Late 2009 - Flannel Nightie

And yet another item that I did not take a picture of!

Nearly 30 years ago I made myself some flannel jamies from a big bold pink and turquoise fabric.  It must have had some polyester in it, as it was lighter in weight than any 100% cotton flannel I have ever seen.

I had kept the scraps, and decided to make my "pink" granddaughter a winter nightie from it.  She gets hot at night, so lighter weight is a good thing.

2009 - Shoebox Dollies

Shoeboxes this Christmas carry the theme "pink", in honor of our Princess (and also so I wouldn't have to re-thread my serger!)

Two dollies in pink with stars that sparkle

The trim is silver metallic ribbon.

Rear view

Close-up of back of diaper/panties

I serged both edges of narrow strips of fabric, applied the silver metallic ribbon as trim, and gathered for the back of the diaper/panties.

Pink jamies

Pink fleece snugglies

Hat detail

Mix 'n Match

2008 Christmas Sewing #1 - Advent Calendar

My daughter designed a nearly 6-ft tall Advent Calendar. We found that one must make the tree REALLY skinny or else it will be so wide it won't fit anywhere. She designed the tree and is happy with it.

This is a really awful photo, but I don't seem to have anything better.

Numbers, letters, and decorations are gold felt, with gold glitter-glue (which doesn't fall off like real glitter does).

Each pocket had to be able to hold two Matchbox cars! Pockets are "gusseted".

2008 Christmas Sewing #2 - Cowboy Outfits

For Mr. Precious...

Kerchief washed in HOT water; then soaked in cold salt water, in hopes of it not "bleeding" on to denim. (This worked--there has been no bleeding problem.)

Scarf: Cut the kerchief in half. Place around the neck. Sew onto the vest. I did this after I had put on the binding.

Then roll together tightly and hand-stitch (it's a too big a wad for machine stitching) down firmly.

Back neck:

Front "knots"

My theory is no child will ever keep on a kerchief, especially if it is double thick, has to be knotted, etc. So make it less bulky, attach firmly, and make "fake knots".

Before applying the pockets cut a triangular shaped piece from the leftovers for one pocket. Attach to the pocket. (All of these "yucky" photos happened because the flash didn't go off.)

For the other pocket, sew a strip of randomly shaped leftovers, tuck and fold to create look of pocket-hankie; attach to pocket. Then sew each pocket to the vest.

Rear view...

Velcro attachments in lieu of button on the front.

When I got all finished it was very obvious that Mr. P was way taller than I had "guessed" from a distance. So I added another strip of denim around the bottom, serging all the loose edges, heming, etc. Then I sewed it to this strip, making it a finished length of 2-inches longer.

Apparently I have no photo of the finished product, except being worn by it's owner. (I'm not going to put photos of people on here, as it is a completely "public" blog.)

And for his Princess sister (out of scraps of a Christmas Tree Skirt and its trim and a button--all of which I've had for 25-30 years)

Vest "V" shapes are simply trim sewn on to look as though there are inset pieces of fabric--simple!

Button has velcro under it.

The skirt became 4-gored because the scraps were too small to do it any other way, and I like it, so am continuing to use the concept.

Both outfits are a BIG hit with their owners!

2008 Christmas Sewing #3 - Hats and Things

Mr. Precious gets a bomber hat. I designed it from scratch and it was somewhat successful. He still wears it.

I used drapery pleating stiffener (2 layers) for the bill. (I need a source of proper hat brims.)

The flaps come down and velcro attaches them under the chin.

A pink bonnet for our Princess. I used the dolly hat/hood pattern, expanded it, and added the band across the top which velcros under the chin.

Tucks at the back of the net to fit.

And her dolly needed a matching one. This dolly is too small for the hat, but it fits her own dolly better.

Side view

There were also several pairs of diapers and panties, by request of the Princess.

Just for fun, I'm throwing in this Christmas present decoration. It contained woodblock calendars for each of my daughters, so I put them both on the present! (Their Dad drew the holding hands part.)

As you can see I'm NOT an artist... But my girls were quite amused!