Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas, and all the best for 2016 - especially the best fabrics, tools, gadgets, inspiration and *plenty* of sewing time!!

Done in December

How many sleeps until Christmas?  Really?  It still feels like about October: partly as the weather is so mild, but also the time is going past soooo quickly!

I have managed some sewing in the last week or so:

I did some secret selvedge sewing

from this magazine

I did some machine embroidery: A friend bought three identical stockings for her three daughters - could I stitch their names on.  Its really difficult to sew onto a completed stocking, so we discussed alternatives, and name tags seemed the best alternative:

 And I made some replacement medical bags for school.  4 years ago I made these

One for each class: to keep inhalers and EpiPens in so they can be easily grabbed when needed, and can go with the class on trips etc. One bag was falling apart, and another was now too small (so many more children with inhalers) so I made a new set using Svetlana's design

Today's project is the perfect pillowcase!  I used this 'Hotdog' method yesterday, and whilst her instructions are excellent, and I ended up (will end up) with a fab pillowcase with no raw edges,

It also doesn't have that extra bit of fabric that keeps the pillow inside the pillowcase.

Sometime over night I thought of a way to combine this design with what I want - watch this space.

I also have a Christmas sack to make for a customer - better get cracking!

Fiddlesticks and Flipflops (or other F words)

Having completed my last assembly line of named zippy pouches, I thought of some more that I wanted to make

I embroidered them and then started the assembly, making sure I didn't cut off the end of the zip with the zip pull!  I actually congratulated myself on sewing up over 25 of these without messing up a zip . . .

When . . . guess what I noticed!

Frances and Lindsey's zips are on the lining not the outside!

 

and which are the first two I need to hand out? - like in about an hour?  Sigh, do you think they'll believe its a special design?

Kids' Crafty Church

It was Kids' Crafty Church today - I put the tables on the pew backs and put craft stuff on all the tables, then had a few minutes rest before the first people arrived

 

I managed to get a 'during' photo with some of the (are you sitting down?) thirty one people who came, yes, 31 - by far the best attendance, and especially just before Christmas!!!

 

I was rushing around, and didn't get many photos of the making, but did snap these two

 

 

Hope you had a good Saturday!!!

 

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Just what I needed

After a stressed few days I  met up with some old friends last night.  Four of us worked together over 20 years ago; one is now 500 miles away and we miss her, but the other 3 of us try and meet up every few months.

It was just the tonic I needed - food, plonk, chat, gossip, moans, great advice, good friends, and crafting as well

Thank you ladies!  Love you

Boxes of Bags

We have a Secret Santa arrangement at the Christmas party with my husband's family:  the names are allocated when we meet up in the summer, and we exchange gifts on Boxing Day.

However I also like to get a little something for everyone.  Usually something pretty for the girls and something silly for the boys (all the girls get the same thing and all the boys get the same thing)

This year one of the girls has asked for fine liners, so I thought I would make her a pencil case as well, but that idea grew until that became the 'all the girls' gift!  Boring blue on the outside, with their name and a zip in a bright colour

 And then a funky lining in the same bright colour

 I finished them today

and they are all boxed up ready for wrapping

But I still had some more time free, and Jackie asked me to do plenty of sewing for the two of us as she's not able to sew at the moment, so Jackie - I made a whole load more!  These are grey with red zips and red lining . . .

. . . for a whole load of colleagues at school!

I think it's safe to say I'm happy doing zips now!

Simple Subtraction

This

 

Minus this

 

Equals this!

 

 

 

 

 

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Bags, Bleugh, and Boring

I've been making some zippy bags for friends, it was fun putting bright zips and lining with black fabric

 

There is some embroidery on the bags, but it didn't photograph too well - gorgeous Jewel colours though

 

I haven't done much else either IN the sewing room, or TO the sewing room in the last week or so as I've been feeling bleugh - cough, cold, temperature, not sleeping. . . generally yuck! And when I have felt up to doing something I've been trying to reduce this pile of shirts waiting to be embroidered

 

As a final pic (hopefully not too many readers get this far) this is my hair today - tomorrow there will be less of it

 

let's hope it's successful and I don't don't spend the next year growing it out!

 

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