Christmas projects finished - volume 1

I did it! I got every one of my Christmas projects done before Christmas (I finished the last on Christmas Eve). I haven't gotten pictures of all of them yet, but I'll get to that soon.

One of our little traditions is that the kids get to open one present on Christmas Eve and it's always new pj's to wear that night. (luckily, Princess loves getting new clothes and Mokey loves pj's so it doesn't end up being just to satisfy mommy's desire for them to have cute new pj's for the pictures on Christmas morning). Anyway, Mokey actually loves to match his sister so I made them matching pj's this year (and Mokey had asked for a "night hat" so I made him one to match, too).

A quickie project for me!

I had a dinner for my mom's group last night. It was our holiday party and we get all dolled up. I had a great dress to wear, but it was sleeveless so I decided to make myself a little bolero jacket on Saturday night. It was relatively simple, but I'd never done lined sleeves before and that was a little confusing. Anyway, I got it done in only a few hours (although I'm sure someone else could have done it in half the time) and it's cute! It's not the most flattering picture, but it's the one that showed the fabric the best.

Oh, and a longer-term project that's nearing completion the "new me"! I've lost 23 pounds in the last two months - only 12 to go. But, here's a progress shot:

last Christmas

last night

Three projects finished and no pictures!

Yeah, I know, I can't believe I didn't take pictures, either. I didn't even think of it until I had already wrapped them all. The good news is: the kids are getting similar (or even identical) items for Christmas so I can take pictures when I get those done (but shh... it's a secret, thankfully the kids can't quite read yet).

Project number 1 (no actual sewing involved, but really fun): silk/wool scarves for my friends, dyed with Kool-Aid. Who knew Kool-Aid could actually be useful? It's a great dye for animal fibers and it makes really vibrant colors. (I found a tutorial here: Sara's Toy Box) I used Grape (a pretty dusty purple), Black Cherry (a rich deep red), and Berry Blue (a brilliant, fun turquoise). I've got a grape and a berry blue in 100% silk already dyed for the kids for Christmas and I'm still going to do a Lemon-Lime (hoping for lime green) and a pink lemonade and then I've got two more that I haven't decided on a color for yet.

Project number 2: I Spy Bags for my friends kids. They're basically bean bags with little clear vinyl windows. Before you close them up, you fill them with polybeads or rice or something (I used rice) and fun little trinkets. Then the kids can squish them bags around to see what they can find inside. The kids seemed to really like them, but I'm not sure I'm doing this one again - finding all the little trinkets was hard and now I have approximately 200 extra plastic policemen, firemen, cowboys and Native Americans, along with a can of foam dinosaur stickers and assorted other little things that I got (for $1 or so at least) just so I could have 4 or 5 of what was in the package.

Project number 3: Sweet little felt mugs of hot cocoa for the babies. I got the pattern from Sweetie Pie Bakery and it's just absolutely adorable (as are the rest of her felt food patterns, I have a feeling I'll be getting a few more - I love the campfire set). Mokey and Princess both really liked them, so I think I'll make them a set (along with the plate and cookies that were included in the pattern) for Christmas, provided I get the rest of my projects done.

My first projects

Here are the things I've finished (and gotten pictures of - I made myself a purse, too, but I haven't taken a picture yet) so far.

My very first project (this one was supervised) was the knot

dress for my daughter. I adapted it from this tutorial on Everyday Chaos; I needed it smaller and added a ruffle and an apron. My mom helped me with figuring that all out. I have some Moda Woodland Bloom fabric saved back (supplimented with a print and a couple of solids from Hobby Lobby) to make another one this spring - she has more clothes than she can wear already for this season.

I worked on a quilt top next, but I still haven't finished it (other things ended up getting priority - maybe after Christmas).

My next big project was a Halloween costume for my son. Grandma Cookie brought him a Jack Sparrow hat complete with dreadlocks from Disney World and he wanted me to make a pirate costume to go with it. I almost didn't finish in time - it had a lot of pieces and I had sewing machine issues; I got a brand new sewing machine and Mokey got his costume. (I did not make Princess' costume - I found it at TJ Maxx for $20)

A beginning

Good day and welcome to my first blog. I'm Dusty, a stay at home mom of two cute (but sometimes troublesome - aren't they all?) kiddos. As housewives go, I suck, really, I'm not kidding. However, I've been getting in the habit of cooking fairly healthy meals multiple times a week (yeah, this is a big thing for me) and I seem to be a newborn sewing addict. I'm not great at it yet, but I'm getting better and I'm having fun practicing.

I'm going to be using this mostly to "journal" about my projects; there haven't been many but I have a ton on my plate for Christmas (hopefully I'll get them all done in time!) so it should pick up in here soon (although maybe I shouldn't be posting those projects that are gifts until they've actually been given - it would kind of take away the surprise, wouldn't it?).