The tree and the outdoor lights are all taken down, the chocolates have been scoffed, and the last of the pine needles are being hoovered off the floor… My Christmas sewing was in overdrive this year, but it’s not until now that I really get to see how everyone liked their gifts!
My neighbour Jamaica was telling me months ago how impossible it is to find the cute little jersey balaclavas her 3 year old daughter loves, so she lent me one to copy after I had a good look at it. It’s really just one pattern piece, cut four times (two in each fabric) and sewn together along the back/top seam and also on the lower neck seam. You can see the pattern piece in the side photo on the left below (the right photo is the front view with the hole for the face). Then I connected the two around the face hole, turned them right side out, and serged the bottom edge together and left that raw (like the RTW one, which is just peeking out below on the left).
All in all, this little balaclava took no more than 5 minutes to cut and sew together out of scraps I already had lying around, and these apparently sell in Denmark for 30 euros! Since I’ve got my own pattern piece now, I made her promise she’d not buy any more and just come and tell me when she wants more! I delivered this one on Christmas Eve (as per the Nordic tradition) and I can’t wait to see her in it once they emerge from the warmth…
Next up is the black knit dress I made for my Mom. If you’re a Pattern Review member, than you may have already read my review but if you’re not a member, you can have a look at BWOF 09/2008 #135 here.
She absolutely loves it and went out and bought shoes and a belt to wear with it and already wore it out to the Nutcracker ballet and New Year’s Eve, so I think that’s a glowing endorsement!
You may also remember the Hannah Montana polo dress, top and leggings I made for my niece Megan. I’m happy to say that the fit on the dress and top are perfect, and even though the leggings are tight like I expected, they’re not quite as bad as I thought!
I hadn’t even thought to combine the leggings with the polo dress, either!
Another little gift I threw in for my Mom and Megan were more of BurdaStyle’s free sleepmasks, with “Granny” embroidered on one and “Megan” on the other. My mom has ben sleeping in Megan’s room when they stay there, but doesn’t get as much sleep as she’d like when the lights are left on all night!
This was a big hit at Christmas, with Megan saying that maybe she won’t even need to leave the lights on as her mask is so nice! The only alteration I made to this to make it kid-sized was to use a shorter length of elastic, so this might be an idea for another “light sleeper”…
And it’s also nice to see my Dad is still making fantastic use of the santa suit I sewed him two years ago – does he not make the best Santa Claus ever??
(Yes, that is a genuine white beard, beer belly, and jolly red nose! He’s also the family photographer for that side of the Atlantic…)
And since this is a bit of a holiday roundup post, have a look at this Christmas cracker joke I received!
It almost makes up for not getting any of the sewing kits in our box of crackers (as pictured on the back)!
As for my holiday sewing, I’ve been working like an absolute mad woman on my unfinished (and untouched since August!) winter coat for the last few days straight, but I’ll have more on that later… I am determined to have a ridiculously warm coat by the end of the week to combat the subzero temperatures we’ve had for the past three weeks straight!