Winter Stitching - November Summary

It's time for my monthly update on what I've got done on the Winter Stitching list.  I've added a fair few items in, and changed my mind about a few items so they've come out, so I've had to renumber!  By the way, can anyone tell me how you do that crossing out thing?  I've also added in general crafts as I was getting confused having this list and a separateChristmas list, I hope that's OK!

Birthdays before Christmas

1. Crochet hook case for mum - completed at the end of October

2. A thread catcher for mum - completed at the end of October

3. 2 x car kits, 1 for my dad and 1 for my FIL - completed at the beginning of November

4. 2 x mug rugs for the same 2 men - completed at the beginning of November

  Other pre-Christmas stuff

5. An item or two for a private swap - completed at the beginning of November (I cna't show you pictures until she's recieved it)

6. 4 PIF gifts - put off til after christmas

7. (new entry!) - Advent calendar for my goddaughter - completed but not blogged yet

8. (new entry!)- Hessian Reindeers from kit

Christmas presents
9. Finish the CRM cushion for mum - cross stitch is done, waiting on my fabric

10. Glasses cases x 4 for mum, dad, FIL and an aunty - in progress

11. Slippers for mum

12. Mani pedi kit (can't find the link) for mum

13. Amigurumi pig for mum

14. Flash drive keyrings x 2 for dad and brother

15. Keyboard duster for dad

16. Frilly apron for the MIL - completed November

17. Matching tea towel for above

18. Spa kits of my own devising x 6 for MIL, SIL, niece and 3 friends - in progress

19. Finish the Petit Ecole table runner for my SIL and BIL - actually, this will now be for my brother and girlfriend as we don't really give gifts to SIL and BIL and I have a few little things for them.

20. Matching tea towel for the above
Handbag for another niece - no longer required as she's decided she wants card making items.

21. Yoda ami for my brother, whilst looking for that link on my bookmarks I also found this crochet R2D2 so had better add that to the list!!

22. A great big question mark. Spot 22 is reserved for my brother. - I have decided!  He's getting a wine cosy along with his other little bits and the table runner.
Embroidered cushion from Handmade magazine for Nana-in-law - I've changed my mind about this one too and will save it for her birthday as she's also getting baked goods, a candle and birdfeeders.

23. Iris cross stitch bookmark for Nana-in-law - completed in November

24. Tea cup candles all round - started, waiting for more supplies! I think I need 6 in total

25. A frog x-stitch pouch from Cross Stitcher for my best bud - completed in November

26. I'd like to finish the alphabet chart for my goddaughter. I'm on N so I find it hard to believe that will get done!

27. Something for my friend's baby. - I've already made him a linen bunny, and now two bear hats.

28. Patchwork pouch for an aunty - I realised I'd already done this

29. Car air fresheners for my dad and brother - not sure if this will get done.

30. Applique scarf for my god daughter

31. Christmas cards

32. Gift tags

33. Cookies in a jar all round - about 14 jars I think.  There will probably also be some freshly baked items but that's one for Christmas Eve!

34. Scrubbies for dad, brother, FIL - in progress

35. Bird feeders - in progress

36. Reinbeers for dad and FIL (stolen from Pinterest!)

My nephew's birth in February
37. Quilt

38. Crochet receiving blanket

39. Sewn booties

40. Appliquéd baby grows

41. A cushion for his nursery

42. Trousers

43. Crochet bear hats - done in November

Stuff for myself (for a change)

44. The dining room chair cushions

45. Matching table topper

46. And placemats

47. A needle book or 3

48. Crochet hook case

49. A coffee mat as my coffee pot drips

50. A lunch bag

51. Shopping bags for the supermarket

52. A handbag

Brother's birthday
53. Coasters with cross stitch - quotes from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

54. Matching coffee mat

55. A cross stitched towel (just a band, not the whole thing!!) again with the quotes.

WIPs
56. Giant granny blanket

57. Granny square cushion

58. Sampler blanket

59. Hardanger

60. Crochet bag

61. Tea cup embroidery

62. Secret project - can't tell you about it!

Christmas Countdown - November

Once again I'm joining in with the Countdown to Christmas with Allie.



A bit of a rubbish count this month, especially with only one month to go.  I blame family members who are selfish enough to have birthdays in November!  So, here we go...

1. Iris bookmark

2 and 3 - panda and bear hats

4 - cross stitch frog pouch

5 - ruffly apron

So just the 5 this month.  Oh dear.

An aprony LANT, that's LANT, not rant - sorry to disappoint!

Not only have I managed another Christmas present, I've also managed another LANT.  Nope, my LANT isn't "making an apron", it's ruffles.  When I saw this pattern I knew I had to make one and my mother-in-law seemed the perfect victim, I mean recipient, as she always wears an apron in the kitchen.

It took me about 3 hours to make, but about an hour of that was finding co-ordinating fabrics.  As we don't have the luxury of cheap fabrics in Britain, I very rarely buy full or half metres, and I never buy half metre bundles so I had to scrounge around for co-ordinating fabrics.  Above are 2 quarter yards sent to me as a giveaway price, a old pillow case, some ticking I bought when I first started sewing and a fat quarter that I cut in half and sewed back together.

I had to refer to The Compendium of Sewing Techniques when making the ruffles, so this counts as a Craft Book Challenge too!   The photos above is terrible, but it was dark by that point, so I apologise, I just wanted to show you my lovely ruffles all lined up.

Getting a picture of the completed apron was tricky, I tried the exercise bike but it wasn't very successful.  When following the pattern, I felt that the size given for the bib was too small as it didn't even cover one of my (admittedly over-sized) boobs, and although my mother-in-law isn't quite as chesty as me (few people are), I thought it was too small so I made it bigger.  This caused problems when I tried it on as the top gapped.  A few carefully placed pleats later and it's perfect!

I LOVE the ruffles.  I actually want one of these myself, but I would never wear an apron in the kitchen.  Do you think I could get away with wearing it for work?

I love you ruffly apron.

A special parcel

My lovely bloggy friend Katherine recently offered to send me a parcel as I'd been feeling down. I was delighted to accept and said I'd send her something in return.  Unfortunately, my little parcel pales in comparison to Katherine's, look at this for a wonderful mid-winter gift!

Katherine was so thoughtful, knowing I do lots of different crafts, she really treated me!  A crochet magazine (Canadian?), some gorgeous yarn, Aida, threads and a beautiful handmade needle case complete with needles!  2 bars of the world's best chocolate, ribbon, sunflower buttons, a beautiful handmade pin cushion and a string of lovely beads.  Thanks Katherine, you are so generous!

Just look at the lovely fabrics in the pincushion, my favourite colour and so skillfully made, I have no idea how she made this!

And a gorgeous needlecase - that button is actually a popper!

Check out the card - how fab is that?  Katherine, you're a lovely friend and so very generous.  Thank you very much.

I also got a parcel from the Wee Pixie.  She'd offered some DS fabrics from Joann's to 3 of us lucky Brit Quilters and I managed to get in there.  She then emailed me again last week saying she had some more and did I want them?  Yes!! 

These are actually my favourites of all the DS fabrics.  I considered hording them with the others, but in fact I got them all out on Sunday and have nearly used them all up...  quite a turnaround!  Thanks ladies!

gift bag tutorial

I've shown you the paper gift bags I make before, and I promised you a tutorial, so here we go!

I use scrapbook paper for these which is 12" x 12".  I have a big pad of it that I'll never get through and there are about 3 sheets of each design in each colourway so it's perfect for ideas like this.  You can make a bag any size you like.  You can use a single sheet of paper to make a small bag, or you can join more pieces together.  For this version I used three sheets, but it did end up a little tall, I generally make them from two sheets. 

Take your sheets of paper.  I cut one in half.

Fix them together, I used double sided tape for a nice, neat finish.

Fold the top over about 1/2 " and press down.  I used that little tool at the top which is a bone folder used in papercraft, but you could use the end of a paintbrush, a lolly stick or your finger nail.

Now we are going to create the sides of the bag.  You're aiming for a square tube, or a box without base or lid!  Fold one of the sides in and crease with whichever tool you have to hand.  If you've joined your two sheets together, there'll be a join, you want to avoid this join and fold the bag in to one side of it.  My first fold is at about 8", the second a further 4" from that.  Fold the right hand side over until there is about a 1/2" overlap of the two papers.  I did take a photo of this but it was a white with black dotty blur and you couldn't see the joins.  Hold the join in place and push the top layer to the right until the first crease (the one at 8") is lying flat on the table, this is to creat a symmetrical fold for both side "corners".  Wow, does that make any sense??  Does the picture below help?

Here you can see that I've got a "gusset" in the middle (I hate that word!!) and then two smaller folds at the edges which will join together to make the second side of the bag.  The two larger portions should be equal.

Pull the two edges together and join neatly without pulling or distorting the bag.  Again, I used double sided tape.  You now need to create a crease in the sides of the bag.  Fold them inwards so the two corners on one side touch, and the same the other side.  You can only just make out my crease in the photo above so I hope you understand what I mean! 

Measure the depth of your bag (front to back), measure the same distance from the bottom of the bag and fold.  Open up your tube and fold each side inwards along the line created.

This folded portion will be the base.  You need to create the base as if you were wrapping a present.

Seal with double sided tape.

Measure the newly-created base of your bag and cut a piece of thickish card the same size.  Mine was once some form of packaging.  Apply double sided tape and carefully drop it into the bag, when it's in position, press down firmly to stick it in place.

Now we need to punch holes for the handles.  I used my fancy Big Bite which is made for setting eyelets, but you can use an ordinary hole punch.  Decide where you want your handles, then make sure they are equidistant from each end.  You'll need to punch 2 holes in each side.

I then added eyelets, but this is optional.

Take some ribbon, thin cord, yarn, twine, string, whatever and thread the end through one hole, tie a big knot so it doesn't pull through.  If it comes undone by itself you can add a blob of glue.

Pass the other end of the lenght of ribbon/cord/string etc (the length is up to you) through the hole on the SAME side and knot.  Repeat for the other side of the bag.

And tadah!  You have one custom made gift bag, I have one very tall gift bag and one very crap tutorial!  I do apologise.

Kirstie's Craft - review

I recently asked if any of you wanted a review on any of the craft books I got for my birthday, or on any of my other craft books and two books were put forward.  One was One-Yard Wonders and I will review that soon - on first glance, there are loads of projects I want to make.  But today, I wanted to tell you a bit about Kirstie's Craft.



First of all, you have to ignore the scary cover - not her best photo.  It's divided up into the following sections:

Needlecrafts (bunting, appliqué cushion, embroidered handkerchief, free-motion embroidered table runner, knitted coasters, stack and whack quilt and a cross stitch cushion)

The embroidered hankie is quite sweet, but there are no instructions as to how to make the back neat.

The cross stitch pattern is by Emily Peacock, but don't get excited, it's a tin of sardines?!?

Textile Crafts (devoré silk scarf, needlefelted robin, sewn felt heart, how to die with natural dies)

This is a more interesting chapter, I don't know much about dying and I hadn't come across devoré before, but the felt heart is a let-down.

Paper Crafts (paper sculpture bird, paper bead necklace, paper dolly chain, snowman pinata, papercut bauble, stamped and embossed greeting card, handmade paper, family scrap book.

 Some of these are crafts for kids which I don't appreciate in a craft book - we don't all have kids and if we do we can buy them their own books!  Only the first two projects, the bauble and the handmade paper were of any interest to me.  Oh, and I quite like this little bird, but beware, Kirstie did NOT make this.  She doesn't actually state that she does, but nor does she say she didn't.  I don't know how many of the crafts in the book are made by other people.

I mean, come on, paper dolls!?!
Food Crafts (fruit cake, ice-cream balls, party jelly, marzipan penguins, banana cake, sugar flowers, scones, damson jam, garden pickles)

 This chapter is of no interest to me in my limited diet!  I felt the cakes and scones were shoehorned in there and didn't really have a place.  Only the jam was interesting I feel.

Garden Crafts (carved window box, elderflower cordial, mosaic chair, birdseed cakes (different to mine), scarecrow, willow nesting box

Some interesting projects in this one, with the exception of the scarecrow, I have no idea what that is all about.
Flower Crafts (yeah, it's flower arranging, I can't even be bothered to read it for you).

Gift Crafts (ribbon rose, making perfume, bath creamers, bath bombs, silver clay button pendant, silver leaf pendant, decorated candles)

This was an interesting enough chapter, some new ideas to peruse.

So, there we go.  If you want a craft book on a particular form of crafting, don't get this one, but if you're interested in dabbling in a wide range of crafts, it could be a good start.  At least it has some more unusual crafts in it such as the wood carving, devoré and willow weaving, these aren't crafts you often find in craft books.  I felt the needlecrafts section was very poor with nothing exciting in it at all, but is that because I've tried all these crafts?

Have you got this book?  What do you think?

p.s. I seem to have accidentally posted twice today - I did actually make something too but you may have to flick back a post to see it!