Today’s little craft is a sweet little Hessian Bird Tree Ornament, the very same that I recently demonstrated at a Christmas Craft Night at my local Spotlight.
I forgot to mention yesterday, that the supply lists and instructions for each project will be in the description box of every video.
I hope that having them there will help you in making your own crafts at home!
Happy Festive Sewing Friends! xx
The day is finally here to begin sharing with you what I’ve been busily been working on over the past weeks!
Introducing Day 1 of 12 Days of Christmas Crafts with 3and3quarters! Enjoy!
Happy Festive Sewing Friends!! xx
This coming Friday, the 13th of December, I’ll be launching my little 12Days of Christmas Crafts series on my YouTube channel! Yay!
I’ll be uploading some fun and simple craft projects everyday of the 12 days leading up to Christmas.
In this little series, I chose a range of different crafts that contain the use of paper, fabrics, lots of hot glue and glitter, paint, natural resources and simple sewing machine work.
The level of these crafts range from simplistic kids crafts (with adult supervision of course!) up to some that are for the more experienced crafter/sewer.
In each video I’ve included easy step-by-step instructions along with where I found my inspiration! (Here’s lookin’ at you Pinterest!).
All of the videos are short’n’sweet and are visually informative.
So I hope you enjoy watching from Friday onwards (I’ll post each one on my blog as we go along) and create a menagerie of Christmas crafts this season!
Happy Festive Sewing Friends!! xx
I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog front over the past week…
But it’s been all for a good reason, honest!
I’ve come along so quickly in getting all of my Handmade Christmas goodies finished that I’ve taken up the chance to film a little Christmassy craft series on my YouTube channel. (Is it possible to feel dread and excitement over something in equal measure?).
I’ll be launching the series (fingers crossed!) Friday December 13th!
Oopsie! I’m not going to say to much more but be on the look out next week for a post fully introducing you to my radical festive idea which will include a nifty little highlights reel! (Ooooo-aahhh!)
I was inspired to get filming by my latest guilty pleasure purchase; a somewhat early Christmas present for myself (Why not?, I say!).
I’ve been self-training myself on all the in’s-and-out’s of this sweet little do-dad and I’m having SO much fun experimenting, exploring and creating with it!
Best purchase of the year in my opinion!!
Any-who, I shall be off.
I’ve got lots more filming and editing to do before I unveil my secret little project (which is not so much a secret anymore…darn it!).
Happy Festive Sewing Friends! xx
Christmas fabrics ready? CHECK!
Patterns finalised? CHECK!
Sewing machine ready? CHECK!
Bing Crosby crooning Christmas carols at me? CHECK!
Hot summery weather outside? CHECK!
‘Tis the Season has truly arrived in my household (I’m still giddy at the thought that it’s December already!!) and I’m in ‘Make all the Presents’ mode!
I absolutely love this time of year!
I love the carol singing, the house decorating, the food (!!), making of the food, catching up with loved ones as well as celebrating the extraordinary love of God through the birth of Jesus Christ!
I also love the thrill and delight of making special one-of-a-kind somethings for my nearest-and-dearests; a simple present that has been made with love and creative festive spirit!
Happy days lie ahead indeed!!
Happy Festive Sewing Friends!! xx
Eww…totally gross post title there!
I do humbly apologise, but that was the only way I could explain what’s really happening at the moment…
You see, I’ve set myself a deadline…
This quilt must be finished by this Friday!
I’m so over seeing it lying hopelessly unfinished in my sewing room – it deserves to be finished!
And it needed to be finished yesterday!
Well no, not really – that’s just impossible!
I have 25cm (10″) left of quilt surface to finish quilting (it seems like a little, but at the same time it’s a lot – if you know what I mean!) then it’s onto attaching the binding and label!
Then, and only then, can I finally say that this sweet-sweet quilt is finished and I can introduce it to you in its beautiful entirety!
Phew, if only finishing the quilt took as quick as it was to write about it!
The reason why I’m anxious to get it finished is so that I can dive (quite literally) head first into my Handmade Christmas plans.
I’m doing things a little different this year and will be buying a few things BUT these bought items will be packaged/wrapped in ‘handmade’ and they will all be accompanied with a handmade card or swing tag.
I can’t wait to get started!
But this quilt needs to be finished first!
That last 25cm isn’t going to quilt itself (unfortunately!).
Happy Sewing Friends! xx
Last Thursday eve I helped host a Christmas Craft Evening at my local Spotlight store. Together with staff and customers we had a very festive evening full of Christmas crafts, sweet treats and some lovely lady chats.
Here’s what we made!
The Christmas felt bunting along with the embroidered/sequinned homespun ornaments were the biggest hits as everyone was welcome to sit down, make and take what they had created.
Everyone did such a wonderful job – the amount of creativity that there is out there is just phenomenal!
+++
This week, like a moth to the flame, I found my way back to my Double Wrench Mini Block quilt and have finally started quilting it! Huzzah!
As usual, I’m feeling very impatient to get it finished so I can share the sweet success of completion with you all!
My itching fingers have also found their way back to my Yellow Sampler Embroidery, which has been an ongoing project since earlier this year.
I’m on the home stretch to finishing it that today I bought a second-hand frame for it, ready to be hung quietly somewhere in my house!
Over the next few weeks, as Christmas inches ever so closer, I’m planning on filming a few Christmassy | Quilty | Crafty videos that I hope to upload onto Youtube (it involves hexies!!)
I’ll too begin planning for my 2nd Annual Handmade Christmas – a pledge to make and give only handmade gifts and cards for Christmas.
(I made this pledge last year: you can read Part 1 and Part 2 here.)
So I shall say farewell! (As I quietly freak out to myself about how fast the Christmas Eve deadline is approaching! eek!)
Happy Sewing Friends! xx
Over the past week, I’ve been squirrelling away in my sewing room whilst humming to a few select christmas carols.
You may be asking, ‘Christmas carols already??’…
Why yes, it does seem that way – Christmas has definitely come to this quilter’s house very early this year! I usually start my christmas crafting in late November/early December, so it’s all feeling a little bit weird!
But there is a legit reason for this…
It’s all in preparation for a Christmas Craft Night I’ll be hosting presenting running co-ordinating having fun at (!) this coming Thursday night at my local Spotlight store!
We’ve got lots of sweet crafty|sewy|quilty christmasy projects planned perfect for the kiddies to join in on as well as for those who are big kids at heart! (Me!!!)
Here’s a glimpse of my sewing room from this week – nothing has changed today, it’s still covered in bits of felt, ribbon, sequins, buttons, PVA glue and christmas fabrics…
Meh, whatcha gonna do – this is what the space is used for I suppose!
Annnddd, here’s a small sneaky of some of the things we’ll be making!!
Ohhh….I wonder what they could be!?
Happy Sewing Friends! xx
With all the festive season celebrations now at an end, I’ve finally found the time (and the energy!) to share the continued triumphs of my Handmade Christmas venture!
Working my little fingers to the bone right up to midnight Christmas Eve/Christmas Day Morning, I finished everything – all the while singing merrily to the Christmas Carols sing-along on TV – and savoured the sweet taste of victorious accomplishment!
For my two older nephews I designed and made them differing Ben 10 softies…
The bigger/taller one belongs to my oldest nephew, Caleb, who is five turning six…
While the smaller squarer one was made for Ayden who is two turning three…
I think they liked them. They seemed pretty pleased when they ripped open their parcels!!
For my youngest nephew Noah, who had only just turned one on the 22nd December…here covered in chocolate cake!
I made him a sweet little lion softie with ribbons acting as a mane slash taggie-thingy which he can chew and explore to his hearts content.
Inspiration for this one came from Pinterest – it seemed simple enough to make and was age appropriate – he can drool, chew, throw and sit all over it!.
He also received a framed Noah’s Ark embroidery which I very conveniently finished at midnight Christmas Eve. (Pattern found in Google search)
Continuing on with the theme of Pinterest inspiration, I made and gave my second eldest brother Graham (who is 29 and a diehard Harry Potter fan like myself) a Harry Potter theme pillow.
He liked it, thank goodness!! Brothers are always hard to buy/plan for!
My parents appreciated their gift – another embroidery. This one was made using only one DMC colour – Navy Blue and reflects my parent’s daily love for cups of tea! (Pattern found in Google search)
For my oldest brother and sister-law I designed and made them a sweet little welcome sign intended to be hung on their front door.
I used some of my favourite fabrics from this year to make it all the while adding my own modern sense of style to it.
Each gift was wrapped in brown paper with either festive ribbon or string tied around it – for example….
And so that was my 2012 Handmade Christmas. At times it was challenging. At others it was just simply me in my element, letting the creative-juices flow.
Will I do it all again this year? My answer at this very moment is a judgmental no. But give it a few months and I may change my mind!
I do truly hope you all had a wonderful and safe Christmas season and I wish you all the very best in this New Year!
Here’s to another creative year of new projects, challenges and triumphs!
Happy Sewing! xx
Here is the first installment of the gifts I’m making for all of my family and friends this Christmas.
Last night I caught up with my main group of friends for our annual Christmas dinner. It was a lovely evening full of laughter, food, presents and catching up. We reminisced on the year that’s been while taking notice of two friends missing from the table who are currently living up life in snowy cold London! (Merry Christmas Sam and Dean!!)
And so onto the gifts I made!!
I patiently embroidered two ‘personalised’ embroideries framed beautifully in upcycled frames for my girlfriends and their partners – the first is of two mirrored sparrows (pattern sourced from Urban Threads) on natural Linen with the colour scheme based on the sparrow themed tattoo of the friend who received it.
The next embroidery, sourced from a blog called Spot Colors, is a sweet Peanut Butter and Jelly themed design on natural Linen. This was given to the friend whose nickname is ‘Peanut’ – I thought it would suit them quite well!
And lastly, for the little man of our friendship group, I made a sweet little dinosaur softie who was eager to become a four year olds best friend! This is from a pattern created by Melly & Me called Dilbert.
Handmade Christmas Cards: Made with scrap fabrics, festive ribbons and stickers, pre-cut felt shapes and my trusty label maker!
Handmade Present Tags: These little guys were made by tracing around a cookie cutter onto cardboard and using flat sequins for the eyes and nose. Sweet, simple and effective!
All presents were received with much joy and thankfulness, albeit a loose buttoned eye that keep threatening to fall off whenever someone wanted to get a closer look at Mr. Dinosaur!
And so, onto the next journey of presents for my family – there’s one gift I’ve already finished, one other I’ve stared while the rest of what needs to get done lies patiently for me as I find time to get it all done!
Only 16 more days ‘til Christmas!!
Happy Sewing! xx
3and3quarters 