The Holiday Handmades: Part 1

I was a bit lackadaisical in my blog posting last year (shh...we're not going to talk about this year's efforts yet). I'm blaming this:



That's right. I'm blaming the graham crackers. (Go ahead, take a second look. I won't tell.) I have higher hopes for my efforts this year: that those graham crackers will stay in their pantry and sleep through the night, and get on a daily organized schedule that includes the slightest snippet of time (unbeknownst to busy graham crackers) for mama to sneak in some tiny tidbits of writing. But, before I go gangbusters on the writing of the new year, I feel the need to digress and catch up on some meant-to-write posts of the happenings last year - starting with the holiday handmades. I like to tuck a little something mama-made under the tree each year. This year, I found my I-must-make-for-the-children gift on the cover of Joelle Hoverson's More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. It's her pointy elf hat. The moment I saw it, I knew we had to have a set. After all, what everyone really wants from Santa is their very own life-sized yard gnomes:




I made five, one for each child and nephew. We attempted a photo shoot at our holiday gathering with four toddlers/preschoolers sitting in a tree and one babe at the base of the trunk. Yes, it went just as you imagined it. Gotta love talking, walking, hanging, swinging, laughing yard art.

The hats are made from Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick Yarn (I forget the color).

Baby Blues

It's called the Pebble Vest and it's a free pattern at THE.THRIFTY.KNITTER. And, I love it!

Seriously, a pint-sized boy in an old man-inspired sweater vest - what's not to love?

The vest is made with Moda Dea's Silk 'n Wool blend yarn in Aquatic. It knits up

quickly in one piece, and the button-up side makes slipping it onto your wriggling babe

a snap (not to mention the adorable detail it adds to the side). This little photo shoot was



taken a couple weeks ago (no worries, my sick little guy wasn't forced to model this morning). Nathan happily served as my fit model before this little vest got packaged up and sent in the mail in time for my sister's baby shower this past weekend. While we hated missing the day, it made us feel a little closer sending a tiny blue handmade something in anticipation of another sweet little something soon-to-arrive, all wrapped in blue.

Birthday Apron

We just got back from a birthday party. I, of course, just put the finishing touches on the gift last night. For her birthday last year, Audrey was given an adorable handmade apron and felt cookies to use with her play kitchen. She loves them and I appreciate the thought and work that went into a gift that is not only creative itself, but promotes creativity in my daughter as well. The apron never made it to the play kitchen, finding a spot in our real kitchen, instead. Every time I get ready to bake, Audrey grabs her apron and requests to lend a hand. I am happy to oblige.




Inspired by that gift, I got to work on a gift for our neighbor. I used Audrey's apron (the green one in the picture above) as my pattern by tucking in the ribbon ties, folding it in half, and pinning it to our chosen fabric (leftover lavender mix-matched fabric from curtains and other projects I made for Audrey's room when we moved into our house that seemed just right for the girly girl down the street). I measured an extra 1/2" around the apron to allot for seam allowances.




Here is Audrey trying on the finished project for me. I decided to add a pocket to the front, just because I liked one there. Then I decided to make it reversible. After all, it is a 3-year-old's prerogative to change her mind. And, any good apron should have the front side stained beyond recognition in no time, which means two fronts can't hurt. Making the apron reversible actually made it rather simple to sew and gave it a clean line.

I finished all the edges by serging them first. Then I ironed the pocket edges down 1/2" on all sides before top-sitching the top of the pocket. The pockets were sewn onto the apron "fronts" first. Then I matched up the apron pieces, right sides together. I sewed the fronts together, leaving a 3/4" space on each side (and the neck piece) open so I could slip my grosgrain ribbons ties through the openings. I turned the apron right-sides out using the open neck line. I slipped the ribbons into the side openings, turned and pressed the neckline down 1/2" around and attached one side of a length of ribbon at each side of the neck, creating a "U" shape, which the wearer can slip over her head. Then I top-stitched 1/4" all the way around the apron, going over the ribbons multiple times to reinforce them for some wear-and-tear. My finishing touch was serging the end of the ribbons before tucking them under and stitching them in place (something I didn't think to do until I saw the ribbon unraveling a bit).

Finally, it was off to the bookstore to find a kid-friendly cookbook to finish off our in-the-nick-of-time birthday gift. I have to say, I love it so much, I might just have to make another for Audrey. I think she needs one for the playroom and the kitchen.

The Last of the Easter Handmades

I'm not going to lie. I just finished the last of my Easter handmade gifts. Just. As in today - two days after Easter. They still have to make it into the mail, which will hopefully happen tomorrow, but with me, you never know. I did manage to get Audrey's and one for her cousin done in time for Easter, but these last two stragglers (made for my God kids), well, you know. A birthday gift needs to be tucked into the package, too, for the child whose birthday was, ahem, today. Are you detecting a pattern?


So just what are these gifts? Easy-to-sew drawstring totes. I cut out two pieces of fabric (I believe they were 8" x 6"), serged the edges (could just as easily keep them from fraying using pinking shears), stitched up the three sides, ironed on a small square of interfacing at the top where the drawstrings would enter the bag, stitched two buttonholes on top of the interfacing side-by-side about a 1/2" apart, turned down the top edge an inch (also serged) and topstiched it down. I attached a safety pin to the drawstring (recycled from an old shopping bag) and fished it through the buttonhole pushing it through the inch-wide casing and out the other buttonhole. I tied a knot on each end of the drawstring to keep it in place. Then, I embroidered a small piece of cotton fabric that I had serged the sides of, pressed down the edges and topstitched it to the front of the bag (this is the part I was finishing today) to make a tag - because when you are little, everything is a little more special when it has your name on it.



Why were totes in order? To hold these crayon rocks, of course, which I found here. Made from soybeans and specially designed to strengthen the muscles in tiny hands preparing little ones for handwriting, they seem like all-around winners (although we've noticed that our dog thinks they are treats). Oh, and they look like Easter eggs. Now if only I could get the Easter Bunny to turn back the clock so the postman could deliver them on time. Hopefully, the two little ones receiving these gifts won't mind if I drag out the celebration just a little bit longer.

Warmth

Today was one of those good but full days where all of the important things got done (air filter replacement bought - check; car filled with gas - check; birthday cards written and mailed - check; big fun had by the little one - double check), just not in the time frame I had originally thought. As Audrey and I pulled into the driveway at ten til eight, having not had dinner and still in need of a bath and bedtime books (I know, not one of my better shows of time management), all I could think about was how much my back wanted to melt into the couch, or the bathtub, or some distant warm island cabana. But, the couch - and definitely the cabana - being a long ways off, I opted for dinner, instead, and bath time, and one last book. Then, I tucked my one-of-a-kind into bed underneath these two blankets that are also one-of-a-kind, made just for Audrey before we even knew who she would be: a girl strong enough to wear me out in the best of ways, yet fragile enough to need a couple extra layers on a cold night. And I reached for my camera, knowing that it was way past her bedtime, but thinking that, perhaps, these tired moments might be the most important to capture, to remind me later that when my back ached the most and my eyelids were heavy, I was not alone but had the loving hands of Pat, Rose, and Beth (who put so much time and energy into creating these blankets) helping to put my little one to bed - keeping her warm all those winter nights. Thank you ladies! Now, I'm finally off to melt into some warm blankets of my own. Good night.