Christmas sewing

Back in 2014, I made a set of Christmas stockings as a wedding gift for my sister and her new husband.  Since then, I made a Christmas stocking for my nephew - just realized that I never blogged it, so here it is.

And so this year I needed to make a new stocking for my new niece.  Kept to the same font, same simplicity.  But decided that purple would go well for a girl.

And then my nephew got a set of new PJs for his gift.  The pants are from KS SFT, and the shirt was embellished to tie it together with the pants.

Back to regular sewing - PJ edition

So I got motivated to sew new PJs for me.  Partly because I only have a few pairs of PJ shorts.  (Yeah, I know, it's December.  Let's remember I'm not particularly consistent with blogging.)  I knew I'd made a few pairs back in the past, but I couldn't remember what pattern I used most recently that I liked.  (Computer accident - files got deleted, sob.)  So I took the two patterns I had traced out already and tested them.  The "Woof Woof" flannel is M5504, and the bugs flannel is M3006 - my TNT PJ pants pattern turned into shorts, apparently.  (I'm pretty sure that I must have deliberately traced it as shorts, but I don't remember doing so.)  I took an inch out of both at CF, tapering to nothing at the side seams.  And while they both fit reasonably, I decided that I liked the M3006 better, so that will be used going forward.

Then I made a new pair of PJ pants - M3006, of course! - for ME - also taking one inch out at CF and tapering to nothing at the sides.  This was my test (of that modification) before cutting into the Wonder Woman flannel that I bought. ;)  I can't wait!

And the folded pair is a Christmas gift for my good friend who loves plaid and fishing.  It was perfect when I found the print at JAF.  Hers is also M3006, but she has to insert the elastic when she gets it.

Cross stitch finishes

So some of these have been seen already, but not once totally finished.

The poop emoji stitch was put into a wooden hoop that I painted myself.  Yep, looked for something that resembled "poop brown."  She loved it!

This is a frame from IKEA that fortunately was the perfect size and included a mat.  If I'd been thinking ahead, I might have looked for a mat in pink, but....nah....

This was my favorite.  I went looking at IKEA for frames, but didn't really see any the perfect size.  Well, I take that back.  I found one with a silver frame and white mat, but I wasn't sure how that would be with the oatmeal fabric.  So instead I decided to do the painted hoop finish.  And I'm really happy with how it turned out! 

I looked up how best to frame in a hoop and found this website.  (Used it for the poop emoji, too, but didn't have time/inclination to get felt for the back.)  I was skeptical that the felt would do much, because the fabric was sticking out a fair bit once gathered.  But I was impressed with how much it compressed the bulk without really any effort.  This went over very well, and I'm already planning to use it again.

Mish mash and photographer fail

 So....first of all, I've done a bunch of regular sewing but failed to take photos.  Remember those boppy covers I made for my sister-in-law way back when?  Well, a colleague asked if I'd make some for her.  I said, sure, why not?  I used a flannel from my stash as a prototype to check the fit, then made covers from the three fabrics shown below (she provided those - this was the pic to see what she thought of snap possibilities), and then also found another hilarious flannel in my stash for the fifth one (that was a tie-dyed flannel with skulls). And then did I take any pics after finishing them?  Of course not....sigh....

I also finished a baby sling (think this one with orange binding instead of pink) and appliqued sugar skulls onto three baby onesies the night before the shower.  Forgot to take pics of anything.  Grrrrrr....

During that time, I also made two new pairs of PJ shorts for me, to see which pattern I preferred.  I haven't taken pics of them, either, but at least they live here with me and will be photographed eventually.

In the meantime, let's be amused by the other cross-stitch finishes I've had recently.

A friend moved into her first home, and I knew she'd love this.  The pattern is more explicit, but she was concerned her family would object, so I redrew it to include the asterisk and adjust the spacing.

And then I had to make PacMan for ME!  It struck me as an awesome bookmark, which it is now.  I'm still debating backstitching as called for, but I'm not sure that it would do much, since it's on black....We'll see....

Some more cross-stitching

I'm definitely enjoying picking up the cross-stitch needle again.  This little project was an impulse buy at WM - saw the kit and cracked up.  I added the words "Made it" as a inside joke for the friend who's getting it for Christmas.  She's going to laugh herself silly.

This one was started as a 30th birthday/housewarming gift for a friend who really needed a pick-me-up.  Then it took longer than I'd intended, so now it'll be her Christmas gift.  I found the pattern on Etsy, and it's just perfect for her.  She has (too many) pomeranians, and her favorite color is pink.  I'm pretty sure she's going to hug me when she gets this.  I bought a frame from IKEA for it - just have to press it and frame it now.

Drawstring backpack to order

Thing 2 has eyed Thing 1's drawstring backpack for awhile, and I'd been promising him one.  And I finally followed through near the end of summer.  Unlike Thing 1's, which was a surprise, I let Thing 2 help design his.  He wanted one like my Chicago Blackhawks version, but bigger like his brother's.  No problem!

Outer is black twill like mine, but he chose a red zipper.  Good choice!  And like mine, there's a full pocket on this side but not the other.  

I added the D-ring again, and he got his own jersey key fob, made by my friend Sheila, who does amazing work as well as custom orders.  Also, this year he needed his own house key, so he got to pick out the ribbon he wanted on his key fob.  He loves going to Subway, so I wasn't surprised that he picked out the Zombie Subway ribbon.

Chicago Blackhawks block print for the lining of the outer pocket.....

....as well as for the lining.  And this time I actually lined up that print for a full inner pocket.  Look at that pattern matching!  I'm still tickled by it!  I think I used black for the backing of that pocket.  I should probably look, because I don't remember.

And then I used some of the heavier black cording I got from Home Depot.  It's been holding up pretty well.  Thing 2 has used this bag pretty much non-stop for the last three months now!  He's asked that the next one be camo for his "military" adventures with his friends.

A little cross-stitching

So I've been doing more cross-stitching lately, since it's so easily portable.  This was inspired by a finish I saw in one of my FaceBook stitching groups.  The pattern was free online (I repeated the hearts across the entire length), and I used a font generator to get the quote charted.  (I can't remember which font generator I used, or what the font was - oops!)  I made one for a Dr. Who fan friend, and I'm currently working on another for another friend.

These are small designs I found free online - Boba Fett and stormtrooper helmets.  I did them on Aida cloth stretched over frames.  I found them at Michaels - both online and in store.  These are done on oatmeal, and I really liked the way they turned out.  I have plans for a bunch more.  The great thing is that you don't have to decide how to finish them (frame, hoop, whatever) when you finish stitching.  You're just done.