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handmade holidays

I’ve been trying to write this post for awhile and figured I’d better get it up before Valentine’s Day! I took the Handmade Pledge last year and have to say that all of my birthday/baby/holiday gifts were handmade. I’ve been posting them throughout the year and here’s the final gifts of the holiday season.

holiday gifts

Sweater Scarves from my own pattern.

holiday gifts

Coasters from Joelle Hoverson’s sewing book. Bar towel from my own pattern.

holiday gifts

Zipper pouches from 24 Hour Sewing Projects.

holiday gifts

Mason Dixon Warshrags.

I also made lots of loaves of friendship bread (with mini chocolate chips and chopped craisins. YUM!) and tree ornaments.

holiday gifts

Tiny stockings from Joelle Hoverson’s knitting book.

holiday gifts

Tiny stars from Shh, I’m counting!

I plan on posting a tutorial for the sweater scarves. I also have fiddled with the friendship bread recipe (when do I not fiddle with a recipe?) trying to make it a bit healthier for every day snacking. I’ll try and post that, too. Right now I’m working on baby gifts. They’ll be revealed soon!

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custom wool felted bag :: maroon

I had hoped to sell a lot of items on etsy during the holidays, but I didn’t have a lot of time to make things to stock my store. Fortunately, it was because I had custom orders! One of my favorites was a matching messenger bag and scarf. The sweater was huge and superwash wool. It didn’t felt at all, so I had a lot of fabric, but I had to be careful it didn’t unravel while sewing.

maroon wool felted bag

Most of my bags are one of a kinds, depending on the shape and design of the sweater. I’m thinking of writing up a standard pattern, though. I really like how this one turned out.

maroon wool felted bag

I’m also loving my scarves. I made a bunch for Christmas presents this year. I hope to have a tutorial for these up on the blog soon. They are so warm!

maroon wool felted bag

Soon to follow, all of my handmade holiday gifts!

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a million little pieces

Ok. That’s a little bit of an exaggeration. I’m talking about all of the Christmas toys that come with too many pieces and nothing in which to store them. I have to give a thumbs up to the folks who designed M’s drum. They put a handle on it, so you can turn it upside down and store the drumsticks and other instruments inside. Brilliant!

Her awesome eco-friendly tea set could have used an awesome eco-friendly tote or basket, though. And it would have been great if her cute wooden “paper” doll set came with a cute wooden lid. Plus, there is the growing collection of matchbox cars and Thomas trains. I needed to get control over all these bits and pieces, so I sewed up a bunch of drawstring bags last weekend.

These were super easy and economical. I bought the set of fat quarters from Michael’s with my 50% off coupon, the ribbon came from a thrift store and the muslin lining came from one of my amazing garage sale fabric scores last summer. Total for all of the bags: about $4. I love these so much, I’m thinking of making some for my knitting projects. M thinks they’re pretty cool, too.

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patchwork scarves :: wool and denim

Last summer I bought a cute little patchwork quilt that I’ve been planning to make into a tote bag. When I started deconstructing it, I realized it was made up of long, skinny rectangles. Perfect for scarves! Two scarves, actually: one backed with wool, the other backed with denim.

I think I am officially addicted to making scarves this season. If you are on my holiday gift list, you should probably expect to receive one!

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felted wool scarf :: gray and red

So I’ve been trying come up with an idea that makes use of the felted sweater sleeves from my totes and I figured it out. Scarves!

The beauty of these is that they give you all the warmth of wool without having to wear it next to your skin. (I know at least one person for whom this would be perfect.) I am going to make a bunch of these for my etsy shop and will try to keep some of them in neutral color schemes. Dads, brothers and husbands need hand-sewn crafty goodness in their lives, too! More photos over at etsy.

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only 47 more days until halloween

Around here on the blog, though, you’d think it was already October! I’ve been busy sewing up some orange and black goodness that I wanted to share with you. It all started with a doodle.

Then, M and I were sorting through (playing with) fabric, and I got inspired to make her a trick or treat bag.* It turned out so cute, I made a bunch more.

Then I sewed up a stack of Halloween cards. I’ve been trying to do more things with my left over stash from paper trade shows. I made these cards out of Fox River Confetti paper. (Love, love, LOVE this paper!)

There’s more coming. Remember how I said I was becoming slightly addicted to amigurumi? I’ve got two little pumpkins on my windowsill looking for a new home. I hope to get a picture posted soon. I also may have possibly bought some glow in the dark yarn for a little amigurumi ghost. Oh, and I was thinking a little black cat might be cute to make, too.

All in good time, my little pretties.

*No, I’m not taking her around this year to collect a bunch of sugar. She’s still too young. She’ll probably just stash her keys, phone and baby Elmo in her bag. What? Like you don’t have a baby Elmo in your bag.

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i made it myself: moleskine journals

This week’s I Made it Myself post is from Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. The pattern is called “Scrapbooks,” but they were a gift for my brother-in-law. I’m not sure “scrapbook” is the right positioning for a guy gift, so I’m calling them journals.

journals

Anyway, these were super easy and fun. I practiced first on some card stock because I didn’t want to sacrifice any of the Moleskines. I did them in one night. There were a lot of ends to trim, but other than that, I totally love them. In fact, now I want to make some for myself! I have a feeling lots of friends and family will be getting these for gifts in the coming year.

journals

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remote control pillow pattern

UPDATE: Thanks to WhipUp for their link to my pattern!

When it comes to gift giving, it’s really hard to buy for my brother. Same with his girlfriend. They don’t have a lot of time for hobbies because they both work really hard at their jobs and at school. The only thing that is consistent with them is the Hokies. Something burgundy and orange usually goes over well, but how much VT gear can one really want? I decided to ask him. I told him to be honest. Do they both really love the Hokies that much? The answer was YES. So for his birthday, I made him this:

easy remote pillow pattern front

And that’s not even the cool part. Look at the other side:

easy remote pillow pattern front

Because they are so busy with work and school, they wind up watching more games in their living room than down in Blacksburg. I figured a VT-themed remote control pillow would be perfect! What’s even better, I made this out of one of his old VT sweatshirts. He had handed it down to me a few years ago and it had been sitting in my closet for awhile. I figured I’d give it back to him new and improved!

I think this would be a cool gift to make for any sports junkie in your life. It would probably work just as well with a t-shirt. I’d just use a more substantial interfacing to give it structure. I’ve written up a pattern and you can download it here. Let me know if you make one! And as always, drop me a line if you have any questions.