I'm not finished with Rudolph yet :D

When I spotted this applique, I knew it needed to translate into a drawstring gift bag :D  Or rather - THREE drawstring gift bags, for my neighbour kiddies :)  Tucked inside each bag is a pillowcase (these two, and this one), some candy, a fun pen and a key cap cover.  They're also getting a snowman set - I used one of my snowman drawstring bags to hold 3 hand puppets, snowman and snowflake stickers, some glittery snow playdough (which I'll make the day I give them the gift), and some cookie cutters :D  I think this will be my last upload to Bag It - the challenge closes in 4 hours, and I'm about to head down to the basement to hem 3 pairs of work pants and make a Batman cape :D  An elf's work is never done, apparently!

Posting 3 bags to Bag It :)  Thanks Patty, for all your hard work!

Snowmen, dogs and foxes hang out in my back yard :D

I took this picture while the snow was coming down, lol.  Here are 3 snowman drawstring gift bags (tutorial here) that I made for Christmas gifting purposes :D  I want to make more of them so I ordered more large buttons from Ebay - it's way cheaper than buying them @ the fabric store in town :D  These will be uploaded to the Bag It challenge (ending December 16), and will go also go in Ho Ho Ho for December (when the link goes up) :)

 I've been making Batman capes for my niece, for her son's 5th birthday party next month :)  I think having a Batman party qualifies mom for the Coolest Mom Ever award!  I believe the superhero himself will be visiting - for some reason I wish I was a 5 year old boy now, LOL!  These ones are all size 6 ...


Here are a few more of the capes - the 3 on the left are size 4, then there's a size 2 and one of the size 6's.  

Here are all the capes that are completed (I have 12 done of 16 needed), hanging out on the clothesline for their photographic debut.  The penultimate one, far right, is shy, so he's showing off his lining instead of his emblem ;)

 A couple of Christmas gift pillowcases - dogs (left) and foxes (foxii?  ;D) (right) :)

A close-up of the dog fabric ...

... and a close-up of the fox fabric.  This print seems to dance and wiggle when I try to take a picture - like some prints I've seen, it doesn't like having it's picture taken!  It's mini foxes :D

I spotted a cute pin yesterday and got it made less than 24 hours after I found it :D  Tutorial is here, and includes a downloadable template for Rudolph :D  His nose, by the way, is a fluffy pom pom ;)  I think this is a great bag design for the gentlemen we know and love and have trouble shopping for!  Rudy counts as #26 in my not-very-successful 52 in 16 attempt (52 new bag designs in 2016) - I still have 18 days left in 2016 to complete 26 more bags - where are the sewing elves when I need them :D


Linking up to several linky parties with these projects:
Reindeer bag will go to New to Me, Ho Ho Ho and On We Sew, and Bag It.   The snowman bags will go to Ho Ho Ho and Bag It.  The pillowcases go to Ho Ho Ho, and the Batman capes won't be going anywhere other than Stittsville, Ontario (when I get the last 4 finished) :D

Reindeer and stuff! *rubs hands together with glee* :D

 I think I need to create some cuter finger (and hand) puppet holders, lol. Frixion pens in thread spools are serviceable - but not very cute!  And these reindeer puppets are definitely cute, IIDSSM :)  The pattern is a freebie from The Red Boot Quilt Company - you can download it from Craftsy or from the Red Boot website :)  She did hers as ornaments - I left an opening in the bottom of mine to make finger puppets :D

 Snowman flex frame bags - I used the snowman fabric (from Walmart in the States) to make a Santa sack for a great nephew, and with some of the scraps, I whipped up several flex frame bags.  The tall one in the middle will be the packaging for a gift of a 3pk of Lindor chocolates ... and a gift card :)

 When I did my first batch of rocket puppets I wasn't pleased with how they turned out - they were just too plain.  I wanted them to go with a solar system bag for a solar/rockety themed gift.  I whipped these up and am very pleased with the results - they're cute :)  Although - when I looked at the original rockets just now, to get the link to the page, I didn't think they were all that bad, LOL!   Absence apparently makes the heart grow fonder!  ;)

 Another finger puppet here - Mr. Chickadee :)  I've had this website bookmarked for quite a while because she has an awesome collection of tutorials - aka Susan's Critters  and Susan's Birds :)  Someone pinned the chickadee pattern recently - I whipped this little one up last night - and as usual, finger puppetized the ornament pattern ;)  I'm thinking of doing more bird puppets for a gift for next year, so I'm going to put this one away until I can get more made.  I think a collection of bird puppets (or ornaments) along with a bird watching book for kids, would make an awesome gift!  Presented in a drawstring gift bag, of course, embellished with a bird or two :D

 From the &!#$ happens files, this is what can happen if you're winding a bobbin on a sewing machine that does the winding at superfast speed.  I wasn't watching the bobbin - I was probably looking at the TV, and this is what happened, LOL.

Needless to say, I wasn't going to pick out the loopy thread to try to salvage the thread at the beginning of the wind - I pitched this puppy in the garbage can with nary a thought, and wound another one - on a metal bobbin, LOL.  Watch your bobbins, ladies - sometimes life hands you a bobbin nest!  ;)

I took some pictures this morning of some pillowcases and drawstring bags I've completed in the last few days - it was snowing out but still fairly mild - quite a pretty day :)  I sent the pictures to my laptop from my cellphone, but they haven't arrived yet so I'll post them later.  They're all Christmas gifts as well :D

Flex frame bags are being posted to Bag It - the challenge closes in a few days (December 16, 2016) so if you're entering or are thinking about entering, get cracking!  ;)  The gifts (everything but the thread nests - those are for my own personal entertainment purposes :D) will be posted to Ho Ho Ho for December (when the linky goes up), and the reindeer puppets will go to the New to Me linky when IT goes up :)

Sleigh bells ring - are you listening? :)

Christmas sewing!

Drawstring gift bag - appliqued with this lil lady ... 

I'll just pop these into the drawstring bag and *poof* - gift done!
Owl hand puppet tutorial is from Sewn Together by Jenny Doh
Finger puppet pattern was available to Good Critters newsletter subscribers - it may not be available any longer.
The book is from Amazon :)

Not a Christmas gift, but a donation bag - a floral toiletries bag :)  I call it a toiletries bag because I have toiletries from the dentist that I don't use so I save them and donate them in a pretty bag :)

A finish-up-some-scraps pleated pouch :)

3 more Eunice bags - these are all Christmas gifts :)  When I have all the goodies made and collected that are going inside, I'll take group photos :D 

Shark bag - this isn't a Christmas gift either, but I wanted to make a pouch for a young lad - I think he'll like this shark *chomp* :D

All 7 of these bags will be posted to the Bag It challenge, and the owl pieces and Eunice bags will go to the Ho Ho Ho linky party for November :)  I'll post the puppets to Celtic Thistle Stitches New to Me linky for November - both designs - the hand and the finger - are new to me, and I think I did a nice job on them, so I think they deserve a New to Me designation :)   I have snowman hand puppets, wallets, little girl finger puppets, and more Eunice bags finished that I need to photograph ... Christmas sewing is almost complete :)   Christmas shopping is almost done as well - I'm hoping to have time to finish up some UFO projects in December, rather than frantically sewing on Christmas Eve to finish things up, hehe.  It would certainly be a first :D

Ninjas and Turkeys and Eunices and Humbugs and Bats - oh my!

Well!  I got some sewing done this month, despite the ear infection (that I'm fairly sure still hasn't cleared up) and the cold that followed and intermingled with said infection :D

I wasn't able to get anything New to Me completed for the October linky, but I did get all of my Halloween and Thanksgiving, and some of my Christmas sewing completed, so I'm ready for the October Ho Ho Ho and On We Sew party :)  Here are a few of the projects I finished up:

Trial run TMNT superhero cape to check sizing for a great nephew.  It's just right, so I'll be making Batman versions for his upcoming 5th birthday party!  Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da  da ... BATMAN!!!!!  That's from the 60's episodes because I'm old and I loved that show :)  I don't know if the TMNT have a jingle because I'm old :D

Thanksgiving bib for a great nephew for his first T-giving - happy turkey day, Nash!

3 Eunice bags - Christmas gifts for some family members.  I tucked goodies inside, and boxed 'em up - they've been delivered already :D  I did them in "boy" type fabrics for 3 members of the 2BC - 2 Boys Club :D  That would be the grandma, mom and auntie of 2 of my great nephews ;)  Just in case they ever - you know - have little guys around to play with?  :)

Close-up of the zipper pull on the vehicle bag :)

Close-up of the zipper pull on the airplane bag :D

Close-up of the zipper pull on the solar system bag :)

Some of the Halloween sewing I got finished - the bags in the back are humbug/triangle bags, and in the front we have some of the bat finger puppets I made (pattern here) - these are the ones with glitter embellishment :D

I made about 6 (or more?) skeleton hand puppets and more bat finger puppets for some little friends - I hope I took pictures - I need to check my camera :D

Posting to Ho Ho Ho and On We Sew for October!  Check out Fiona's Figgy Pudding Tea Towel tutorial - it's adorable - I think it would be adorable as an applique (3D, maybe?!) on a Christmas tote :D  And speaking of Ho Ho Ho and On We Sew ... I did the tutorial for September - a snowman drawstring bag - one of my bloggy buddies MADE MY BAG!!! and she won the prize for September - I am tickled pink black and white about that - congrats Kathy!

Also posted to Bag It! 2016 --- 3 Eunice and 2 humbug/triangle bags :D

Halloween sewing :)

I'm alternating Christmas and Halloween sewing, because thanks to the internet, there are approximately 87,479,461 (and counting) free crafty tutorials available for us to look at, and I'm trying to catch at least a glimpse of all most lots of them :D  To that end, I'm working on Christmas gifts AND Halloween goodies - and here's what I finished up today  :)

 First up are some hand puppets along with a Halloween book, and a drawstring bag to hold everything for presentation :D  Links:
Ghost Tutorial/instructions
Ghost Pattern page 1
Ghost pattern page 2
Skeleton Tutorial/instructions
Skeleton Pattern page 1
Skeleton Pattern page 2

I did "hax0r" the tutorials a bit to change these from softies to puppets :)  I also resized the pattern to 75% to make it work for a little guy :)

My 2nd Halloween gift is for a baby (not quite 1).  I made him 4 Halloween fabric "taggy" triangle bean bags, along with a drawstring bag to hold them.   I'll be tucking a card into each bag, and some candy into the puppet bag :D

For those of you who make Halloween gifties for the little ones - what do you make, and for what age range?  I'm sewing for kids age almost 1 ... to 8 :)

Oh - I forgot!  I'm making the puppet recipient some pumpkin spice scented play dough - I found some recipes on Pinterest that I want to try out.  I thought I would include a pumpkin cookie cutter with the playdough :D

Posting the two drawstring bags to Bag It! 2016 :)

Christmas sewing ... and bags for Bag It! :D

Now that Christmas is getting closer I hope to be able to spend more time sewing ... just in time for Bag It! from Elm Street Quilts!  If you like to sew bags, or if you want to learn how to sew some fun new designs, you should check it out :)   There are prizes to be won, and links to fun new blogs and tutorials - I use this as a challenge (and excuse) to make more bags :D  This blog post alone has 6 bags that were made during the challenge period (2 of these 8 were made prior to September 19) in it - my first bags for the challenge this year - that's a pretty good start!

Candy corn zippies ... for some friends :)

Santa Sack - for a lil guy who shall remain nameless :D
Based on this tutorial :)

Pleated Pouch for a friend - tutorial here :)

Close-up of the zipper pull for the grey pouch --- is that really a bra??  Why yes!  Yes it is! :) But what's that other thing above the bra??!  Could it be ... ohhhhhhhhh ...

Yep - panties!  The zipper pull is a bra and panties - someone obviously has a disturbed mind :D  Why yes!  Yes I do!  :)  If the recipient prefers something a bit less "out there", I put a note in the bag saying I'd make a new one for her, LOL :D

Strawberry zipper pouch - with beaded ribbon embellishment and strawberry zipper pull :)

I'm not sure if you can see the beading, but I added red and pink seed beads to some of the dots on the ribbon :)

Another pleated pouch :D

Acrylic teardrop zipper pull :)

Christmas stocking for He Who Shall Remain Nameless :)
Construction is based on this tutorial - I can't remember where I learned the technique originally, but back then (5+ years ago) it was called a Magic Stocking :)

Here's the back of the stocking - it's not pieced - it's just another print from that particular Dr. Seuss line, quilted on the diagonal like the front :)

The lining is another print from that series - I bought a set of FQ's years ago in Pennsylvania (hi, Mickie!  Hi, Shayme!) and am finally getting around to using them!  

Here's a closer view of the patchwork and quilting on the front :)

For Bag It!, 3 of the candy corn zippies, both pleated pouches and the Santa sack qualify for entry - 6 in total :D  OOPS!  Update Nov. 1/16 - I goofed up while posting to the Bag It linky party, and only the 3 candy corn bags are counted - 3, instead of 6, lol.  

Ho Ho Ho and On We ... Snowman :)

This month I'm hostessing the Ho Ho Ho and On We Sew linky party, so you've dropped by at a great time!  ;)   Ho Ho Ho is a fun party for getting organized and prepared for Christmas :)   I've written up a tutorial for a cute (I think!) project for you to try out.  BONUS - there's a prize available, and anyone who posts a project to the linky party is eligible to win it.  It doesn't have to be a snowman bag - it can be a Christmas gift, or a Christmas decoration - think Christmas prep!  :)

   

The sponsor of this month's giveaway is the lovely Stephanie at Elephant in my Handbag.  She's offering a one-off 10% discount on purchases made during the term of the September link party (00.00GMT Sept. 18 to 23.59GMT Sept. 30) using code HOHOHO - sweet!  The link to the party is at the very bottom of this post :)

The prize for the linky party winner is awesome - thank you so much, Stephanie!  One of you link party uploaders will get this adorable pattern - YAY :)

I decided, for my project, to do something that would work for Christmas, and for the winter season in general.  I hope you like it - I had great fun making it.  The first version was laughable - I had to rejig my measurements and redo it so it wouldn't look ... ummm ... doofy :D

And here he is - a fully lined snowman drawstring gift bag :)  He finished to about 10 1/2" wide x 16" tall - just right for a nice box of really GOOD chocolates ;)  He doesn't take very long to work up - and of course, you can change him up to make him work just right for you :)


Snowman Drawstring Bag - A Tutorial :D  (measurements in inches/Imperial, listed width x height.  Seam allowance 1/4")

Ingredients:
- 2 X 11 x 12 outer main (white)
- 2 X 11 x 5 outer accent (black)
- 2 X 11 x 16.5 lining (I used grey)
- 60`` black rattail (I used 2mm) or thin cord
- scrap orange for nose - about 4 1/2" x 2"
- 7 X 1" buttons (I used all black)
- scrap of lightweight sewable iron on adhesive, about 2" x 4 1/2" (I use Heat n Bond iron-on adhesive - Sewable)
- thread - I used white, black and orange
- nose - either draft a carrot nose about 4" long, and 1.5" wide at the fattest end, or you could do what I did - I printed off the pattern from this mug rug, and enlarged it to 125% :)
- a round plastic garbage can or plate
- marking pen of your choice - I use those Frixion erasable ones

Because there so many tutorials available online I'm not going to go into detail about basic drawstring bag construction.  Instead, I'll try to show you how I snowmanified (new word :D) a run of the mill handmade bag to make it more Christmassy and Ho Ho Ho-y :D

Basically ...

Stitch outer accent to top of outer main, for both front and back.

Draft or trace a nose onto the paper side of the iron on adhesive, and iron it (follow directions on package) onto the back of the nose scrap (don't forget that whatever you trace onto the adhesive will be reversed on the right side of the fabric).

On the right side of the outside front, arrange the buttons and nose until they're the way you like them - I mark the placement with a Frixion pen and then attach the buttons and nose on top of the marks.   When placing the face pieces, leave about 2" empty on the 2 sides and the bottom, and about 3" at the top.

Remove the paper backing from the nose, iron it in place then stitch around it with orange thread with a small tight zigzag stitch.  I stitch around it twice for a nice look.  Sew the buttons in place.   You may need to carefully press the front piece a bit if it got any scrunchies/wrinkles while you were working on it.  Mine sure did, LOL.

Stitch lining pieces to outside at the top, press.  I press the seam towards the back on one piece, and towards the front on the other - it helps minimize the bulk at the seam intersection when the side seams are stitched.

Lay your front and back pieces on top of each other, RST (matching the faces at one end and the lining at the other).  Line up the corners of one end nicely.

Place the can or plate at each corner and trace around it.

Pin in a few places so the pieces don't shift.

Trim on the marked lines, then repeat on the lining end.

Layer both pieces again, RST and pin together.  You're going to stitch around the entire piece, leaving 3 openings.  Leave about 3 or 4" on a straight side of the lining to turn the bag right side out. Leave a 3/4" opening on each side seam at the black section for the drawstring:  measure and mark 1/4" and 1" up from the seam where the two front pieces are stitched together.  Do this on both sides.   If you're having a hard time picturing it, look here - step 4.  She measured up 1 1/4" and 2 1/4" from the seam - YOU will measure 1/4" and 1" because we want the casing near the very bottom of the black section, near the face.

Stitch around the entire bag, leaving the 3 openings as above.  Turn right sides out, press nicely, stitch opening in lining closed, tuck lining into bag and scootch and wiggle it around until it's seated nicely, then press it again. My curved seams were very curvy with no sharpies - I guess I didn't press very well, as I see some angles on his chin that shouldn't be there!

Stitch 2 parallel casing lines where the openings are in the black section.  I've marked the openings on either side of the accent piece with pins to make them easier to see when sewing.  If you go to the In Color Order tutorial - steps 11 and 12 explain this nicely.

Cut the 60" of rattail in half, thread each half through the casing in opposite directions, and tie off the ends so they don't escape and hide in the casing :D  I added orange pony beads to the ends of my rattail - just for fun :D  As soon as I added the ties, he ran and hid ... but not very well!  ;)

I hear that snowman like to be outside, but this is ridiculous!  :)





OK - that's it for my tutorial - I hope you like my bag, and I hope my instructions (and links to instructions) are easy enough to understand.  Give me a shout if I've missed anything, or made a goof!  If you make a bag, PLEASE please send me a picture! :)

Speaking of goofs ...  here's my first try at this project - remember I said he was doofy?  It's like he got in line 3 times when Old Man Winter was handing out foreheads.  Silly snowman!  :)

Forehead snowman :D

Before I close off, I wanted to give a shout-out to the lovely sponsors of the Ho Ho Ho linky party - they're very generous to our stitching community, and deserve a big thank you, and a visit!

  

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Posting to New to Me 2016 @ Celtic Thistle Stitches :D
Also posting the tutorial to Bag It from Elm Street Quilts tutorial linky :)