I had 3 projects that needed to be completed before or just after Christmas and only a few weeks to do them. I have no idea what I was thinking taking on a knitting project and 2 sewing projects at the same time.
Knit Blanket:
The first project that I actually started in November, but had to put down due to finals, was a chevron knit blanket for my cousin's baby that was due in February. Her shower, however, was on January 3rd. I had made a huge amount of progress in the few weeks I had worked on it in November so I figured it would get done way faster than it did. After finals though, my speed halved and I was barely making it through a colored section a day. I used a pattern that I am currently using to make a huge "average person" sized blanket. I got the pattern from Ravelry and it was pretty easy to follow and it's a very fun pattern. The colors were ones I had from wanting to make a baby blanket before but never finished. I unraveled that and restarted on this blanket. The yarn I used was Bernat Baby Soft yarn in pink, yellow, and mint.
Quilted Blanket:
The next project I started on while working on the knit blanket was a quilt top monogrammed blanket. They are super easy and are my standard gift for babies. This one I wanted to spice up by adding ruffled satin binding to the edges. I had never done that before and it was a pain to get all the ruffles even and the corners were really hard. I probably won't do that in the near future.
For the blanket I used 1 yard of quilt topped fabric and 1 1/4 yards of flannel. There is a specific kind of pre-quilted fabric I use that is just fabric on the top and the batting is exposed underneath. The places I have found it are at Hobby Lobby and Hancock Fabrics. Joann's has one that is similar but it has fabric on both sides. I bought it initially to try and see if it would work okay but it is horrible. It was so wrinkly and stiff after I washed it. It looked okay once ironed flat again but I knew this would not be practical for a baby blanket. I scrapped that and purchased the right fabric.
I cut out all the letters for her name with my Silhouette Cameo and then put fusible interfacing on the back of each letter. I attached all the letters and gathered the satin to fit the edges. I sewed it all down and flipped it right side out and top stitched close to all the edges.
I forgot to take a picture of the back before I gifted it but it is the same fabric as the letters.
Christmas Dress:
The week before Christmas I started working on my poinsettia dress. I got the fabric on sale at Joann's for 75% off with this dress in mind. I used the Simplicity 1459 pattern. I wanted a fuller skirt so instead of the suggested lining I just sewed two layers of the skirt together. This turned out to be a huge mistake and weighed the dress down considerably. I had to take in the shoulders and the side seams to fit my shape properly and this changed the arm holes of the dress. I have zero experience with fitted sleeves so instead of properly adjusting the pattern I decided to gather the tops to fit the smaller opening. It turned out cute but because of the collar you really can't see them. I also removed the zipper from the dress because it was easy enough to slip it over my head and the zipper was a pain with the double skirt.
I also sewed the bodice closed instead of just having the buttons hold it closed. I have a larger bust and so the side wouldn't lay flat. I also had to make my own belt since the pattern one didn't fit. I mean honestly. If I can fit into the pattern size and make the largest belt and that doesn't fit there is a problem. I feel like the belt was made up to a pattern size 16 and they forgot about the rest of the measurements.
An improvement I would make is to add belt loops to the dress to hold the belt in place. It kept riding up on me and I was constantly pulling it down.
January Wreath:
Finally January rolled around and all my Christmas sewing projects were done. I decided I would try my hand at making a January - March / Winter wreath for my front door. I have wreaths for all the other seasons and holidays except Winter. I wanted something really basic since not much grows during those months. I got an oval tightly packed twig wreath that had dead leaves squished in between. I saw these beautiful white flowers at Hobby Lobby and decided to add them too. Then I purchased an H and some long grass.
When I got home I painted the H and assembled everything with the glue gun. It was pretty easy and I love how it turned out.
Pillowcases:
At the end of January my nephew was having a birthday party. When I asked what he liked I was pleased to hear that he was watching the Star Wars show on TV. I had the perfect idea for a cute gift. I went to Hancock Fabrics first checked the remnants bin. Score. I found a yard each of Star Wars fabric. The one I liked best was black with glow in the dark white graphics of the space ships from the movies. I got some green and black Rebel Alliance fabric also so I could make two pillow cases that matched. I followed directions similar to these and they came out amazing and very professional looking as far as construction goes. I made one smaller since I wasn't sure if he had a child's pillow or an adult pillow. But they both fit a queen pillow fine.
That is pretty much all I have been able to work on the last six months. School was overwhelming this semester and so I had no free time to do/make anything.
The next post will be about restoring a broken Singer sewing box.
Thanks for reading!
