Christmas Gifts...

SOOOOOOOO...now Christmas is over, and I am now in the USA I can now share some of the photos of the things I made this Christmas as gifts...
I wanted something a bit more exciting then just a make-up bag to make as little extra's for my mum, granny, and 2 sisters, so I (rather stupidly perhaps) decided to make them aprons...So using a rather out-dated looking pattern from McCall's I set to work.

I wanted to make the top right hand apron, fairly simple and straight forward!!!

Now...I have never, done any pattern making, never been taught how, never been shown, it was never even mentioned at school...so except for the skirt I make in the summer, which to be honest, I barely needed the pattern for, I was rather daunted when I started reading this one. Once I had overcome the language barrier (words like nap, etc...using this Sewing Pattern Dictionary) I got to work...it really was straight forward...just follow the steps...and here is the finished article, all the way out in Portland Oregon, with my lovely sister Lizzie...

The only thing I changed was that the waste band was a bit wide, so I sewed it over so that it lay a bit flatter when worn. I loved making the pocket...they are really cute and look very impressive for relatively little sewing...I defiantly will be using gathers again!!! they are really easy and look really impressive if I do say so myself!!! here's another front on shot for the full effect...

Also for Christmas my Dad suggested I made my Step-Mum a make-up bag for her handbag...well, that seemed a little too easy and a bit of a small gift, so I decided that I would make her a big make-up bag for every day use and a smaller one for her handbag to match...I quilted a piece of lovely Heather Bailey fabric, using ALL my recently found free motion machine quilting techniques...

 Once my quilting was done, I followed this tutorial I have used before to create this type of bag, which holds it's shape and creates a good amount of space..perfect for make-up or pencil cases, when you want to be able to see in...

 The inside is just a random fabric I had in my stash, I thought the colours went quite well...

I attatched a ribbon to the end to make it easier to do up, and also to hang up if needed...

I've also made these cards ...

Using a bit of thread, Lots of Japanesse Making Tape and some hot glue and glitter...They were incredibly time consuming, and I wont be making them again, any time soon, but they went down a treat!!!

I knitted this scarf for a friend, this is it pre-finishing - he chose the colours and the wool, and think he did a good job, a dark grey, a purple with black running through it and a dark moss....lovely

And these stocking...I made 4 for my god children, all with their names embroidered on the top, 2 for some friends, and 1 for my friends little girl Esther...All received with lots of ooohhs and aaahhhs!!!

On my fire place before giving to the god-kids

On the god-kids fireplace, ready for Santa!!!

And I think that ends the Christmas crafts, oh except for chocolate truffles which were a big hit again... defiantly going to become a Christmas tradition. This year I made, chocolate orange ones, rolled in cocoa, then plain dark chocolate ones rolled in either chopped nuts, chocolate flakes or chocolate crispy balls!!! YUMMY!!! the only ingredients for the truffles are plain chocolate, cream and butter!!! about  million calories a bite, but it's Christmas so who cares!!!
And 1 more thing, I did make a new decoration for my sister and brother - in - laws tree, and did post it well ahead of Christmas,but it has yet to flippen arrive here in Portland, so much so I have beaten it out here....grrrr...on well they can have it for next year!!!
Happy New Year!!!