Meet Sleepy Sue

Lainey's first dolly, for Christmas. Just what a first dolly should be- simple, soft and loveable!

Pattern/tutorial for Black Apple Doll found at Martha Stewart. I used a fuzzy, velvet-like material (from Walmart) for the hair. I embroidered the facial features instead of painting them on. I like how she turned out. Hope she gets a lot of lovin' from Lainey.

a lovely blog and giveaway

Thanks to Sew mama Sew's giveaway day a few weeks ago, I was introduced to a number of new blogs, which has given me even more inspiration.

One of these is Park City girl's blog. Amy is a talented seamstress and quilter, and she is also a busy mom with 4 kids, who are adorable!

She's having a giveaway to celebrate her 400th post. And she's giving away some fat quarters from the meadowsweet line, which just so happens to be my absolute FAVOURITE fabric at the moment. I have given up trying to justify the expense of buying some (on a student budget...it's not going to happen any time soon) So I'm hoping to win some!

Anyway, head over there and check out her creativity!

santa baby...

Dear Santa, don't you fear,
I have been a good girl this year.

And if you'll bring me what I want today,
I'll try to keep myself in the right way.

I'll keep my sewing room spick and span-
It will be hard but I think I can.

When things go wrong- though it makes me sick-
I will not curse as I unpick.

I will not sneak off to the store,
To buy lots of fabric when I don't need more.

I'll make nice meals, I will not throw
A pizza in the oven so I can sew.

I'll make time for my handsome man
(without sewing, knitting or crochet in hand)

So please santa, bring me a treat
Make it a fat quarter bundle (meadowsweet)

I just love this lovely design,
It really does need to be mine.

So please tell me that my plea is heard,
Or else I can't promise I'll keep my word.

merry christmas santa! xx

balls

Goodness me, is Christmas really only two weeks away? So little time...so much to do. I have a plan, though, and so far I am sticking to it and keeping up with my little time schedule that I've mapped out in my notebook. We'll see whether I can quilt Luke's quilt in two days, or whether that'll set me behind...

I've seen so many cool ideas for gifts. There are so many talented women out there and I've actually had to stop looking at certain blogs because my to-do list was getting too long. You have to remember that my talents are modest at best, and things take me a bit longer.

Anyway, here's a little project I did for Lainey, which only took a couple of hours, including hand-stitching. Not too bad!

The pattern is from Grand Revival Designs. (Scroll down a little way and the free patterns are located on the right-hand side)

I stuffed mine a little lightly, so Lainey can get her mitts around it easily, and added a little jingle bell inside each one. They will make a nice little Christmas gift. Wouldn't these be a cute baby-shower gift too?!

Luke's jammies

I'm going to make pjs for the kids this year. The tops I am making are made from stretchy knit fabric, and since I've never worked with that kind of material before- and since Luke was low on nightclothes after a recent growth spurt- I decided to have a practice run.

The attempt was fairly successful, but I am glad that I did do a practice, since there are a few things I will change when I make the Christmas pjs. Sewing knit fabric is not too scary, but mine did stretch a bit in the bottom hem, making it look kind of wobbly. I plan to remedy that by adding a kind of binding to the bottom, wth gap at the sides so that it still has some give.

We'll have to wait and see how it turns out, but for now, I'm happy to have overcome the fear of knits!

Chunky booties

I made these for Lainey- they're so warm and snuggly, and very, very quick and easy to make! The pattern is here, though I think I need to tweak it somehow to help them stay on baby's feet. Maybe I will add some elastic or something.

Dice games

Here's a really easy and inexpensive Christmas gift idea. I thought of it for a relief society activity we were doing, but we ended up doing something else instead.

All you do is buy a wooden box from the craft store, you know those unfinished ones, they come in all shapes and sizes. Mine has a hinge so the lid stays on.

Paint it in any colour you like, using whatever paint you choose (I used the cheap craft paint and did two coats). Then, add scrapbook paper, chipboard letters, and any embellishments you fancy! I'm not very good with glue so I cheated and used some very handy self-adhesive scrapbook paper.

I didn't get a photo, but I also painted the inside, and then lined the bottom with felt for a really professional look. Then I filled it with a set of six dice, and instructions for several dice games. You could google 'dice games' or something.

I think it would be a fun present to give to newlywed couples, too.