12 pattern pieces (I wouldn't call this an easy pattern) and spending all day sewing (I wouldn't call it quick either) I was very, very happy with the end result.

And so was Miss 4, who "really, really, really" loves it!

And today I think my trusty sewing machine (and I) need a rest!

Christmas Apron Giveaway

I have a glut of Christmas aprons!
I couldn't help myself, I couldn't stop until I'd used every part of every piece of fabric!!
I have just enough birdie print fabric to make my Miss 4 a Christmas skirt or dress.

But here I am with 9...NINE...Christmas aprons.

There are 6 ladies aprons and 3 girls/small ladies aprons.



Red and White Christmas Apron

 

Birdie Christmas Apron with Ruffle



Red Polka Dot Christmas Apron



Birdie Christmas Apron

Polka Dot Christmas Apron with Birdie Trim



Red Polka Dots and Spots Christmas Apron



Red and Green Christmas Apron with Pockets - Size Small




Red and White Christmas Apron with Birdie Ruffle - Size Small



Red and White Christmas Apron with Red Ruffle - Size Small

 

They are all on my Sew Thea shop on Made It.

But I'm fairly certain I won't sell them all (if any) before Christmas.

Sew (see what I did there?)....I'd love to give one away to a lovely reader.
Just tell me which one is your favourite.
Give me a shout out on Facebook or Twitter, if you like.
Follow me here, if you can.
And you're in the running to win a Christmas apron valued at $20!

This is going to be the quickest giveaway in the history of giveaways, so I can get the parcel posted to the winner before Christmas.

12 hours is all you've got!!
It opens 8am this morning (Mon 12th), and I'll pick a winner at 8pm tonight (my time = Qld time)!

I hope you enter, tell your friends, and GOOD LUCK!

Teacher's Christmas Present

I'm pretty happy with my 7 year old boy's Year One teacher's Christmas present.
I hope she is, too!

Yes, there is a bottle of wine in there.
I made a bag from red lame fabric.
Tied it with a big gold wired edge ribbon bow.
And attached 4 coasters that I made.
I used Christmas fabric and backed them with same red lame fabric.
I sewed a few beads to each corner.

And there you have it...a cheap and easy Christmas present.
But it looks pretty fancy, don't you think?

I have some similar coasters in my shop Sew Thea.
Click on the link or the button on my side bar to check them out.

Christmas Apron

Christmas is almost upon us again.
I've never enjoyed being in the kitchen.
But this is so darn cute...it almost makes me want to cook!!

I used a modified version of this pattern...



Butterick B4945

This apron is for sale on my shop Sew Thea at Made It.
Click on the button to go shopping! 



Girl's Skirt and Matching Headband

Again, with left over fabric from aprons, I made this cute little skirt with matching headband.
No pattern necessary.
I cut one rectangle 14cm x 75cm from dark blue.
And another 20cm x 110cm from the print fabric.
Sew seams at the back in the dark blue and the print fabrics.
Gather the print onto the plain fabric and stitch.
Make a 3.5cm casing at the top of the plain section leaving an opening for the elastic.
Sew a narrow hem at the bottom.
Thread 50cm of 2.5cm wide elastic through the casing and zigzag the ends together.
Sew the opening of the casing closed.

For the headband I used a rectagle 10cm x 52cm.
Sew the short ends together to form a circle.
Fold or iron 1cm along both long edges.
Sew the ends together of a 50cm length of 2.5cm wide elastic.
Slip the elastic into the headband.
Hold folded/ironed edges together, stitch as close to the edge as possible.

Doll's Dress

With left over fabric from some aprons, I made this for Miss 4's doll.
I used a few strips, getting a little longer and wider for each strip.
Gathered them onto each other.
Stitched some broderie anglaise edging on the bottom.
And a narrow piece of elastic around the top.
I made one seam down the back and stitched some cord at the centre front to make a halter neck tie strap.

Baggy Beanie Beret

I found a great pattern here that I used to make this...

I love it!

This one is on my Made It shop Sew Thea but I'm making one for me for next winter.

Crocheted Fingerless Gloves

Varitation 1

1 ball Patons Inca yarn (if you're lucky...you may need a smidge of a second)
6 mm crochet hook

Beginning at wrist
Loose ch 21 (small to medium size), 24 (medium to large size)
Sl st to form a ring, take care not to twist the ring.

ROW 1. Ch 3, 2 dc in same st as ch 3, ch 1, skip 2 ch, *3 dc in next ch, ch 1, skip next 2 ch* repeat to end, join with a sl st to top of beginning ch 3
(7, 3 dc groups made, small to medium size, 8, 3 dc groups made, medium to large size)

ROW 2. sl st to the centre dc of group, ch 3, 2 dc in same space, ch 1, *3 dc in next centre dc, ch 1* repeat to end, sl st to top of beginning ch 3

ROWS 3 to 5. repeat row 2 3 times more, giving you 5 rows in total.

Making the thumb hole

ROW 6. sl st to the centre dc of group, ch 12, sl st in centre dc of next dc group, ch 3, sl st into 9th ch of the ch 12, 1dc in same space as ch 3, ch 1, continue pattern around ending with 2 dc in beginning ch 12 space, sl st into 3rd ch of the ch 12, work 5 sc in next 5 ch, and sl st across to top of ch 3 (centre of group)

ROW 7. ch 3, 2 dc in same place, ch 1, *3 dc in next centre dc, ch 1* repeat to end,

ROW 8. 3 dc in centre group of beginning ch 12, ch 1, skip 2 sc, 3 dc in next sc, ch 1, skip 2 sc, sl st to join in top of ch 3 of next group, (this is the new beginning of the rounds)
sl st to centre dc, ch 3, 2 dc in same space, ch 1, continue around in pattern, sl st to top of beginning ch 3

Making the top

ROW 9. sl st to centre of first group, ch 3, sl st into centre dc of next group, *ch 3, sl st into centre of next group* repeat to end finishing with a sc in same space as beginning ch 3

ROW 10. 2 sc in ch 3 space, 1 sc in same place as the sl st of the previous row, (into the top of the dc) *2 sc in ch 3 space, 1 sc in same place as the sl st of the previous row* repeat to end finishing with a sl st to join in the ending sc of the previous row and fasten off.

Weave in ends


Variation 2

1 ball Lincraft Surroundings yarn
6 mm crochet hook

Beginning at wrist
Loose ch 24 (small to medium size), 27 (medium to large size)
Sl st to form a ring, take care not to twist the ring.

ROW 1. Ch 3, 2 dc in same st as ch 3, ch 1, skip 2 ch, *3 dc in next ch, ch 1, skip next 2 ch* repeat to end, join with a sl st to top of beginning ch 3
(8 3 dc groups made, small to medium size, 9 3 dc groups made, medium to large size)

ROW 2. sl st to the centre dc of group, ch 3, 2 dc in same space, ch 1, *3 dc in next centre dc, ch 1* repeat to end, sl st to top of beginning ch 3

ROWS 3 to 6. repeat row 2 4 times more, giving you 6 rows in total.

Making the thumb hole

ROW 7. sl st to the centre dc of group, ch 12, sl st in centre dc of next dc group, ch 3, sl st into 9th ch of the ch 12, 1dc in same space as ch 3, ch 1, continue pattern around ending with 2 dc in beginning ch 12 space, sl st into 3rd ch of the ch 12, work 5 sc in next 5 ch, and sl st across to top of ch 3 (centre of group)

ROW 8. ch 3, 2 dc in same place, ch 1, *3 dc in next centre dc, ch 1* repeat to end,

ROW 9. 3 dc in centre group of beginning ch 12, ch 1, skip 2 sc, 3 dc in next sc, ch 1, skip 2 sc, sl st to join in top of ch 3 of next group, (this is the new beginning of the rounds)

ROW 10. sl st to the centre dc of group, ch 3, 2 dc in same space, ch 1, *3 dc in next centre dc, ch 1* repeat to end, sl st to top of beginning ch 3

ROW 11. sl st to centre dc, ch 3, 2 dc in same space, ch 1, continue around in pattern, sl st to top of beginning ch 3

Making the top

ROW 12. sl st to centre of first group, ch 3, sl st into centre dc of next group, *ch 3, sl st into centre of next group*, repeat to end finishing with a sc in same space as beginning ch 3

ROW 13. 2 sc in ch 3 space, 1 sc in same place as the sl st of the previous row, (into the top of the dc) *2 sc in ch 3 space, 1 sc in same place as the sl st of the previous row*, repeat to end finishing with a sl st to join in the ending sc of the previous row.

ROW 13. *(1 sc 1 dc) in next sc, (1 dc 1 sc) in next sc, skip 1 sc* repeat to end, finish off .

Weave in ends

The Poncho!

Last year my good bloggy friend, Lucy, suggested I make ponchos for my shop.
I thought it was an excellent idea.
So I began one...last year.
And finished it...today!

Man, was there a lot of knitting involved.
It is simply one rectangle, with one end stitched to one side.
You can wear it any way you like. Just pop it on and twist it until you're happy.
I've never owned a knitted poncho before.
And the thing is, I love it so much I'm keeping it for me.

What do you think?
Cool or what??

The shorter one is a knitted rectangle, 45cm x 110cm

More Peg Aprons

Since my last post about being featured at Christie's blog 'Home Grown', my lovely bloggy buddy Jodie mentioned my peg aprons in her very useful post about 'Taming the Laundry Beast'.

And I'm sew excited to say that they've been selling!!

Here are the colours I have made. I'm looking forward to trying out some new shades soon.

The two pink ones are still available at my shop Sew Thea on Made It at the moment.
Other colours that I'm dying to make up are red, black, darker blue, darker green and yellow.
Stay tuned for more...

Peg Apron

The very clever and totally gorgeous Christie from Home Grown has invited me to her blog as a guest poster today. I'm so excited to be over there.

You can read all about my peg apron by clicking here...off you go.  See you there.