Okay, so it took perhaps a bit longer than I’d planned, but I finally made it to my sister’s house and actually remembered to take photos of the gifts we made for them before the sun went down. (That’s a tricky feat in the middle of winter when the sun is long gone by 5pm!)
So, without further ado, I’m so glad to share with you some photos of my fun December projects!
I’ll start with Ryan’s project for his Dad. Granddad specially requested a mug with Oliver’s photo on it. (It’s just what every Granddad loves to have, isn’t it?) Well, Ry couldn’t just slap a photo onto a mug at the Kodak Gallery – he had to make it great. So, he took a photo from Oliver’s first day of school and made a fantastic .jpg that takes a regular old photo mug and makes it Oliver-licious! Here’s the image:
Isn’t that great?
Okay, now back to me! (I love saying that…)
First, I made tutus for my nieces. I made a pink and green one for our niece in Michigan (I hear she’s been wearing it to play doctor. I wonder how I would feel if my doctor wore a tutu…) and a brown and gold one for Miss Beatrice.
There are several tutorials online for this, but I didn’t use one in particular. You can just google tutu tutorials and find one if you like.
“Tutu tutorials” is a funny thing to write out. :)
The chair in the photo above is one from among the handful of chairs that my sister and I (really, 10% me/90% Rebecca) reupholstered this summer. I don’t know if I actually worked on that one at all, but Rebecca did a fabulous job and we now look at dirty old garage sale furniture in a whole new light.
That was a bit of a rabbit trail, but I thought you’d be interested…
And in this shot, Bea is creating for me a wonderful segue into my next project…
A quilt and pillow set for her baby dolls!
One of her favorite things to do is put her babies to bed. I’m at her house right now and there is currently no baby here that is not neatly and lovingly tucked into some form of bed. I even noticed in her room that her BabyLegs are servings as sleeping bags for two of her smaller dolls.
That’s how I knew she’s love a quilt and pillow!
The great thing about this project is that it cost me nothing! You may recognize the fabrics because they are all just scraps from the quilt I made for Miss Hazel.
And, if I haven’t mentioned before, they are from the Good Folks line by Anna Maria Horner. I love her and I want to be her best friend. Especially since she lives only a few miles away. Too bad she doesn’t know I exist…
Okay, I just sounded like a stalker. I’m such a nerd. How about I just stalk her fabric and call it good? ;)
These are the two sides of the pillow. Now you want to stalk her fabric too, don’t you?
And finally, my Christmas gift to my dear and loving sister.
A Multi-Tasker Tote! It’ll be great as a diaper bag, yes, but it’s really just a lovely handbag to carry around with lots of great pockets and pretty!
The pattern is available here and the fabric is all by you-know-who as well. I know, I need to branch out. But why? There are so many lovely choices!
I will say that I waited until December 23rd to begin this project and by late that afternoon I was literally weeping with exhaustion at my sewing machine. Fortunately, I have a very loving husband who gently guided me to the sofa, talked me down and took over inverting the straps (which were what finally pushed me over the edge). Turns out if you sew all day and don’t eat or rest, your pregnant body gets very tired and hormonal!
Lesson learned. I won’t wait to to a big project all in one day that close to Christmas. I sometimes over estimate what I’m capable of.
It is lovely though, isn’t it?
Okay, that’s all for the secret Christmas sewing projects. Now on to preparing for that sweet peanut rolling around and growing in my tummy!
Can I give you a sneak peek at some of the lovely fabrics that I’m using for our son and daughter’s room?
This may well be my favorite room I have ever designed in my whole life. There’s boy space and girly space and it’s all tying together just beautifully. I took advantage of the 40% off sale at my favorite fabric store in Nashville on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon I had completed a bumper, crib skirt and valance.
And I don’t even have to tell you who designed all but two of those fabrics. I’ll just let you guess.
Once the nursery is closer to complete I’ll share photos.
In the meantime, just picture me like Darling from Lady and the Tramp, just rocking and singing “La la lu, la la lu, oh my little star sweeper…” I’m loving being pregnant and preparing for my baby girl. It’s heavenly.
(For the record, I’m also quite uncomfortable and tired and hormonal and also pretty fearful at times. But, for the sake of a a lovely word picture, let’s just go with the Lady and the Tramp reference and call it good, shall we?)
Happy Wednesday, friends!
>absolutely LOVE the bag!! well done!
>LOVE the fabric as well. It is absolutely gorgeous. Quite honestly you may just be inspiring me to sew.
I submitted your blog to a local publication that asked me to submit blogs that I read and why I enjoy them. So if it gets printed I will most certainly send you the link to share.
The publication is On The Minds of Mom that is locally created and published here in Fargo. Here is the website if you are curious:
http://www.onthemindsofmoms.com/
I will keep you posted, they work on a quarterly schedule.
>Love the tutu and the bag. Great ideas. Love the blog I always get great ideas from reading your blog.
>AWESOME ideas! I will have to look into those for next year. I made most of our gifts with my cricut machine- you can find pictures on my blog at http://thehopfamily.blogspot.com. I love love love thos fabrics! I'm going to be sewing roman shades for our addition, and will totally look into those- there's not many great choices up here in Michigan. sigh.
>Love the projects and the fabric. My girls got American girl dolls from Santa and would love a doll quilt and blanket. I may have to make that my next project if it isn't too hard??? I am a beginner sewer.
>Everything looks great! You're so talented!
I got a little teary at the sight of your neice's pillow and blankey combo. I had an "adopted" grandma when I was 10 who make a very similar blankey for me and my dolls….it's at my parent's house and I hadn't thought about that in a long time…..
>I love it all! My mom got me a sewing machine for my birthday. I can't wait to break it out of the box and attempt a fun project!
>I'm so jealous of all your craftiness! You did a great job! Kudos to you! The matching pillow and doll blanket is so stinkin cute! :)
>The pictures are really nice. I think you have a gift for using photography to make things look beautiful.
>Love the quilt! Any chance you could tell us the name of the fabric store in Nashville? I'm a Nashvillian myself! :)
>Tara – sorry I forgot to share that! I meant to!
I love Textile Fabrics in Nashville. Here is their website: http://www.textilefabricstore.com/public_html/
I think their 40% off sale continues through the 25th!
>Everything is gorgeous! I especially love the bag – fabulous!
And "La la lu" is the only song that my little one will let me sing to her before bedtime! Our favorite lullaby for sure!
>I know jealousy is not a good thing, but really I am totally jealous of your sewing skills! I really want to learn to sew. And I just love everything you have shown…and oh my goodness that tutu is so cute! And not on this post, but I love the dolls you made too. You really inspire me to want to learn how…and to get a sewing machine too. I guess that would be the 1st step.
>You are incredibly creative!!!
>so much to say! i shall condense my prose to list form:
1. i too, am a fabric stalker.
1b. heather bailey. just sayin'.
2. tutu tutorial is really fun to say as well. ten times fast!
3. i kind of like the thought of my dr in a tutu. perhaps i shall make her one for christmas this year.
4. ryan inverts straps! i think he should hang out with todd, teach him a thing or two…
>you have given some terrific, thoughtful, creative gifts! i'd love to be related to you.
>Just saw that you responded. :) Can't wait to check out that fabric store. Thanks for the info!
>Love the purse! I'm already thinking of the fabrics I'll use!
http://midwesternhousewife.blogspot.com/