A secret santa surprise!

One day in November, I excitedly opened a package from my "Secret Santa", and found the most beautiful tote bag inside!  I hardly had time to photograph it, before stuffing it full of sewing supplies for a Thanksgiving weekend away.  (I always bring too much, because you never know what you might have time to work on, right? And, in my opinion, the bigger the bag -- and more possible projects -- the better!)

So, thank you, Kara, for making the most perfect bag for me.  Your fabric selections are fabulous -- how did you read my mind?!  But what I really love about it are the things that make it uniquely Kara, things I never would have thought of doing.  Like quilting with a zig-zag stitch, combining the fabrics in a way I never would have (but really love), and adding the aqua embroidery stitches for extra pop and texture.

My kids say the patchwork looks like a city map, which is how I will always think of it now.  And that makes me love it even more.

Oh, and I almost forgot about this awesome little bonus package that was hidden inside:  more Lotta Jansdotter fabrics (I don't think I can ever have too much!) and this fabulous pair of buttons.  Thanks so much, Kara, for this gift, and also for organizing the Secret Santa Swap.  It was so much fun.

My swap partner, Ros, specifically asked for a Christmas-themed gift.  Since she lives in Australia (where the weather is warm this time of year), I wanted to make it Christmas-y, but also bright and cheery -- no snowmen or sleighs for her!  I stitched up this house ornament (tutorial by RetroMama), because I think it's adorable... and hoped Ros would, too.

Then I resurrected my pattern for this Christmas tree applique -- one that I used way-back-when to make these greeting cards.  [You can read more how I make the cards here.]  This time I sewed the tree onto a piece of linen, which I hemmed and turned into a tea towel, complete with a strip of cheery red twill tape sewn into the corner for hanging.

I included a couple of my applique cards to round out the package.

I'm now frantically trying to get through my list of un-secret holiday gifts for friends and family... because, as usual, I have waited until two weeks before Christmas to start... or even come up with ideas.  But that's just kind of the way I roll.  I wish I could be more organized, but I'm just, well, not.

What last minute gifts are you making?

A winner!

I so enjoyed reading all of your comments on my giveaway post, as part of Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day.  I loved having so many new visitors to my itty bitty blog, too.  Hope you'll come back and visit again!

Congratulations to elflyn (comment #109), chosen by the true random number generator on Random.org.  Elflyn said, "Oh so cute, I love Bella.  Thanks for the opportunity."  You're very welcome!

I'll be shipping your zipper pouch off to you asap.  Enjoy!

Giveaway day!

It's Giveaway Day once again at Sew, Mama, Sew!, and... once again, I have something to giveaway!  Details on how to enter are at the bottom of the post.  Also, be sure to check out all the other giveaways being offered.  Click the image below to link back to the official Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day posts.

On this overcast, slightly dreary, late fall day, it seemed appropriate to offer up this cheery little rainy day pouch, designed and made by yours truly.  It's a hot pink mini wale corduroy zipper pouch with a cloud and raindrops applique.  The lining and raindrops are from one of my favorite fabric collections, Lotta Jansdotter's Bella.

To enter to win, simply comment on this post anytime before Friday, December 7 at 5 pm EST.  You can write whatever you'd like in your comment.  If you need some inspiration, I'd love to hear about what you're making this holiday season, whether it's handcrafted gifts or decorations, or home baked goodies.  I'll use Random.org to chose the winner of this handy dandy (and cute!) little pouch.

Please be sure I have a way to contact you if you're a winner!  If your email is not connected to your blogger profile, please include it in your comment.

This giveaway is now closed; the winner is announced here.  Thanks so much to all who participated!

DIY Trunk Show... almost ready!

Making owls.

And zipper pouches.  And so many other things that I don't quite have time to photograph right now!

And figuring out packaging.  I love these craft paper round labels from Avery.  The bags and cool orange burlap twine are from Nashville Wraps.

I'll be a vendor tomorrow at the DIY Trunk Show.  This is by far the biggest fair I've done, and I have no idea if I have enough wares or not, but I suppose I'll find out soon enough.  If you're in the Chicago area, please come by and check it out.  There is a really amazing list of vendors which you can peruse here.   And I'd absolutely love it if you stopped by to say hello to me at Booth 91!

One more quick thing before I get back to work.  Here's a sneak peak at the package I sent off for the Secret Santa swap, hosted by Me and Elna.  More about that next week.

Teeny, tiny patchwork

Are you on Threadbias, yet?  I am, and, although I'm not yet using it to it's full potential yet, I did enjoy participating in this Threadbias Pincushion Swap.  The only project requirement was that it use some or all of the colors orange, blue and green.  This is the pincushion I made.

I pieced these little teeny, tiny pieces to make the letters.  Look at the size of this patchwork!  I was really scared when I started (I thought my sewing machine might suck the pieces inside and destroy them!), but it worked out fine.  Paper piecing would have probably been easier, but I was in a rush and didn't want to spend the time drawing up a paper pattern.

Here are the pieced letters, and my notes.  I used linen --oh lovely linen-- for the background.

Here's the finished block, all neat and trimmed.  {Don't look too closely at the "W"!}

I quilted it, sewed on the green print for the back, stuffed it full of fiber fill, then wrapped it up like a burrito to send off to my swap partner.

And look at the awesome ORANGE cathedral window pincushion I received in return.  It's already on my sewing table, getting heavy use.  I kinda like this swap thing!

A few things.

It's already the 5th day of Sew Mama Sew's Handmade Holiday series.  If you're unfamiliar with this fantastic collection of DIY sewing (and other) tutorials, please.  Go.  Check.  It.  Out.  It's full of really great gifty type ideas for everyone on your list.  And it runs throughout the month of November.  It's one of my favorite things about November.  Seriously.

Have you heard about the Makerie's Sewing retreat?  It sounds really amazing!  Great teachers, two whole days of sewing and learning, plus hiking, yoga, and yummy healthy food.  I would be there in a heartbeat if I could.

This is not exactly new, but I love this "scrappy X and +" quilt block tutorial from Amy at Badskirt.  And (more new-ish)  these house quilt blocks by Retro Mama and Noodlehead.

Oh, and because I can't post without a picture (plus I just want to show you!), here's that zipper pouch I was working on when I was supposed to be doing other stuff.  Finished.  I call it the "Rainy-Day-Fund Pouch."  Clever, huh?  I'll be making a bunch more for the holiday shows I have coming up.

Handmade Halloween

I can't remember ever wearing a store-bought costume as a kid, although I probably did at some point.  And, except for my son's first birthday when I couldn't resist buying him an adorable fuzzy giraffe costume, my kid's have always had (at least partially) handmade costumes, too.  Not that there's anything wrong with a store bought costume.  I've seen some really great commercial costumes, including some today at my kids' school.  It's just that it's really fun to make a costume, whether it involves finding just the right pieces at a thrift store, using spray paint and a hot glue gun, or stitching one up from scratch.  (I'm also cheap, and don't like paying full price!)

This year my son asked to be one of the Gogo Crazy Bones he collects and plays with constantly.  He wanted to be Targy, the one pictured above.  It's pretty specific and obscure -- most people had to ask what he was -- but people loved the costume anyway.  I used plastic tubing and wire to shape the head piece and then attached it to a bicycle helmet with strapping tape.  I covered it in red pleather with white pleather stripes.  I mostly sewed the red pleather (I used some red duct tape, too), but I ended up attaching the white stripes with clear tape.  And the white pleather circle is glued to the red sweatshirt with fabric glue.  The red pleather pants, though, are completely sewn.  Hint:  laying tissue paper over the shiny side of the pleather makes it so much easier to sew!  The mask it pleather over a cardboard form -- this part was very last minute and not as successful as the rest of the costume.  Apparently, it was kind of uncomfortable and made it hard for him to see, so he ended up not wearing it most of the time.

My daughter's costume was easier,  She's wanted to be a werewolf since last Halloween, so I've had time to think about it too.  I used faux fur and stitched up a pair of straight tube arm warmers with thumb holes and leg warmers with an extra flap to rest over her shoes.  I roughly followed the pattern I used last year to sew her bat hat, to make this year's hat/hood.  The tail and neck piece are my own design.  The shirt and jeans were thrifted.



Here's a not-so-scary photo of my sweet werewolf, and the three of us together, out trick-or-treating.  Did I mention that I whipped up a quick Amelia Earhart costume for myself last Halloween?  No?  Well, here it is, recycled and reused again this year.  Handmade felt hat with ear flaps, sunglasses-made-aviator-goggles with a bit 'o felt, and a white scarf made by sewing together strips of a chopped up t-shirt.  The jacket, khaki pants, and tall boots are from my wardrobe.

By the way, I end up spending much of the time before Halloween frantically finishing these costumes that I always start a bit later than I wished.  We're lucky if we get a few decorations up and the pumpkins carved... but at least we've got the costumes!

Hope you had a great Halloween!  Did you make any costumes this year?