Holiday 2016 Sewing: 6th handmade gift plans - tweed sparkly cushions

As mentioned before, I have too much fabric in my stash. When I dug into my stash I found this plaid sparkly tweed. I decided to make a pair of cushions for family members who have a grey decor. It's difficult to see in the photo but there are silver threads running through the fabric. I figure that black and white cushions will go with any decor. I hope they like them!

Another great stash busting x'mas gift!

Holiday 2016 Sewing: 5th handmade gift - another children gift

The weather has gotten really cold here with very high winds. I thought I would make a very warm vest for my daughter since her body is not the best in regulating temperature.

I dug out this fleece backed faux sherpa material in my stash. I made a winter coat for my son when he was a baby. I knew this was going to be a very warm fabric.

I drafted the vest pattern myself and used lapped seams to sew the thick fabric. My daughter went through my button stash and chose these mismatched buttons for the vest. She has been obsessed with dressing like a 'lamb' so she made sure that the vest was reversible. And here is the final product:

My daughter wore it out and thought it was very warm. I still have some of that fabric left. Perhaps I will be able to make my son something too!

Holiday 2016 Sewing: 4th handmade gift plans - almost finished

I almost finished the 4th handmade holiday gift. I say almost, because my mother-in-law has to try the trousers on before I can tailor them to her body and finish everything. The hem is serged and the waist already has an elastic inside.

Well, it's nothing to look at right now hanging on the hanger. I can't wait to finish them!

Holiday 2016 Sewing: 4th handmade gift plans - a challenging one

The December theme for the Make a Garment a Month group is 'Dreaming'.  So I guess that includes both 'sweet dreams' and 'nightmares? Just kidding. However, this next handmade gift will be no easy task.

My mother-in-law asked me to make her a pair of dressy palazzo pants for x'mas. She gave me a pair of moderate stretch knit pants to make my pattern. However, I couldn't find any suitable fabrics in the colour she wanted at my fabric store. Instead, I bought this very drapey, non-stretch grey wool crepe fabric in the colour she wanted:

Since I bought a non-stretch fabric, I modified my initial pants pattern based on the moderate stretch knit pants:

I hope I made it too big because then I can tailor the pants to her body. If it's too small then all hope is lost.

I'm also very nervous about this because her weight tends to fluctuate a lot. Moreover, she is not the most patient client and is not used to 'bespoke' garments that requires time to tailor to fit. I guess I'll have to pack my sewing machine and supplies when I travel to see her for the holidays.

Wish me luck on this one! ;-)

Holiday 2016 Sewing: 3rd handmade gift finished! Fleece jacket saved!

I finished the 3rd handmade Holiday gift! This fleece jacket for my daughter should have been super easy and quick to make. But alas! I made a mistake when doing the measurement. I thrifted this Out of Print Simplicity 4895 a couple of years ago. I thought I should use it before my daughter grows out of this pattern. I made some quick measurements on the paper pattern and chose size 6, thinking that it should fit my daughter with a little room to spare.

After I cut out the yellow fleece and sewn up the seams, I had her try the jacket on. It was quite fitted on her and she actually had trouble putting it on herself. I forgot that there was loft with this fleece and she was suppose to wear long sleeves shirts under this jacket.

I didn`t want to just give up on the fabric and throw the whole thing into the trash. I dug deep into my stash and found a wine colour microfleece. I cut strips of about 3cm width out of this wine fleece and sewed the whole strip from the wrist of the jacket all the way down to the hem to enlarge the armhole and the side seams:

I also used this same fleece to bind the edges of the entire jacket to make the enlargement look 'intentional'. I used a thrifted zipper as enclosure. I'm happy I saved this jacket and now it's a unique gift for my daughter!

Holiday 2016 Sewing: 2nd gift finished - another set of Boy's PJs

I have finished another set of Boy's PJs. All the materials were found in my house. I used some remnant cotton flannel and sew a pair of very big PJ pants, using a self drafted pattern. Then I took one of the plain t-shirts from my son's room and sewed on a pocket with matching fabric. Another quick and easy but very useful Holiday Gift!

You can see how much bigger these PJ pants are comparing to the ones I made him 2 years ago. My son is currently between the 2 sizes.

Okay! Now I need to get on with the other Holiday sewing projects!

Holiday 2016 Sewing: 1st Gift finished - Boys PJ pants

I've been slacking in terms of holiday sewing. But now that November has arrived I must get on with it without delay!

The first holiday gift I tackled was a pair of PJ pants for my son, who has clearly outgrown the PJ pants I made him a few years ago. I dug into my fabric stash and found the exact same fabric I had used for his previous PJs:

I'm lucky that my son isn't too fussy about his clothing. Although the motif of the cotton flannel fabric may seem a bit 'babyish', he still likes it.

I didn't use a sewing pattern for these pants. Instead I just used the PJ pants I made him last year to make a rough template.

Then I enlarged the template to accommodate my son's growth for the next 2 years. Yes, I want the garments I make for my kids to last them for more than 1 year!

The pants were sewn quickly and here it is:

You can see the difference in size between these new PJ pants and the ones I made him a few years ago:

Next I made his PJ top to go with these pants. I simply cut out a pocket from the same pants fabric and sewed it onto a plain long sleeves t-shirt. Voila! Matching PJ set for my son:

Okay! One handmade x'mas gift down, many more to go!

Handmade Christmas Presents Challenge - Earrings!

I'm almost reaching the end of my Handmade Christmas Presents Challenge. I made earrings for my kids' teachers. I usually give gift cards as well as a handmade personal gift for the teachers a few times a year. One of the teachers actually wear my handmade earrings to the classroom and told me she appreciated them. As they are all women teachers this year, I'm hoping these sparkly jewelry will put them in a good holiday mood!

Handmade Christmas Presents Challenge - Faux fur Christmas Stockings

I'm trying to get all the Handmade Christmas presents done before the end of Nov! With the remaining grey faux fur that I used for the faux fur pillows, I made a pair of Faux Fur Christmas Stockings with a self-drafted  pattern:

I'm not too enthusiastic about sewing with faux fur because of all the mess. However, I saw that lots of the medium to higher end home decor stores have lots of faux fur stockings. So I guess that is trendy right now. I hope my family members like them! Now I need to get on with making the other gifts.....

Handmade Christmas Presents Challenge - A Refashion and an Applique

Amid all the ranting about paring down my wardrobe, I have been continuing making handmade Christmas Presents. This time, I made a Mickey Mouse pyjama set for my boy. I used a thrifted a pair of women's mickey mouse pyjama pants that I bought at my local thrift store for $1.99 to make the pj pants. I used the hem of the original pants so it was a super easy refashion:

PJ pants before

Then I cut a silhouette of the head of Mickey Mouse with the remnant fabrics from the pants, and did an applique on a plain boy's t-shirt:

Excuse the messy topstitching!

So here is the final pj set:

I hope he likes it! I have a few more gifts to make.......better get on with it!

Handmade Christmas Presents Challenge - Faux Fur Pillows

Yes we are back with the Handmade Christmas Presents Challenge. A couple of close family members are moving into their new home. So I thought why not give them some home decor presents? I searched through my fabric stash and found this grey faux fur that I bought a few years ago when a local fabric store was closing down. I thought that this grey colour should go with almost any decor or style/colour of their sofa:

There was a good 2 metres of it. I debated whether to make a faux fur sofa throw or pillows. In the end I figured that people probably wouldn't mind having different textured pillows on their sofa. A big faux fur throw could be too much a commitment for them. So in 2 hours I made these pillows:

I am always hesitant in making faux fur stuff because of the fluff they produce during the making process. I swept and vacuumed along the way and I wore a face mask. But I think it was worth it for 2 hours of work. I hope they like the gifts!

Handmade Christmas Presents Challenge - Knitted Infinity scarves for Adult and Kid

Since my daughter was bugging me to knit her something, I quickly knitted this neck warmer/infinity scarf for her with the same thrifted yarn. Knitting for kids is just as quick and satisfying as sewing kids' clothes!I finished her scarf so quickly that I had time to knit one for an adult. These 2 scarves only took a few hours to do. Now who should I give the bigger scarf to for Christmas?

Handmade Christmas Presents Challenge - Scarf for Mom Done!

I am finally done with the knitted scarf for my mom! As mentioned before, I thrifted these Alpaca/mohair blend yarn from my local Salvation Army. I used 2 balls of yarn for this scarf. My mom doesn't like the scarves to be too long because she wants to be able to stow them in her coat pocket easily. I just used the basic knit technique since the yarn has it's own texture. I hope she likes it! And here it is:

And here is how it looks on me:

Of course, once my daughter saw me knitting, she said she wanted a scarf in the same yarn too. Thank goodness I have 2 more balls of the same yarn left. I guess I'll have to knit her something as well for Christmas! Note to self: don't make Christmas presents in front of the kids! ;-)

Handmade Christmas Presents Challenge - Quick and Easy Neck Warmers

With some fleece scraps in my scrap box, I decided to make some quick and easy neck warmers (neck gaiters) for hubby and the kids. to match the fleece hats I made them. Luckily I had just enough fabric scraps. It was such an easy and quick project. All three neck warmers only took an hour from cutting to finishing! I used fold over elastics that I already have in my stash to bind the edges. And here they are:

I am happy with the progress of this handmade Christmas some far. I have more gifts to make. Let's get on with it!

Hand made Christmas Presents challenge - Keepsake boxes for Kids Done!

The Kids' Keepsake boxes are done! It took 2 colours of craft acrylic paints, Mod Podge, and cut out characters from my kids' favourite colouring books, and some rhinestone stickers.

From these:

 

To these: 

I hope the kids like them!

Hand made Christmas Presents challenge - Yarn and Needles

I learned basic knitting in Home Ec class when I was 12. I have never liked it as I am slow and not good at it. And most of all, I feel it's a very slow way of making a garment when I already have a sewing machine and a serger! So it's surprising that I would  willingly choose to knit a present for someone.

I spotted these mohair/alpaca blend yarn at my local thrift store last month. They were in very good condition and very affordable so I bought a few, without knowing what I was going to do with them until this week. I decided to knit my mom a nice and warm scarf with this yarn. She had always liked this pinkish-burgundy colour. I thought it would be a nice thing for me to knit her something to thank her for all those wool cardigans that she knitted me when I was a child.

Since I'm a poor and slow knitter, it may take me a full 20 days to knit this scarf so I'd better start now!

Hand made Christmas Presents challenge - Fleece hat for Hubby

I chose a practical and easy to make Christmas present. I have lots of fabric remnants, including fleece remnants. Hubby is a big guy with a big noggin. It is always difficult to for him to buy RTW hats that fit him properly. I thought I would use my remnants to make him a simple fleece hat. I had just enough of this green plaid fleece. There were loads of tutorials on the web regarding how to make simple fleece hats for adults and children. I quickly measured his head and after less than an hour, he has a new fleece hat for this winter!

Hand Made Christmas Presents- a 28 day challenge

My latest challenge is not about my outfits. I have decided to hand make at least one Christmas presents for each of my dearly beloved family members. Yes I mentioned the 'C' word and it's only Nov 1! But in order to hand make them myself, I really need to start now. So I will be blogging about my hand made presents plans, my progress on them, as well as whether I'll be able to make my own 28 day deadline or not for each present. Should be nerve wrecking and motivating at the same time!