Christmas Stockings

Once I had the tree skirt finished, it was onto the stockings! I was hoping to find a simple stocking pattern on Pinterest and I found a few sites that had them. I was surprised to see that some were only for purchase. But I found this free stocking pattern and tutorial which made my day!

http://fabricworm.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-stocking-tutorial.html

Great tutorial, simple directions with pictures, which I love! Also at the beginning of the tutorial there is a list of the materials you will need to make these babies.

Of course I got a little off track and didn't follow the directions exactly but they came out pretty cute anyway. They aren't perfect but I'm hoping to get better at sewing, well,  and following directions ;)

Tree Skirt

So even though we have been married for 4 and a half years, and have been in our own house for almost 3 years, we have never had our own tree skirt or stockings. Sad. So this year I decided I was really going to make us some.

I found a few really cute tree skirts on Pinterest but I didn't really feel like doing a lot of sewing on it. Up came this cute no sew ruffle tree skirt. Yes!

http://www.hgtv.com/handmade/how-to-make-a-no-sew-ruffled-christmas-tree-skirt/index.html

I didn't follow the directions to a tee. I just kind of took the idea of making ruffles and gluing them down with a hot glue gun and ran with it. I love the way it turned out! I kind of wish I had made it bigger but if we ever find a bigger spot for the tree I figure I can add onto it.

Wish I would have taken better pictures of it in its glory, but alas we were too busy playing ;)

Plush Fabric Letters

This was something I knew I had to make! Cute and functional these fabric letters are awesome!



http://chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com/2009/11/alphabet-sets.html

I downloaded the template and followed the instructions for how to make these cuties. Super easy to follow instructions and pretty simple sewing, even for a beginner like me. I made a whole alphabet for my Soph without magnets. I had a hard time finding plain small magnets and when I did they were surprisingly expensive. I also made a set for Sophs cousin, but did just her name with magnets inside.

I also made bags for each set. The letters are stamped on white fabric and sewn onto the front of the bags. To make the bag I simply sewed a thick hem on each short side, enough to slide a ribbon through. After that I folded the fabric so that the hems were both at the top. Once I saw a good spot to sew the white patch I unfolded the fabric and sewed it on. Then I just folded it back in half and sewed up the sides of the bag, making sure to stop when I got to the top hem openings. Once the bag was sewn I threaded yarn or ribbon through the top hems to give it a drawstring for closing.

Soph Loves these letters! It took a while to make them, as I did a little each day for like a month. Because of this all the materials and some finished letters were always out on the table. She was always wanting to sit at the table and play with them. Yea this was definitely a present she played with many times before we even hit Christmas day!

Fabric Marble Maze

Another fun homemade Christmas present! The bead is enclosed in fabric so it doesn't get lost or swallowed! This is the picture from Pinterest of this fun fabric maze.

 

http://lilla-a-design.blogspot.com/2011/01/kulbana-i-tyg.html

This looked like a great thing for church or travel and I was very excited to make it. However when I opened the link it was in a language I do not know, bummer. So I just rigged up my own version. Not as clean looking as this one, but it works!

I sewed the squares where the ends of the maze are and just made up the pattern as I went. I also sandwiched batting between the fabric. Soph is 17 months and she wasn't so into it, but when she is a little older and gets it I think she will like it. I know I do!

Ribbon Dancer Rings



I made quite a few homemade presents for Soph for Christmas. One of them were these ribbon rings. This is the picture of the rings I saw on Pinterest.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58174868/dancing-fairy-ring?ref=cat2_gallery_10

These are sold on Etsy in the shop dreamchildstudio. They remind me of Ribbon Dancers from back in the day!

Here is the version I made using clear shower rings and ribbon.

I bought a pack of clear shower rings and tied ribbons to it. Super simple! I did make sure to tie the ribbons on the side of the rings that had the closure so it would be covered.

These were the cheapest and easiest of Sophs Christmas presents and she loved them! After I made them I did see wooden circles at Hobby Lobby that would work well for this project too.

Fabric and Felt Headband

I love making headbands for my little Soph. So when I saw this on Pinterest I knew I had to make one like it. Love the different shapes and textures in this headband!

http://sewingin-nomansland.blogspot.com/2011/03/butterfly-dress-and-headband.html

The dress is also super cute but I need a little more practice in the sewing area before I feel comfortable sewing clothes for my little love to wear!

This is what I came up with.

Soph approves! Or maybe shes just content with that sweet treat she was given ;)

Here is what I did:

For the pink and white rosette I cut a long strip of fabric, twisted it and hot glued it on to a circle of felt as I coiled in up.

For the blue flower I cut circles of various sizes. Then on each circle I cut slits around it from the edge to the center. I stacked them on top of each other and sewed them together with a clear button in the center.

For the white flower I used this flower shape and followed the instructions from this blog post http://shadandlizzie.blogspot.com/2010/08/felt-flower-headband-tutorial.html the only differnce is that I added an extra flower to the middle at the end.

I free handed a purple felt bow to finish it off.

Mr. Potato Head

I saw a Mr. Potato Head made out of felt on Pinterest but the link sent me to a new blog and I couldn't find the post about this cute little guy.

Here is the picture that got me going.

So I made a pattern and got to cutting! If you would like the pattern I made you can get it here.

I doubled up the pieces of felt and stitched around the edges of the front pieces to give more definition. For each body part I hand stitched around one of the pieces of felt and then hot glued that piece onto the back piece of felt for that body part. I hope that makes sense!

Here is what I came up with.

I hope to make him a wife in the near future!