Two More Christmas Cards

A few more cards are getting mailed...

Still using my large stash of Christmas papers

and Tim Holtz stamps with festive berries distress ink.

Love the look that old crimper gives on this holly paper.

Added a strip of  "red line tape" to attach the green ribbon, making loops here and there.

Thanks for visiting!

Hoping you are enjoying the season of Hope and Love!

Christmas Cards

I started working on making Christmas cards after Thanksgiving.

Was hoping to be on top of this, but the cards are still here...

Hopefully to be mailed tonight!

Stil using printed papers from my stash.

Stamps from Michael Strong, Hampton Arts, Tim Holtz and Stampin' Up!

Below are some close-ups:

Thanks so much for visiting.

May your day be merry!

Stampfest with Lynette Dec 5, 2018

Lynette and I spent the day on December 5th visiting and stamping.

We used some printed Christmas papers from my stash.

Lynette brought along a Tim Holtz stamp and die set from awhile ago.

I pulled out some of my Tim Holtz Christmas stamps and my Michael Strong Christmas tree.

It's fun to see all the bits and pieces and parts of the cards before they are done!

Thanks for visiting! Wishing you JOY!

Fleece Lining for Crocheted Hat

Thanks to Christina Ramirez of Love Stitch Love for her tutorial on how to add a fleece lining to a crocheted hat. I am blogging some photos I made to remember this process.

As Christina suggested, I made a pattern from the crocheted hat, which was folded into quarters first.

Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, sew 2 of the pieces together twice.

This gives you 2 halves. 

Then sew those 2 halves together creating the hat lining.

I marked the half way points on both the fleece and the crocheted hat. 

Then it was easy to line them up and pin together.

Put the fleece hat inside the crocheted hat, matching the sides.

Place the fleece earflap pieces so they match the crocheted earflaps.

Leave about 1/2 inch unsewn on either side of the earflaps when sewing them to hat.

Then you can fold that part underneath for a finished edge.

Pin the hem under on fleece earflap and all along fleece lining.

I machine topstitched that part of the earflap to make it stay in place.

Hand sew the fleece lining to crocheted hat using small stitches.

Stretch out the hat now and then so thread will not break with the normal use.

On an earlier attempt, I machine stitched the fleece lining to the crocheted hat, 

but I found it much easier to sew it by hand.

Thanks Christina for your great tutorial! 

Sewing Aprons for the Little Ones

After seeing a wonderful kids apron pattern by Beth Galvin at Craftsy I decided to make aprons for our three grandchidren and a friend's two children.  I have lots of fabric in my stash, and these aprons only take 1/2 yard, so I grabbed some fabric and went to work on these little surprise Christmas gifts. 

Here is the front of Vivian's apron. I like how Beth keeps it simple with a waist strap that secures with Velcro (hook and loop closure). Making the apron reversible is an easy way to finish the edges!

Here is the reverse side of Vivian's apron. The pattern size that Beth shared is for a 3 to 6 year old. Since Vivian is not quite 2, I reduced the dimensions of Beth's pattern. Used this size for Alex and Lucy who are both under 2 years old.

I made myself a pattern for the smaller size, which is
about 2 inches shorter
and about 1.5 inches narrower.
Used 14.5 inches of 3/4" elastic instead of 15 inches for the neck strap.

Here is the front of Alex's apron. He's 18 months old.

Here is the reverse of Alex's apron.

Here is Lucy's apron. She's almost 18 months old.

Here is Gavin's apron, made according to Beth's pattern here.

Here is Henry's  apron also made according to Beth's pattern.

I am going to see our grandchildren next week. I think these will be early Christmas gifts for them. I can't wait!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you are enjoying this season of love and giving.