Merry Christmas 2010

 Sleepy Lily. No tinsel on our tree because the dog eats it.

From my house to yours, I wish you Peace, Joy and Much Love at Christmas and always.

Flannel PJ Pants, Christmas Dinner Napkins, Potholders & Oven Mitts

 

I sew a piece of folded bias tape on the back seam.

 The seams are serged.  Two more pairs to make before Christmas.

 

The blue napkins were serged using a rolled hem.  The red ones were serged, then the serged edge was folded over and hemmed. The corners were mitered and bar tacked using my Pfaff QE 4 (Big Bertha).

 

 

The green potholder was free motion quilted and the outside edge was serged.

 These potholders double as oven mitts!

  

 

 

The blue potholders and oven mitts were sewn on my Singer 15-91 (Pearl) then serged with my White Superlock 2000.

 

 

 

A little Christmas sewing going on.  Happy Saturday all!

Snow.. snow and did I mention more snow?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photos of my back yard were taken from my patio doors.  The front yard while standing on the front door steps with Doug yelling "close the door."  We are definitely having a white Christmas in Brandon!

Christmas stockings

In 1989 I made these Christmas stockings

The white satin fabric on the toes, heel and cuff of the boys' socks was left over scraps from my wedding dress.  I didn't have enough white scrap for the girls so I trimmed the cuffs with lace.  The sequenced names were sewn on by hand.

In 2004, AJ joined the family the cuff, toe and heel for his sock is left over satin from Shannon's high school grad dress. 

Jason's wife Karyann joined the family in 2007 when I was making tablecloths, so those white scraps were used to decorate her sock.  In 2010, Véronique made socks for her family in my craft emporium. I actually bought one metre of white polar fleece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used my Pfaff QE 4 to make the name tags then Véronique appliqued them on.  

To make these socks we cut 4 pieces of 100% cotton Christmas fabric and two pieces of 100% quilt batting.  Put right sides together and one piece quilt batting on top sew the sock together leaving the top side open.  Turn right sides out and press.  Then free motion quilt the front and back of the sock.  Applique the polar fleece heel and toe on.  Next with wrong sides together, topstitch along the edge around the sock leaving the top  open.  Make bias tape about 1/2 inch wide and about six inches long.  Fold the bias tape in half with the folded part down pin the raw edges of your bias tape inside your sock on the back seam.  Make cuff 5 inches wide and long enough to fit well around the outside of your sock.  AJ's sock is 17 1/2 inches around so I made the cuff about 18 inches wide.  Polar fleece has a bit of stretch to it so it is easier to fit.  I usually pin the entire cuff inside then mark where it needs to be sewn to fit the top.  I also fan the seam allowance out so the cuff is bigger around the bottom.  Names can be printed on with fabric paint or permanent marker or sewn on by machine or hand sewn sequence. 

Enjoy!

Hair Towel Tutorial

With Christmas fast approaching, this is a quick, easy and practical gift.

Required materials and tools:
Terry towel fabric or  bath towels
100% cotton fabric for binding
elastic 1/4 inch wide
thread
sewing machine
steam iron
serger (optional) as zig-zag stitch will also do the trick
plain brown paper to make a pattern

On the paper draw a large hump that is wider at one end and narrower at the other.  At the highest point your hump is 12 inches deep.  What you are drawing is a hood, the wider end is the back and the narrower end is the front.  Cut two humps from the terry towel fabric or bath towels.

  

 

The straight bottom of the hood should measure 26 to 30 inches depending on how long the lady's hair is. I usually make them 26.5 inches.

 

To make seam binding, cut 4 inch wide strips from the 100% cotton fabric long enough to finish the straight sides of the hump.  Two strips for one hair towel.  Fold strips in half wrong sides together, then iron. Open folded strip, fold both sides towards centre fold, fold centre back in half and press again.

 

 Pin binding to straight sides of terry towel fabric and sew into place.

 

 

 

 

 

Cut 5 to 7 inches of elastic, fold elastic in half, then pin the elastic 7 to 8 inches from the straight edge on the right side terry towel at the wide end (back) of the hump.  Use longer elastic when making a longer towel.  Now with right sides together sew the hump shut, leaving the binded end open.

Use a serger or a zig-zag stitch to finish the raw edges on the hump side. 

 

Turn right side out and it is finished.

 

Extra finishing touches!

 

 

 

 

 

Special thanks to Shannon for modeling.  Please feel free to use the tutorial.  Also please leave a comment so I know you were here