Secret Santa Gifts from Amy

As you might remember from this post a couple of weeks ago, I participated in a Secret Santa Swap organised by the awesome Kara from Me & Elna. Handmade swaps are great for three reasons - having a reason to get creative for someone you don't know, receiving a parcel with special gifts made just for you, and making new friends. I have got to know some amazing people by being partners with them in a handmade swap.

Amy from Form*work was my Secret Santa, and I was so thrilled with the gifts she made me. Her fabric choices and the items she made were exactly my style.

Here are her creations:

This stunning linen tea towel with appliqued Christmas tree. I have it displayed in the kitchen at the moment and every time anyone goes to wipe their hands on it I lose my mind. I don't think there is such a thing as a 'tea towel for decoration only' but too bad - I've claimed that title for this one!

Two cards designed by Amy. I couldn't bring myself to send them to anyone this Christmas. I like them too much - they need to stay with me for a while longer so I can admire them! Maybe next year someone lucky might receive one of them. Maybe.

How gorgeous is this little house ornament? It hangs on the bookshelf part of my sewing desk. Amy used the Retro Mama Fabric House Ornament pattern. I adore the little bird, and the number on the door. Little details that make it such a sweet ornament - I will definitely give this pattern a go. Great way to use scraps too. Amy - you will have to tell me how on earth you got those stitches around the number 3 so neat!

Thank you so much Amy - when a parcel arrived postmarked from Illinois, USA it was so exciting, then to open and find these lovelies inside made my day!

Make sure you check out Amy's work at her blog and her Etsy shop (you can buy those beautiful cards and other handmade goodies there). You can also find her here on Pinterest.

Easter Bunny Applique - Tutorial

The year is flying by and Easter is just around the corner - kind of a pain actually - have you tried shopping in the supermarket with a three year old when every display is laden with brightly coloured bunnies, eggs and chickens all made of chocolate? Nightmare!

Here is a simple tutorial to turn a plain kids t-shirt into something lovely for Easter, although bunnies are pretty cute and your kids could wear their bunny shirts all year around! You don't even need a sewing machine to make this!

Pin It  

You need -
- a plain cotton t-shirt
- cotton quilting fabric scrap for applique
- small amount of applique paper (Heat n Bond / Vliesofix - if you are not sure, ask the assistant at your local fabric store)
- grey lead pencil, scissors
- iron
- thread, button for eye, needle

First you need to find a create a template for your applique. I found my bunny shape by doing a Google image search on 'bunny silhouette'. Save the picture you like, insert it into a word document, adjust to the size you want, print it, and cut it out.

Applique paper can be expensive, so I try to use it sparingly. Use your template as a guide to cut a piece, then iron it adhesive side down onto the wrong side of the fabric.

Cut the piece from the excess fabric, use your template to trace the bunny onto the paper, then cut out your bunny shape.

Peel away the backing paper and position your applique carefully onto your shirt.

Iron your applique onto your shirt.

If you want a super quick project, you can finish it there - the adhesive bond on the applique paper is strong enough to keep the applique on the shirt even during washing. Personally I like to add an eye and hand stitch around the bunny to finish it off.

You can also machine stitch the edge of your applique with a straight stitch, a small zig zag stitch, or a satin stitch. There are some great tips on applique in this post by Pam from Threading My Way.

Here is my finished product:

And despite it being a t-shirt for a boy, a didn't have a male model - you will have to settle for a picture of this cute model instead ;) I suppose it really is a unisex t-shirt!

 If you do make one, I'd love to see it, make sure you share it with us over at the Sew Delicious Flickr pool.

Cute you are - Yoda inspired onesie

A friend of ours who loves Star Wars is expecting a new baby boy any day. I usually find making gifts for boys a bit trickier than girls, but with the Star Wars theme to work with, I came up with this:

I used green felt for Yoda's face and ears, brown embroidery floss to stitch his brow furrows, and some black buttons for eyes. Kind of an interpretive, cartoon-like Yoda, but I think he resembles the original!

May the force be with you and all the others linking to Our Creative Spaces today!

Baby Season - Decorated Onesie Tutorial

It is baby season around here! My sister has three colleagues who are expecting babies in the next month, and I know a few people also waiting for an impending arrival! What better way to welcome them but with a cute handmade gift!

All you need is your scrap stash and a plain onesie (and of course your sewing machine).

Go through your stash and find a fabric that you want to use. If it's plain or patterned, you can turn it into some ruffles or yo-yos to embellish the onsie, or if it has a cute print, you can use the print as the feature, like I have with the owl onesie above.

I had some Zoology in Sea from the Cute Critters Collection by Michael Miller in my stash, so I chose that.

 I decided to make the hippo the feature, so I cut a small piece of adhesive bonding paper (I use vliesofix, but there are many types you can use) according to the size of the piece I fabric I wanted, then ironed it to the wrong side of the fabric.

I then used my pinking shears to cut the exact piece I wanted for my applique. You don't have to use pinking shears, but I like the neat and decorative look it gives the edges.

Once I had my piece nicely trimmed to size, I peeled off the backing paper and positioned it onto my onesie.

 

Once the fabric was in the desired position, I firmly ironed it into place. 

The next step is to stitch your applique. For this one, I chose a complementary teal thread that looked great against the grey background and matched the hippo, and I used a straight stitch. You can use any stitch or thread you like, zig zag is also a great choice.

  Once you have sewn neatly around the applique, pull your threads through to the wrong side, tie off and trim and you are done! A quick and cute addition that will make your baby gift unique.

For this onesie, there was also a frog on the scrap that I couldn't resist, so I added it to the back. Here is the finished product - the stitching doesn't show up in the photo, but it looks great!

Inspired by the Happy Dress, here is another one I did using some yellow polka dot scraps:

Hope this inspires you to use up those scraps and make some cute masterpieces! I would love to see yours - please share a picture over at my Flickr Group!

Just finally... we are celebrating Fathers' Day in Australia today.

Trev - thanks for being a wonderful husband and father - you are the best and we LOVE you!!