(An Abbreviated) Handmade Holiday

I didn't do a lot of handmade this year. Mostly I will blame it on finishing my dissertation, which kept me busy and focused until commencement last week. But I've also been placing a lot of energy into growing a baby! We are expecting our fourth child at the very beginning of April.

I am feeling great - this pregnancy feels easier than the last - but staying up into the wee-hours of the night crafting is not really in the cards for me these days. However, now that I am done with school and work, and as rested as I'm going to get, I am ready to go!

In the past few days I completed the socks and created a nice partially-handmade gift for my SIL. I was also able to pull together a little gift for each of my girls.

Starting with the socks:



I am very happy to report that my quick fix job really worked. I completed the pair with about 5 yds. of yarn to spare. That's cutting it close! But they look really cool. The photo doesn't do the colorwork justice - and I like that they are matchy without matching. I even finished them with 4 days to go before Christmas. That's a good feeling.

I am also giving my SIL my favorite book on writing, a to-go coffee sleeve (thanks Erin for the great tutorial!) and two gift certificates to local businesses: one coffee shop and one pet store. [There was a second coffee sleeve with a GC for a local coffee room that went to a special kindergarten teacher, but that was gifted before a photo could be had.]



And now for the gifts for the girls! I recently borrowed the Wee Wonderfuls book from the library and fell is love with many of the projects. I knew I didn't have time to complete any of the projects before the book was returned, but a few of the ideas stayed with me; begging to be made for my girls. Using photocopies of three patterns I ploughed ahead with a doggie necklace, a mermaid and a Gretel doll, and finished all of them inside of three evenings.

First, a doggie necklace for my dog-loving daughter:



This project is perfect for her. She is obsessed with dogs right now. She has checked out every book at the library on dogs, told Santa she wants a 'box of puppies' for Christmas, and is counting the days until our family gets a dog (not for a few years, mind you). The handiwork was a bit tedious - this little doggie is small - but I am very happy with the result.

Second, a mermaid for my excitable girly-girl:



What can I say about this mermaid? It's perfect. It's got golden brown hair like my daughter, she's got some bling in her flowing locks, which my daughter loves, and she is just overall a lovely doll. The pattern was fantastic - I really like how the doll is assembled. However, my free-quilting skills are not quite up to par (there is some embellishment on the hair and fins). I probably should have practiced some of the decorative stitches first, but this doll will do just fine.

And lastly, a Gretel-inspired doll for my little redhead:



This doll really stole my heart in the book. Gretel is paired with Hansel (who even has a feather in his cap) - can't you just imagine a pair of them together?! I took the idea of Gretel and modified her a bit to suit my 3 year old. She definitely prefers stuffed animals to dolls, and I'm hoping that she will take to the puppet feel of this special doll. Oh, and my painting skills? They leave something to be desired. But it works, it's handmade - and it's made with love. There's no better present than that. As for my pattern notes, I skipped placing the pipe cleaners for the arms and I also whip stitched the felt backing to the front template.

Guilt + Sew, Mama, Sew! Fat Quarter Month = Doll Quilts

After reading a post from Sew, Mama, Sew!'s month-long ode to fat quarters I was inspired. Three doll quilts were in order. A dose of mama guilt helped. How could I not have sewn my girls doll quilts before?! Well, maybe you can understand my aversion to sewing anything doll-related after reading this.

With three very young girls around the house we are never in short supply of baby things: diapers, blankets, brushes and cute clothes are everywhere. So when they do play with their dolls they just grab things we use everyday. But I hadn't made anything special for their dolls. In fact they have been hopelessly neglected if I do say so myself (many don't even have clothes to wear).

My girls don't particularly have an affinity for dolls anyway - they seem to prefer more active games like dress-up, spaceship and school - but I thought I would give these a whirl. I have plenty of fat quarters and scraps around the house. I didn't spend one extra cent on these projects, I just used up things I already had in my stash. I even used up some thrifted binding strips that were really too small for anything else. I feel particularly happy about this aspect of the project.

There is one in blue tones, one in green and one in tan/brown.

I also have to share that this was truly an inter-generational project. The girls and my mom created the the 'sandwiches' and helped get them ready for the final quilting. It wasn't hard to convince them to join in once they saw the fabric, masking tape and fluffy batting on the dining room table. Later that afternoon my older girls took turns sitting on my lap while sewing at the machine. I asked only that they sit relatively still, and place their hands on top of mine as we sewed. They sniped stray threads for me, picked up scraps from the sewing room floor, and were generally happy to play near me when not directly involved in the sewing. It didn't result in the most beautiful (or quality) quilting ever - and the experience wasn't without it's stressful moments. But I must say these are among the most meaningful projects I've ever done. I'm not too sure how much the quilts will get used. I couldn't even find them when I was picking up this morning. But right now I don't care. We had fun together.

With so many great little projects going up on the Sew, Mama, Sew! website for fat quarter month, I am tempted to go out and celebrate not spending money on this first project by snapping up some new fat quarters and making more cute things. I really have my eye on this little boxy pouch.

Doll Clothes Disaster

I've decided that some crafts are best left to others. Doll clothes for example. The girls and I went to a local park yesterday and on our way home we spied some dolls on the curbside. They had been well loved one day in the past and we picked them up, took them home and gave them a good bath. The only problem? They were naked and were in need of some clothes. I thought that using some of the left over vintage pillowcase fabric from the swap was the perfect idea and so I set about trying to make some clothes while the girls were napping. I used one of the dresses from the curbside as a pattern (it was too moldy to keep and use) but have since failed to make anything that I actually like. I think I am making the whole thing too complicated. I will give it one more try and if I am not happy I will be on the lookout for doll clothes at this weekends garage sales.

New Friend

Here is a new friend that has been hanging out on the mantle for the past two days. I read about this pattern, by Emily Martin, on-line at Inside a Black Apple and then watched a tutorial video at marthastewart.com. Quicker than you can peel an apple I downloaded the pattern and cut it out. Then I headed to my fabric stash for the pieces that I could put together for my very own doll. I am an instant fan. This doll is for a girl from the older girls' daycare whose birthday party is at the end of the month. I am looking forward to making one for each of my own girls! The best part was that she only took me about 2 hours to make. Instant craft gratification.