Sassy Stitchess » Holiday Gifting

Holiday Crafting: What now?

Kaitlyn — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:47:09 +0000

We punched a bunch of hearts out of last year’s birthday cards… now what?

Handmade Holiday: Gaggle of Bag Bags

Kaitlyn — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:20:35 +0000

This was my go-to gift for most people… a garbage bag dispenser and snowflake ornament. I’m a sucker for the utilitarian. I got this fabric at Ikea.

I also got to use my fancy grommet tool, yay! This thing has proved to be very handy indeed.

I used up a lot of fabric making these and it felt GOOD. Not to mention they are very quick. I could knock off four in an hour. Highly recommended!

The snowflakes are freestanding lace that I did on my embroidery machine. Very cool! I used Solvy heavyweight water soluble stabilizer, hooped tight and stitched with a size 11 needle. Each one took about a hour to stitch out–not the quickest when you are making groups, but not too bad in small batches.

Handmade Holiday: The Knits

Kaitlyn — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:00:17 +0000

I knit 4 hats for Christmas this year. Two Felicity Hats, a ski mask, and a skully. I haven’t gotten pics of the Felicity hats yet, but the other two have been photographed…

Pattern: AntiFreeze by Jenna Adorno
Yarn: Cascade 220, i skein
Needles: sz 5 and sz6
Mods: I chose to rib around the face s it could be easily pulled down under the nose

Pattern: my own. cast on 80 and go go go in 2×2 rib.
Yarn: one 50g ball of something black with no label. It had some cashmere in it, but wasn’t Debbie Bliss. Sorry!
Needles: sz 6

Handmade Holiday: Yoga Mat Bag

Kaitlyn — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:02:51 +0000

This one was much quicker that i thought it would be and I am very happy with the results! Turns out to be sort of an homage to a friend’s new yoga studio–Blackbird Yoga in Georgetown, CT.

I used the tutorial from Bored and Crafty. There were a couple of details omitted, but the bag produced is great! I took the extra step of basting the lining to the bottom of the bag so it won’t pop out when the mat is removed.

Details
Project: Yoga Mat Bag (via Bored and Crafty)
Dimensions: fabric cut to 29×17, circle for bottom cut to 5″. I would do more like 32 x 19 next time around. Measure circle via your own mat rolled up, then add 1/4″ all the way around for seam allowance. Stitch the liner to the inside of the seam allowance so it won’t show.
Fabric: Dogwood by Michelle Engel Bencsko. Desperately seeking more of this fabric!

Handmade Holiday: Progress Report

Kaitlyn — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:32:21 +0000

Okay, 6 4 days to go. How we all doing? The reality is that I only have three more days. We start the out-of-house celebration and cooking on Thursday–no more time to consider gifts! Thanks to a couple afternoons off, I’ve been able to make major headway on the handmade gifts. Too bad I can’t post photos till after! A bit of advice: projects that take under one hour are best. Trust me.

*Grocery Bag Dispensers. Tutorial by Kim Kight, posted on Dioramarama.com in Dec 2006. 7 complete, 3 to go. There are SO FAST.

*Rice Heat Therapy Bag. ~~I’ll be mixing it up a bit and doing some heat packs, some small “boo boo buddy” variety.~~ Okay, this one is just not happening. I am hoping to get some boo boo buddies done for stocking stuffers.

*One princess dress for dress-up. I just passed this one on to my mother, who volunteered to take it off my list. HOORAY!

*Two or three aprons. I’ve had most success with the full apron from Lotta Jansdotter’s book Simple Sewing. Okay, I did these three and they took FOREVER. Mostly, it was the strings… I recommend twill tape for faster results!

*One yoga mat bag. I love the one Carrieoke made a while back and plan to follow the same tutorial. Done! And pretty quick. I made some adjustments to the tutorial. The most notable was to tack the lining to the outside so it doesn’t pop out whenever you can your mat out.

*Machine Embroidered Coasters. Did you see my post? I made 4!

*Some sort of ornament. ~~Contenders thus far are 10-minute Santa or Martha’s latest snowflakes, which are like a fun science experiment.~~. Decided on freestanding lace snowflakes on the embroidery machine. They are turning out really pretty!

*Knit ski mask. By Jenna Adorno and found on Knitty.com Done!

*Black skull cap is also done…

*many framed photos of the girls’ school photos Easy! Thank you to Ikea for being attractive and reasonably priced.

See you after the holidays!

Handmade Holiday: Project List Updated… or maybe it’s really just amended?

Kaitlyn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:45:11 +0000

Now that it’s officially December, I’m am getting stressed. Why does everything have to happen at once? I plan this massive craft undertaking at the same time as my clients need me. Luckily, some extra cash speaks to the reason I was crafting my ass off in the first place. Either way, I am still attempting to give mostly handmade this year. I give you, the updated list (previously found here):

*Grocery Bag Dispensers. Tutorial by Kim Kight, posted on Dioramarama.com in Dec 2006.

*Rice Heat Therapy Bag. I’ll be mixing it up a bit and doing some heat packs, some small “boo boo buddy” variety.

*Embroidered Paper Dolls. Time to put that embroidery machine to work! I’m hoping this was a good buy and will be loved by all the little girls in our lives. And that it will only take one night to make a few. HA. I am crazy… way too many colors to change, details that could go wrong. Plus I don’t have all the colors I would need and don’t want to order and wait…

*One princess dress for dress-up.

*Two or three aprons. I’ve had most success with the full apron from Lotta Jansdotter’s book Simple Sewing.

*One yoga mat bag. I love the one Carrieoke made a while back and plan to follow the same tutorial. Simple Sewing does feature a mat bag, but it doesn’t have a round bottom and I like that idea.

*Machine Embroidered Coasters. More on that later…

*Some sort of ornament. Contenders thus far are 10-minute Santa or Martha’s latest snowflakes, which are like a fun science experiment.

*Knit ski mask. By Jenna Adorno and found on Knitty.com

Off to get started!