Christmas Sewing

I had so much fun making most of the Christmas presents we gave this year. I completed most of them in advance, and then didn't face as much pressure during the month of December (except for the Christmas cookie plates...) And since I wrapped them ahead too, we got to enjoy them under the tree for longer than a day.

During October, I made Kaiya's nightie (on the left). Hers is flannel because Indiana winters are so cold. Jason's niece Abby was here the day I was making it, so she served as my model to check the fit. Her eyes glowed with pretty princess thoughts when she gazed in the mirror, and I decided she needed one too for her upcoming birthday. So hers is the lightweight cotton on the right.

Brian and Lincoln, the baby boys on both sides of the family, got very similar gifts. I got the idea from 60 bugs and then, you guessed it, my kids' big brother/big sister shirts were a derivative. I found the green t-shirts at Target. They had pockets on them, so I had to get out the ol' seam ripper. Once I had the gifts wrapped, I thought they looked a little plain. They had to be labeled somehow, or Brian was going to open a nightgown. I don't usually buy stick-on bows, especially not for presents that have to travel (hello ruined, smooshed, pathetic-looking gifts!), so I had the brainstorm of an idea to make felt initial ornaments. They didn't take long at all, and I was happy with the way they turned out.

And one last project that was NOT a Christmas present, but deserves a little piece of post anyway...
a homemade scatter rug for the garage, courtesy of velour scraps from my mother in law. In real life, it is a thing of ugliness. As soon as I have my waay-cool scatter rug made from my scraps of waay-cool vintage double-knit, this rug is headed to the back of the garage, so it won't be the first thing a person sees when stepping into my house.