Category Archives: Holiday Projects

Last Minute Flights and Late Night Projects

UPDATE: Alastair was precious in his Christmas suit and loved the design! None my fears were realized.   I shouldn’t have worried about him not liking it.

burgundy velveteen shorts, ivory linen shirt

I knew I was cutting it very close this year.  One thing and another kept coming up, thwarting my plans to finish up Christmas gifts.  Yesterday, I had the entire day free to finish up.  But then…

 

My pilot son invited us to join him on a shake down flight on his new jet.  Well, it’s not his to own, but his as the captain to fly and schedule. So we were off to Ft. Lauderdale for lunch, except that there were some technical glitches and we had a late supper there.  It really was delightful, but the whole day was used up.

my handsome pilot son and his family

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Christmas Dress Upgrade

Laurel before church with lace added to sleeves.  That collar is just too big.

DGD Laurel’s Christmas dress just fell short of my expectations for a variety of reasons.   Originally, the sleeves were simply bound, but it just seemed too plain so I have added gathered lace which helps.

plain, bound sleeves

unadorned sleeve binding

It also fell short of the desired length.   After we attended the Stetson Christmas concert, the dress returned to the sewing room so the generous hem could be dropped.  Several holiday dresses ago, I learned that asking a non-sewing mother to measure a child for length was risky–also ridiculously unnecessary since I see Laurel 2-3 times a week!   But I had not taken the measurement so I took the precaution of adding several inches to the turned up hem.  Whew!   Three more inches added to the length gave a more pleasing fit. Continue reading

Gingerbread Christmas

I’m scrambling here, working on the grandsons’ Christmas outfits and preparing for tomorrow’s arrival of 2-1/2 year old Alastair.  He will be with us for a few days and will have my undivided attention.  So there is no time for a new blog post. I hope you will enjoy this re-run.

The children’s ages and Christmas garments are not current.  But the upcoming gingerbread house decorating activities will be just as described below–except that Robert may have a little more restraint with the candy.  Then again, he is a little more experienced and might get away with even more this year.

Whatever.  We will have a grand time decorating.  I hope you have a chance to do this with a child.  It is messy, yes, but sooooooo much fun.

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“And I had but one penny in the world, Thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread.”  William Shakespeare, Love’s Labours Lost

 

GingerbreadKids07LRcrop2

Laurel and Robert, wearing the gingerbread John-John now worn by his little cousin Alastair

 

Unlike the character in Shakespeare’s play, I’m not sure that I would spend my last penny on gingerbread. I’d probably go for a scrap of fabric or lace, or a needle …..but I digress. This is about gingerbread and Christmas outfits for my grandchildren.

 

The marshmallow snowman had a short life. And he did not melt, did he, Robert?

The marshmallow snowman had a short life. And he did not melt, did he, Robert?

 

If you have read more than two or three posts on this blog, you will know that gingerbread plays a huge role in our Christmas festivities. Robert and Laurel, at ages 2 and 3, seemed ready to be introduced to this family tradition. They made their first gingerbread houses, received gingerbread ornaments for their personal collection, added a charming book, Gingerbread Land, to their library in Nana’s nursery, and wore smocked gingerbread outfits for various holiday activities and on Christmas day. Continue reading

Christmas Dress~Sleeve Tip

Having just returned from North Carolina last night, I’ve hardly unpacked.  But the exquisite Stetson Christmas Candlelight Concert was this afternoon, so that took priority over properly settling in at home.  Last night I pulled a long session in the sewing room finishing up Laurel’s dress so she could wear it for this, the first Christmas-dress-worthy event of the holiday season.

She looked as sweet as any Christmas treat, though I am not completely happy with the dress.  For a rather small 7 year-old, her Sarah Howard Stone collar is rather large, even though I reduced the size considerably.  After putting the dress, collar and sash all together, I really think I need to put lace on the sleeves.  There just wasn’t time before we left for the concert but I’ll tend to that this week. Continue reading

Shadow Work Christmas Collar

Christmas 11 collar whole

 

Good grief!!!!  Less than a month until Christmas and I am just now getting the grandchildren’s holiday outfits together!  I’m sewing in the fast lane now.

 

center

 

The collar for 7-year old Laurel’s burgundy velveteen dress is finished.  Swiss cotton organdy has been tinted with coffee.  The collar pattern is from Sarah Howard Stone’s Basic Yoke Dress.

The collar is lined so that the embroidery stitches will not show and also so that  the effect of the strong burgundy color shadowing through the ivory organdy is diminished.  The lining covers only the spokes, not the insertion.  The contrast of the lace spokes against the dark velveteen is very pleasing.

 

Christmas 11 collar side2

 

The machine embroidered shadow work designs are from Suzanne Hinshaw’s Charming Embellishments collection.  Though the set was marketed for placemats and linens,  the designs are appropriate for many other purposes.

I really choked using metallic thread to outline the holly leaves.  But I thought Laurel would love it and I’m trying to mix a little contemporary in with my old fashioned Nana style.

 

xmas lace scan0001

 

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Thanksgiving and Sewing

Does anyone actually sew up the turkey today?

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day.  Just as last year, we joined  our 2-1/2 year old grandson Alastair and his parents at the home of his paternal grandparents.  Though none of the six cooks at our dinner were decked out with starched white aprons,  the food at our harvest feast was gourmet quality.  Each contributed some of their best dishes.

The guest list included Alastair’s 90 year old great-grandmother, Ruby, who baked two divine pecan pies (and drove herself and those dessert delights to dinner!),  both sets of grandparents and a host of aunts and uncles.

I love family gatherings that include all ages, from babies to the elderly.  Two year old Alastair was the only little one and he entertained us as only energetic little boys can.  At the other end of the generation rainbow was Ruby, like the proverbial pot of gold.  Not only is she an excellent cook, but she is witty and entertaining—a joy to engage in conversation.

Even though the day is all about thankfulness and food, as usual, sewing projects were evident amid all the festivities.  Still, no one sewed up the turkey. Continue reading

Thanksgiving Hostess Gift

Once again, we’ve been invited to share Thanksgiving dinner with our daughter’s in-laws.    Alastair’s paternal grandmother, “Oma,” will host a huge gathering of family at her beautiful country home.  Seated at the table, amidst 20 month-old baby Alastair and 89 year-old Great Grandmother Ruby, will be teenage cousins, young marrieds, middle-aged aunts, uncles and four reluctantly “senior” grandparents.  The dinner  table will look like a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover.

design from Dakota Collectibles~Holidays and Seasons

This dish towel is a  tiny token of our appreciation for being included in this warm family celebration of Thanksgiving.  My mother always taught me to never go empty handed.  This dishtowel will last longer than the pumpkin and mincemeat pies I will bring along as my contribution to the dinner.

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Church Bazaar Projects

church bazaar sign

 

I love church bazaars–never met one I didn’t like.  To see such a concentration of women’s creative efforts is inspiring.  From baked goods, knitting,  quilts, crochet and sewing to  plants and crafts, the variety is enormous.  The effort put forth for such good purposes is proof positive of the kindness and compassion of women.

Doing my little part for our church bazaar is always such a pleasure.  I like to drag out unused items and try to make them marketable.  Then it’s always fun to try something new.  This year I did both.

 

church bazaar potpourri

Christmas sachet

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Tooo Cute!

The Red Hood Gang

This year, Halloween was extra special for Jo’s neighbors and her children.   The storybook quartet must have charmed the candy handlers at every house they visited.

Jo hunted high and low to get just the right materials.  She sewed and smocked and then tweaked what she had on hand to finish up the costumes for Little Red Riding Hood’s cast. Continue reading

Haulin’ Pumpkins

Florida weather has finally reached temperatures cool enough for Alastair to wear his pumpkin pullin’ shirt.  This was made early in October, with hopes that it would be worn for the annual family outing to the pumpkin patch.  But our hot blooded 2 year-old wouldn’t be comfortable in long sleeves when it is 90 degrees in the shade. Especially when he had a heavy gourd to haul.

Choosing just one was hard.  So many pumpkins!

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