All posts filed under: Gifts I’ve made

Ideas for homemade gifts – a sewing set for none sewers!

Published by

I recently put made a case for a few sewing bits and bobs for a ‘none-sewing’ friend.  By none sewing I mean she doesn’t make frocks, but she does do the odd bit of mending and replaces lost buttons etc. I wasn’t going to share this (don’t know why??!!), but she was so chuffed with it I changed my mind in case anyone was looking for ideas for pressies. For the outer layer I used left over cotton from my Lekala dress muslin, the inside is leftover denim from a skirt, and the inbetween layer is a small piece of wadding. .  It closes with a loop of ribbon and a button – both from my stash. I made a pocket using the ribbing from an old jumper which holds a few buttons and a small box of pins. Some elastic holds some spools of thread and a scrap of felt keeps needles secure. The tape measure doesn’t have a home but is held in place when closed.  Next time I’ll make a space for this.  And you can just …

Draw String Bags & Production Line Sewing

Published by

Pump bags… Party Bags…. Could even be made as a smaller version for a bridesmaid in pink….. They’re the good old draw string bag! I was asked by my bestie if I would make some party bags for her son’s 7th birthday party. They needed to be big enough to put a small Easter in, and a few other little goodies. ‘Course I will’ I heard myself saying before I’d asked how many.  30? ….’yeah, no worries’ (T-H-I-R-T-Y……my brain was shouting…..!)   …oh well. In for a penny in for a pound! So here’s how I made them. A little tutorial so to speak. This could be useful if your making 1, a hundred and 1, or any number in between. The secret is to be organised and do it in bite size stages I started with 5 metres of a stable Jersey knit (cotton, or any fabric t that presses well will do). It turned out there was 6 metres, and I did need the extra metre! I planned to make mine 10″ wide and 12″ …

The London Tea Cosy

Published by

Don’t you just love making a gift when you know the recipient is just gonna love it! One of my besties partner lives in America but is over this week for a visit.  They went to London on Tuesday for a couple of nights – it was David’s first time there and he LOVED it! David loves englishy things including  a nice cup of tea, so I thought I’d make him a tea cosy.  Inspired by Sewchet’s tea cosy tutorial I cut out a London bus from some fabric in my stash and followed her instructions. On the back I added this writing (cos I can! and couldn’t before!): Here it is close up: I’m thinking now I should maybe have turned the iron on and actually used it whilst making this, but it’s  too late now! Here’s the inside…… Not sure where this fabric originated from, it’s a lovely soft cotton lawn. I think it goes perfect with the englishy theme, without being too girly! On one of Martin’s first trips to America I made him …

McCalls 6521 – hats for ladies suffering from hair loss

Published by

My mum in law lost her hair 14 years. She wears wigs when out but prefers hats indoors as they’re cooler. I found a pattern for ladies who have suffered hair loss. They’re designed to cover the hair line. I up-cycled a top for my first attempt and she loves it! Here’s a pic of me modelling it, I’d tucked my hair inside. It only took 1/2 hour and that included tracing the pattern! Much quicker than knitting! I used my Overlocker for all the seams so it’s really neat inside, and there’s plenty of stretch in the seams.

A Ruffled Blankie for our new addition

Published by

    My brother and his partner’s latest addition, Layla Rae, is one week old today. For the last 7 months I’ve been pinning to my ‘ideas for the baby’ board on Pinterest.  2LittleHooligan’s tutorial has been at the top of my to-do list for ages – a Ruffled Lovey:  Christina’s tutorial is brilliant, really easy to follow with lots of photographs.        I was so pleased with the blanket once finished, it almost made me feel broody!        I really loved making this, it was super easy and the cutest make ever. I can’t wait to make her a matching little dress from the left over fabric. Does anyone know of any cute/easy downloadable patterns? Preferably free!  Edited with BlogPad Pro

Happy Birthday Mum!

Published by

A little belated Birthday wish for my lovely mum, and introducing my niece to sewing! It was my mum’s birthday at the end of January but unfortunatley whilst my sewing mojo has been in overdrive I’ve had writers block with the blogging!   Think it’s due to a combination of finding the time candy crush saga and also having some decent photos to add to it. So here we are, I’ll share with you what I made for my mum: The scarf can be worn a few ways: The scarf who really easy.  The only challenging part was counting the chains for each length – over 100!!  I also made her a top which is on an earlier post here. Just after my mum’s birthday my brother and his family came up from Southampton for a long weekend.  It was great to see them, and I was able to spend some quality sewing time with Ebony, my niece. She loved the fabric I used for my 1950’s outfit and ‘we’ made her a zipper pouch with …

Christmas and other Pressies…final post, I hope!

Published by

This is my second post (and last!) of Christmas gifts which I made.  All the ladies in my family received handmade gifts, mainly zipper pouches, peg bags or tote bags, oh and scarfs (no pictures, forgot to take some before they were wrapped but will pester the recipitants for one!).   Is it just me, or do you guys struggle to give things away when you’ve made them? I kinda get attached, and make things that I’d like, but will only make things for those who I think will appreciate them. I didn’t find it cheaper making things if I account for my time.  If I’d have spent the same amount of time at work working overtime I’d have been quids in!  But I wouldn’t have been as happy! Here’s one last pic, an after Christmas Pressie!  Oh, go one then, one more…… Edited with BlogPad Pro

Cook’s Apron from The Great British Sewing Bee

Published by

Time was running out for me in The Monthly Stitch’s Challenge – ‘something from a book”.  As I only own 1 sewing book I wasn’t exactly spoilt for choice.   This month has been really busy.  I’ve made a big start on making my Christmas gifts, and also I’ve had 3 birthdays and an anniversary which I’ve made pressies for too. Before I knew it, there were only 2 days left in November for me to make something for the Monthly Stitch, so it had to be something simple.  I chose the cook’s apron as it would be a nice pressie to go with the peg bag I’ve already made for my Auntie Kath. Here it is:   When I made the apron I didn’t have any graph paper, so armed with a pencil, French curve and tape measure I marked out the outline directly onto the back of the fabric. I worked out the measurements and wrote them into the book.    I decided to make 1 or 2 changes to the pattern: I …

Peg Bag 1st attempt

Published by

Whilst trawling the internet looking for inspiration I came across grannymaudsgirl who has made the cutest peg bags ever. I didn’t follow her tutorial as I wanted to make one with a flap rather than a circle, and I also wanted to try out my ruffling foot but mines pretty average so I’m going with hers next time. Here’s how I made mine: I drew a pattern based on the only small coat hanger I could find (I need a trip to ikea) then used this as a template to make the 2 front pieces. I used some curtaining fabric that I found in the loft. There’s 16m of it on roll, and I don’t remember buying it!! It’s been in the loft since we moved here almost 11 years ago. After rummaging in my stash I found some bias binding and ribbon which would come in useful and also ruffled some strips of fabric. I LOVE my ruffling foot!!!! It’s amazing and so easy to use. I played around with different ways of arranging the trims …