Monday, January 10, 2011

Handmade Christmas gifts - part 1

I enjoy making lots of gifts for the holidays. My to-do list seems to grow and grow and I always run out of time in the end. I'm still working on one of the baby's gifts. At least she's too young to know!

In my first handmade gift post I'll talk about the items I sewed. There is something so satisfying about sitting down and sewing together a gift in a night or two!

Here is the robe I made for my son's 3rd birthday. I used the same pattern to make a robe for my daughter when she turned 3. (Burda 9690) The outside is fleece and the lining is lizard print flannel. I really enjoy this pattern - it is very simple and quick.


I made our baby girl a ribbon blanket. The puppy fabric is very soft flannel. The pink square is one of the scarves I dyed. I sandwiched ribbon loops of 4 different types and heights between the front and back. This projected turned out just as I had hoped and I'm so happy with it!

Here she is enjoying it!

Last year I came across a make-your-own fort kit tutorial. I was excited to put it together this year for some friends of ours with 3 (now 4) kids.

These pictures are really dark. That is what happens when you finish the project and want to box it up right away so that it arrives on time.
I purchased two sets of twin sheets on Black Friday and attached 6 ties to each sheet. (One in each corner and one on the middle of each long side.) I found by-the-yard twill tape for the ties and used 2 yards for each sheet. The exception was one of the fitted sheets. I tried sewing a pocket into each corner and left off the ties on the long edges. The sheets are on the bottom of the pile on the right side of the picture above.

I used the pillowcases to make two bags. A large bag with big pockets on the front and back to hold the whole kit and a smaller draw string bag for the white clips. I included 4 of the scarves I dyed, the clothespin-like clips, and 3 flashlights.
This was another project that was so fun to put together. I plan to make more of these for gifts in the future!

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