A Homemade Christmas

Is homemade one word or two? I'm too lazy to go look it up.

Anyway, as you can guess from the title of my post, I'm working on a slew of homemade presents for Christmas this year. My "favorites" are overflowing with links to great tutorials for fabulous DIY stuff. Here are a few of my favorite things:

A beaded fabric flower necklace
How gorgeous is that?


Fabric snack bags
These would be adorable in a little set with coordinating fabrics!


Flower purse
I'm thinking of a few little ones on my Christmas list who would love this little bag!

Patchwork kitchen mat


Camera strap cover

There are quite a few tutorials for making these, they are so easy!


Fabric Flower Brooch
This is screaming "Gramma!" to me!



My blue jeans shawl
This one is already in progress. I'm not sure who it's for yet...


Crochet Giraffe
How cute is that? I'm thinking about a little collection of crocheted animals for Peanut's stocking.

And of course, lots of people on my list are getting gifts straight out of my Etsy shop. I just perfected a new mitten pattern and they make such cute sets! This set went out in the mail yesterday:


I'd love to hear your ideas for a DIY Christmas! I have over 30 people on my list, so I'd love some new suggestions and patterns! Please share!

Summer sewing project - Reversible sundress

So, I'm still on my crocheting/sewing kick.

I'm having a blast creating things for my little one to wear. I've always had to follow a pattern for pretty much everything, but lately I've been venturing out into uncharted territory and doing some pattern making of my own. Last Friday my 14 year old sister Hannah came over and we decided we wanted to sew something. I still had some fabric left over from the last dress that I made Peanut, so we decided to make a dress for one of Peanut's little friends that had a birthday coming up.

I had some ideas in my head from dresses that I liked and some pictures of things I wanted to try, so we pulled it all together and made a sweet little reversible sundress. I was so tickled with the results, that I scrounged up enough material to make a second dress for Peanut.

This is seriously one of the easiest sewing projects I've ever done. Even with some silly mistakes that involved extensive seam-ripping, we still had both dresses done in 3 hours.

By sewing strips of coordinating fabric around the hem and armholes, the dress is completely reversible. I used very lightweight cotton, so even with two layers these dresses are super light and comfortable.

The fact that these dresses are reversible just makes me grin. I love playing with colors and my sister and I had so much fun sorting through my considerable stash of scrap fabric to find just the right match for each dress. The fabrics weren't purchased to be used together, but I think they work well.

Peanut wasn't pleased when I told her that the "ahfly" (apparently the bumble bees look like butterflies to her) dress was for her friend and she would have to settle for the green one. She managed to get over it. And her little friend's mother was equally pleased with hers.

The best part? When my little Peanut inevitably spills or smears something on her new dress, I can just flip it inside out and keep right on going with our day.