Stockings

I REALLY need to be doing work right now.  Both my real job and my crafty job.  I won't even mention housework, cause let's face it, I only do that when it becomes a health issue.  BUT, I had to stop for a few minutes and show you my latest project.  I have been looking for Christmas stockings for my family.  I married this past May and between me and my husband we have five children.  You just can't go to Target and pick up seven stockings that coordinate.  I thought about doing red for the boys and green for the girls or something like that, but could never find what I wanted.  So, I decided to make my own.  I wanted them all to be different, but the same.  Ya know what I mean?  I went with a variety of homespun plaids for the bottoms and corduroys for the tops.  I embroidered each one with our names.  I do plan to go back and put the year on them somewhere because hopefully we will use them for a lot of years.  I love the fact that as our family grows I can make more that will blend in perfectly because I am not limited to any particular color or fabric.  If we ever live in a world with no plaid and no corduroy something bad has happened and we probably won't be hanging stockings anyway.  So... without further ado, here they are.  I am so happy with the way they turned out.  I am usually looking at my Kreations and thinking "I should have done this..."  or "I should have done that..." but I am really happy with these.  They turned out just like my little mind imagined.  I rarely use patterns for anything, but I did for these.  I struggled through the instructions, not always understanding what I was doing, or why... but it was almost like a miracle.  I did the last step and a fully finished stocking appeared.  The last step involves putting the lining on the outside , inside out, which didn't make a bit of sense to me, but I did it anyway, and lo and behold, it WORKED!  Okay, are you ready?  Here they are.

I love that all the girls have lace trim on the bottom of the cuff.  Again, the same, but different.  I let Owen, Emily, and AJ pick out their fabrics since they were with me.  AJ chose one that is a little different, but that's okay.  I wonder how many stockings we will end up with through the years?  Hopefully a bunch.  Merry Christmas everyone.  Back to work!

Baby gifts

I recently reconnected with a favorite great-uncle who I haven't seen in a while and found out his grandson, my cousin, and his wife just had their second baby.  I didn't even know about the first one!  So, I wanted to make a special gift to send to them.  This is what I came up with. 

I monogrammed a cupcake and the older little girl's name on this store bought apron.  Then I took a strip of coordinating fabric, added ric rac to the top and bottom and a few buttons and a bow.  I love how it turned out.  Hopefully it will hold up well after many washings because I pre-shrunk everything and made sure everything was stitched on very well. 

Here is the close-up of the apron.  It felt like I was scrapbooking with fabric! 

Sergio is the new baby.  I made him a set of three coordinating bibs with matching burpcloths.  The bibs are made with white terrycloth toweling on the back to make them very absorbent for teething babies who drool a lot.  I made sure to wash and dry all the parts and pieces in hot water before I cut the fabric so hopefully there will be minimal shrinkage in the final product. 

Here is a close-up of one of the sets. 

I don't know if the recipient of these gifts will see this blog, but just in case, I want to say congratulations again.  Sergio and Amelie are both beautiful children.  I pray God blesses you, your marriage, and your children!  Every good and perfect gift is from Him. 

Flannel Tote Bags

These flannel tote bags were inspired from a baby quilt I saw and made for my nephew. I used the same idea and constructed a tote bag using the same techniques.