Christmas 2024 Sewing

Lots of sewing last November/December.

Had a good sort through my backing offcuts and dressmaking fabrics to make a bunch of clothes for Daisy for a Christmas present.  They were in a variety of sizes using patterns I had sewn for my own children.

Size 1

Size 18 months

Size 2

Size 3

Size 4

Also made a stocking for Daisy to add to the family swag (still waiting for her nametag to arrive),

a May Blossom "Jumbleberry Santa"

new stockings for Daisy and Kurt

and a Mill Hill ornament for each of the little ones.

Also made a Christmas shirt for Vinnie.

Dressmaking

Happy New Year!

I bought some very sweet Christmas fabric featuring May Gibbs designs to make a dress for Jenni to wear to school during December.

Maternity dress patterns are very few and far between these days and the patterns I had from when I was pregnant seemed far too dated.  I used a Vogue dress pattern for this dress but it was a little short in the front so I added some extra inches to the centre front when I made it again.

The maternity t-shirt pattern I had from 1982 is still ok and the pineapple fabric I found in Spotlight was cute.

Jenni really liked the Christmas dress and sent me some links to fabrics she liked in Spotlight - beautiful cotton poplin and cotton/linen mix.

When I was shopping for these fabrics, I also looked for fabrics for more t-shirts and cotton knit dresses.  Was very pleased to find the Jocelyn Proust print for $5/m if I bought more than 3m.

Jenni the day the parcel of dresses arrived:

There was enough of the animal print fabric left to make a dress for me.  I've never worn animal print and haven't worn the dress yet.

There was also dressmaking for T's Original Girl Doll - these for were a Christmas present.

Mill Hill cross stitch santas and an angel were made for the little ones this year.  I make a handmade decoration for them each year.  Next Christmas there will be four.

New Year, New Starts

New Year's Day I made bindings for the Rainbow Cot Quilt and Sweet Escape and sewed them onto the quilt.  Rainbow Cot Quilt is finished and Sweet Escape might be finished in the next day or so - it was put aside over Christmas and I've been sewing the binding down this week.

Finished stitching down the binding last night while watching the AO Rally for the Bushfires

Way too dull at home this morning to take photos of the finished quilt.

Lynell and I enjoyed "All You Need is Love" so much - we had a lovely afternoon at the Opera House - drinks at the Opera Bar, dinner at the Opera Kitchen a walk around the Opera House and in to the Botanic Gardens followed by a coffee inside the Opera House before the concert.  Again, we didn't want the concert to end - such brilliant singers, musicians and the fabulous Beatles songs.

Many years ago, all my free time was taken up doing cross stitch.  I loved it.  Hadn't cross-stitched for so many years until I picked up Elizabeth's "Angel of Mercy" to finish off late last year.  While rummaging around the sewing room after Christmas I came across "Merry Season" , a Shepherds Bush design I've had for about 18 or so years - I also had the fabric and buttons.  Made a start and

five days later it was finished.  I need to find a frame and then I can put it up next Christmas.  The fabric is large gauge (around 18 threads/inch) and I used 4 strands of DMC, so it was very quick to stitch up.  Really enjoyed making this and it may prompt me to drag out another long-time UFO.

I've made two Scrappy Trip Around the World quilts and when I saw a post on Instagram for a sew-along to make another, I started cutting strips to make a second low-volume version with aqua feature strips this time.

Really happy with how the first four blocks look together.  I'll need to make six blocks per week to keep up with the SAL because I'm making mine queen bed size.

I'm running very late with the "Hide and Seek" SAL - most people have their quilt tops together and I've just finished step 3.  Might have time to start step 4 on the weekend.  I need a new cutting mat - turned this one over and it's perfect.

Haven't done any of "Summer Moon" or "Long Time Gone" for months nor have I started "Gypsy Wife" SAL, which I also signed up to make.  Packing away Christmas is going very slowly this year as weekends are being spent with the family and friends and I'd rather sew and watch sport during the week.

I saw two movies recently:  "Shaun the Sheep - Farmageddon" and "The Gentlemen".  "Shaun the Sheep" was a fun movie for the little ones and plenty of laughs for the adults in the audience.  "The Gentlemen" is definitely not for everyone but I loved it - haven't laughed so much for ages.  For me, Colin Farrell stole the show - his character was hilarious.  The language is extremely coarse - hearing Lady Mary from "Downton Abbey" swear in a Cockney accent is a shock to the system.

Angel of Mercy

I can't remember if I started "Angel of Mercy" in 1996 or early 1997 - I know I was stitching it for Elizabeth's 18th birthday, which was September 1997.  It wasn't finished for her 18th birthday but was finally done and at the framer a couple of days before her 40th birthday in September this year.

This is a Lavender and Lace design.  Such a relief to have it finished and given to Elizabeth.  All that needed to be done was to couch down the halo rays - embarrassing to say the least.

"Basket Case" was finished recently.

I used the voile/lawn fabrics from "Smitten" and "Little Snippets" for the backing - these are such lovely, soft fabrics.

Karen quilted it last week

and dropped it off yesterday.  Hope to sew on the binding in the next couple of days.

"Sweet Escape" is ready for quilting.  I made the blocks a few weeks ago and put them aside for a little while before I felt like sewing them together.

I love this "Scrumptious" floral for the baking.  Karen will quilt this over the next while.

Little Sweetheart's "Elsa" dress is finished - photo was taken before Mum did the hand sewing.  This was a dress pattern I used for Elizabeth probably 36 years ago.

I have a few cot quilts to make for some of Jenni's friends.  Jenni asked for a Rainbow Quilt and sent me a photo of what she liked.  I bought a bunch of Kona Solids from Sarah and they look pretty wonderful.  I'll get around to sewing these blocks together after the Christmas sewing is done.

This zig-zag fabric for the backing with have a rainbow row of blocks through it.

Another of Jenni's friends loves natural, earthy colours, so I thought "Safari Life" by Stacy Iest Hsu would be a great fabric for her baby due next year.  This is ready for quilting.

Love this animal print backing too.

A few months ago I stitched out some machine embroidery designs and cut out some rectangles from my stash of "Guess How Much I Love You?" fabrics - this cot quilt top has turned out to be very cute.

Pretty green backing.

Had a fair amount of wool left over from making the sloth so I knitted a little vest in Fisherman's Rib for Jenni's friend's little boy.

Next ten stars are made for the "Hide and Seek" quilt-along.  Such a great way to make a quilt having a goal for each week.

A couple of weeks ago Mum and I went to see "Judy" - loved it, although I felt very sad when I came out of the pictures.  Mum had told me many times about Judy's sad life and how she was ruined by the studio system.  Renee Zellweger is magnificent.

Friends and I went to see "Ford v Ferrari" on Sunday night - this is an action-packed movie about the development of a Ford racing car to win the Le Mans 24 hour race in France.  Very loud movie but a good story, inspired by true events.

Next weekend is our annual trip to see "Schools Spectacular" - just Mum and I going this year - it's always a magnificent showcase of young talent.  And then the girls and I are going on our annual epic Ikea trip on Sunday.  Always fun.