Christmas 2008 Wrap-up

At long last I have a chance to post my Christmas 2008 gifts and projects! (Note: Even though I'm writing this in January, I'm backdating it to December so it falls into the proper month and year of my archives.)

This year's Christmas plan was to keep it simple -- the nieces and nephews got small items (like candy and ornaments) but instead of wrapping them in paper gift bags or boxes, most of them were wrapped up in something re-usable and made of fabric, which was part of the overall gift.

Back in 2005, the first Christmas I had my embroidery machine, I was still learning how to use the decorative stitches, so a few of them received pillowcases that I purchased and embellished with their names. Since the younger ones either hadn't been born yet or were still sleeping in cribs, they didn't get pillowcases that year; this year I made up for it.

Each pillowcase was made "from scratch" from a licensed fabric, purchased white piping and an accent fabric on which I embroidered their name. To finish the inner seams of each pillowcase, I used the serger and a 3-thread overlock stitch in matching cotton thread. I didn't really use any particular pattern for these; I glanced at various tutorials that I found online and then used a ready-made pillowcase for reference.

Brothers William & Joseph got matching Giants pillowcases:

Jack got a Giants pillowcase made from a remnant in a slightly different print:

Emily got a Hanna Montana pillowcase:

Richie D's new bedroom is decorated with cars, so he got a no-sew Disney Cars fleece pillow sham purchased at JoAnn Fabric:

The fleece pillow sham was a big hit with most of the younger kids on Christmas Eve, which means there will probably be a few more no-sew fleece projects on my to do list in the near future.

Jenna is crazy for penguins, so I embroidered this Winter Penguin Trio design purchased from Embroidery Library on a remnant of green velour and made it into a small tote bag using scraps of white apparel lining, recycled grosgrain ribbon and buttons for the handles:

The two eldest girls, Nikole and Elora, got Lazy Girl Designs' Perfect Pouches made from pink and green pleather:

Two of the youngest, Ryan and Lauren got matching fleece Prince and Princess hats, mittens and scarves made from Simplicity 4354, View E:

Lauren really, really likes purple, so I tried out one of the Pretty Purses in the Hoop (Husqvarna Viking Embroidery Collection #171) embroidery designs using two shades of purple rayon thread on purple faux suede, lined with lavender satin:

I drew my SIL Lynn in our family's Secret Santa gift exchange, so I made her a black and white Lazy Girl Designs' Miranda (scaled down a little) with coordinating Lazy Girl Designs' Wonder Wallet and Perfect Pouch, plus a pocket tissue holder (pattern/designer unknown -- I've done so many of these over the years I make them from memory now):

I bought the fabrics for this black and white Miranda at The Cozy Quilt Shoppe in late November; they are from the Black & White colorway for Califon - by Mark Lipinski's Home (Northcott Fabrics).

And in place of a paper gift bag, an extra large Lazy Girl Designs' With Love Tote (free pattern) made from two remnants of coordinating Christmas fabrics (about 3/4 yard of each):

I previously posted updates about the Christmas 2007 UFO projects; I haven't made any further progress on any of those, so they continue to be unfinished. Well, except for the in the hoop potholders -- I made several of those for myself. If they survive my kitchen and perform well, I may make more for gifts next year.

More photos of a all my sewing projects from Christmas 2008 can be seen in my Flickr photostream Made in 2008 set and in the Picasa album embedded below:

Christmas 2008 - in progress

Other Links:
My Christmas 2007 Wrap-up post

2008 List of Completed Projects

Just a bit of blog housekeeping . . . I like to keep my sidebar uncluttered so instead of listing the year's completed projects there, I update this post monthly. It contains links to photos or blog entries for completed projects only - not the in-progress updates.

The most recently completed projects are at the top of the list.

Updated thru December 2008:

• Christmas Gift Wrap-up 2008
  
• Re-Styled & Miranda-ized Butterick 4409 Westie Bag
  
• Rockettes Inspired Westie Dresses for Keli and Penny (Simplicity 3518 & 3521 dog dresses)
  
• Pink Hoodie Slickers and Fancy Winter Coats for Keli and Penny (Butterick B4885 dog coats)
  
• Knit One, Save One crocheted caps
  
• Be Thankful and Winter Blessings mini quilts
  
• Halloween Neck Ruffles & Hats for Keli & Penny (dog costumes)
  
• Metsie T-Shirt Makeovers
  
• A Pair of Dog Beds for Keli and Penny
  
• Butterick B4409 - Another Westie Bag *Re-styled in November
  
• Lazy Girl Designs - With Love Totes
• Lazy Girl Designs - Mini Miranda Day Bags
• Fringe Embroidery Soft Books
• Cool Ties
• Master Bed & Bath Window Treatments
• Mets Pocket Tissue Holder & Fleece Blanket
• Lazy Girl Designs - Amazin' Mets Wonder Wallet
• Lazy Girl Designs - Sassy Bags w/ Westies and the Mets
• Butterick B4463 - Jacket (trial version)
• Lazy Girl Designs - Miranda Day Bag with Westies for Me!
• Digitized a Westie Outline Embroidery Design
• Simplicity 4273 - Pants
• McCall's M4893 - Terrier Puppy
• Butterick B4885 Dog Coats for Penny & Keli
• Joseph's 1st Birthday Gift (soft book)
• Kathleen's Baby Shower Gifts
• Knit & Crocheted Scarves
• Ryan's 1st Birthday - Kooky Monsters
• Material Girls/DKnJ Pouches

Winter Break

I haven't had enough free time to post anything new lately because I've been working on Christmas gifts and getting the the house prepared for visitors almost non-stop since the beginning of the month. Sorry, no photos of any of the finished items yet -- just in case some of the recipients happen to drop by here, I don't want to ruin the surprise.

I don't expect to have time to write again until January, but I'll be back with a full report.

Merry Christmas,
Happy Holidays, and
Best wishes for the New Year!

Re-Styled: Miranda-ized Butterick B4409 Westie Bag

In September, I finished the first rendition of this Butterick B4409 Westie Bag:

This is View C, modified to make it smaller in width by 3 inches and by height by 2 inches. The strap was recycled from a blue faux leather belt that I never wore. Although I liked the size and shape of this bag, there were a few problems.

First, the strap wasn't very comfortable on my shoulder. After a couple of months, the eyelet/snap closures I used to fasten the strap to the purse swivel clips came loose. I replaced it "temporarily" with a removable shoulder strap from an old purse I never use anymore, but that was too long, so I looped it back and forth through the rings to shorten it. That worked, but was not a satisfactory solution.

Next, the tabs holding the rings started to loosen up. And then the lining (which was hand stitched in place) started to get caught up in the zipper. In fact, the zipper itself bothered me, I think because the curve at the top of the bag was too "sharp"; when I adjusted the bag width I should have smoothed it to a more gentle curve. When the lining started to come loose, the zipper tapes were exposed and started to interfere with closing the bag.

In frustration I unpacked all my "stuff" and reviewed the situation -- I could either repair and replace the offending parts or somehow strip it down and re-style this bag. The sewing instructions, although clear enough, never really solved the assembly problems I had during the original construction of the bag (such as stitching through multiple layers of fabric).

So I opted to remodel it, in the style of a Lazy Girl Designs Miranda Day Bag. I made a pair of scaled down Miranda's in August which were similar in size to the base of this Westie bag, so I used those measurements to "cut and paste" it back together.

First, I removed the lining and zipper. Thank goodness for a good light and seam ripper! With the outside separated from the lining, I measured carefully and cut straight across the top of the outer cover. Then I repeated the process with the lining, but I added about an inch to the top, for the faux binding.

Next, to give the bag more body (which was lacking in the first rendition), I fused pieces of Decor Bond interfacing to both the lining and cover, trimmed slightly smaller than the actual pieces so that it would not be in the way of the seams.

To re-assemble the bag, I ripped out part of the side seam of the lining to make an opening for turning, then pinned the cover and lining with right sides together and re-sewed the lining to the cover. It was a little tricky turning this right side out again, especially with the added interfacing, so lots of pressing with the iron was needed afterwards to smooth out the wrinkles.

The rest of the re-construction was pretty much the same as any other Miranda -- topstitched the faux binding, added shoulder straps and a tab closure and ta da - a new and improved Miranda-ized Westie bag!

Except that I forgot to insert the magnetic closure before sewing the tab pieces together, so I had to come up with some way to disguise the back of the clasp.

The solution: a fabric yo-yo embellished with a hand painted ceramic Westie button. Isn't it cool how well this button matches the Westies embroidered on the denim? What a happy accident. I've had this button for probably 10 years or so -- bought several of them from Mill Hill (White Scottie Dogs, item numbers MH86220 & MH86221) for some needlework project that I never got around to. Hopefully it will not fall off and when I'm done with this bag, I'll reclaim it and use it again for some future project.

Although my original vision for this bag was a completely different style, this version works much better for my needs.

Update: Photos of the Westie Barkettes

Last week I finished the matching Rockettes-inspired dresses for the Westies . . . well, I finally was able to get a few photos of them wearing the costumes. Hope you think they're as amusing as I do.

This is as close as we could get to a "kickline":


Keli smiled sweetly for the camera:


Penny thinks it's hilarious:


More photos of the Barkettes are posted at Keli's Korner

The still photos don't quite capture the dresses as much as I'd like, so maybe I'll try to get them on video for New Year's Eve . . .

Rockettes Inspired Westie Dresses

At least a month ago, I started humming a tune I'd heard on TV over and over and over . . . it was driving me crazy until I realized it was the tune for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular commercial . . . I don't even know the words, but the commercial advertises Santa and of course the Rockettes in various costumes and dances. At some point, I decided it would be a good idea to make matching dresses for Keli and Penny, inspired by one of the Rockettes' costumes. They would be the Barkettes, and somehow I'd get them to pose just right for this year's Christmas card.

I know, it sounds a little bit "out there"; but they were so good when I asked them to pose for Halloween pictures, I thought maybe we could push them a little further as models. And no, I am not teaching them to do a kickline.

So I searched Google images, Flickr and the web for images of the Rockettes for a dress that could be duplicated for a Westie to wear. The Rockettes have a lot of festive costumes, choosing only one was a challenge. Eventually I picked a green costume and used this photo from Flickr member Alida's Photos for inspiration.

The fabric was easy to find. The model Rockettes' dresses appeared to be velvet; I bought green crushed panne at JoAnn Fabrics. The lining is from JoAnn's Casa Collection (bridal fabrics) because it was the only green that matched well enough.

(the photo at left shows the green panne along with white and red that I have planned for other Christmas projects)

Simplicity patterns were on sale, so I searched through the pattern books for dog costumes and clothes. There were two similar patterns available - Simplicity 3521 (below, right) had the best photo for what I had in mind (the red dress with white bow), but was sized for dogs xx-small to medium; Simplicity 3518 (below, left) was essentially the same pattern, scaled up for dogs sized large to xx-large. Since the were $.99 each, I bought them both and planned to morph them for my Westies.

The dogs on these pattern covers do look a little bit goofy.

As it turned out, the medium from 3521 was too small and the large from 3518 was way too big for both of my Westies. I traced a skirt from the larger pattern; for the bodice I traced the smaller pattern, then overlaid the larger bodice piece and used it as a guide to add width across the chest and neck extensions.

First, I made a muslin from an old t-shirt to test the fit of the pleated skirt and newly drafted bodice piece. A few more adjustments were necessary -- the bodice was fine for both of them, but Penny's skirt needed to be shortened by 2 inches.

But before I could start sewing the pieces together, I needed to stitch the embellishment for the skirt and bodice. On the original Rockettes' dresses, they have a fancy snowflake design on their skirt and chest, and a red bow with a rhinestone buckle at the waistline.

I tried to create an embroidery design that would duplicate the shape on the Rockettes' dress, but was not satisfied with the results. So, instead I selected a design already loaded on my DSE, rotated it so it looked sort of like a snowflake, then reduced it to 65% of its original size. I embroidered this onto each bodice piece. Here's a close-up on the finished dress:

For the skirt, I needed to do a little design editing. Starting with the original embroidery design, I used editing software to remove all the pointy outer sections, leaving only the center design. I enlarged that to 130% and embroidered it on the skirt section.

It's not an exact match to the Rockettes', but it's close enough for Westies. I glued a few rhinestones onto the skirt for a little extra sparkle, but I doubt any more will show up in our photos.

After the embroidery was complete, I assembled the pieces as directed in the pattern instructions -- sewed the bodice to the bodice lining piece and turned right side out; sewed the skirt to the skirt lining and turned right side out. Then pleated the skirt and sewed the skirt to the bodice and finished the seam with a quick run through the serger with a 3-thread overlock.

Last, I hand sewed the feathery boa to the neckline and made the red bows. The bows are from a scrap piece of velvety ribbon I've saved for recycling. The rhinestone accents were mine -- they are shoe jewelry. I used to wear them with plain black pumps to dress up for holidays, until the clasp broke on one of them. They are just tacked in place for now; when we are finished with the Barkettes costumes, I will reclaim them.

Here's one of the finished Barkettes dresses, before I attached the velcro closures to the neck and side extensions:

They're not an exact replica of the Rockettes' dress -- they don't have long sleeves, and there are less rhinestones and I gave up on trying to do a matching hat. But I am pretty pleased with the way they turned out.

You'll have to wait a while to see them on the Westies . . . I still need a few props.

Pink Hoodie Slickers and Fancy Winter Coats

Back in February, I made fleece coats for Keli & Penny using Butterick B4885, views C and D. Keli's coat still fits her just fine, but Penny has grown up quite a bit since February, when she was only about 5 months old and thin as can be from her month at the shelter. She weighed about 10 lbs. and was all skin and bones. I made Penny's coat extra small and it just about fit her through the rest of the winter.

All summer long I plotted to make them a matching pair of hoodie rain slickers using View B of this pattern, because they both dislike going "out" in the pouring rain so much. We found pink pleather when the Halloween costume fabrics came in at JoAnn's Fabrics, and a few weeks ago I finally got started on the raincoats.

Working with the pleather was not as difficult as I expected; I used the teflon foot for my sewing machine, a microtex needle and regular sewing thread and everything went along smoothly at the machine. Tracing the proper coat and hood sizes proved to be more difficult.

I traced the sizes I expected the Westies to wear -- Keli, a large width but a medium length and neckline and for Penny a medium width and a short length and neckline for her thinner frame. The coat pieces fit them pretty well, but the hoods were kind of wonky. I had to take Keli's apart and cut and re-stitch it so that it's almost okay.

Don't they look so happy trying on their new coats? Maybe the hoodie idea would be better in a soft woven or knit fabric, but in this pleather, they just don't work. There is just no way that these hoods could be comfortable on a dog unless they keep their head at a constant right angle to their body. The funny thing is, they do kind of look like the picture on the the pattern cover. Here's a better angle on Keli's hood:

The way the pattern has the straps attached, they look like they are wearing vinyl placemats; the coats stick straight out in front and at the sides.

Here's another view of Penny's hoodie:

Needless to say, they both pretty much hate the pink raincoats.

So I've done some more cutting and re-stitching on Penny's coat, but I'm waiting for some wide velcro to arrive in the mail. I couldn't find it locally, so had to order it online. After I get the re-fashioning done, *if* the fit is better and actually wearable, I'll try to post another picture. But these photos are pretty funny.

We had much better luck with the fancy Winter Coats. While I was making these, I kept thinking how nice they would look if we take them visiting anyone this winter.

These coats are made using the same Butterick pattern B4885, View C, which is the version on the pattern cover being modeled by the floppy-eared terrier that sort of looks like Penny. I used View C for Keli's pink coat in February, so the fit on that one suggested additional sizing adjustments to the front and belly straps.

Penny's pink coat from February was so tiny on her now, the belly straps didn't even meet each other. I re-measured her neck to tail length, and she was a full two inches longer. I traced her coat with the short sized length and straps, and a medium width.

The fabrics for the new coats were both remnants from my stash -- just under a yard of a wool blend suiting for the outer layer and a little over 1/2 yard of some fuzzy black faux fur. I had to do a little creative cutting to get all the pieces for both coats from the faux fur.

Here's a closer view of the suiting fabric - it has bits of glitter throughout.

This version of the coat went together quite easily. I didn't follow the pattern instructions for making a patch pocket -- it sounded too complicated. Instead, I cut a piece of fusible knit interfacing in black for each pocket and flap. I sewed one pocket piece to one interfacing piece with the fusible side facing out and leaving a space for turning. Then I trimmed the seams, clipped the curves, turned the pocket piece right side out, and ironed it flat to fuse the pieces together. The perfect patch pocket. The pocket piece could then be topstitched in place. I followed the same process for the flaps, but before stitching them onto the coat, I made buttonholes using the sensor-buttonhole foot, so they were all exactly the same size. I have to admit, it was fun.

Penny tried on her coat for size before the buttons and velcro closures were stitched in place:

Can you believe I didn't have 4 matching black buttons for these? It took me a couple of days to get out and pick up some basic black buttons and then hand sew them in place.

Here they are wearing their newly finished coats (Keli is in back, left; Penny is in front, right):

Keli's coat is just a bit long on her, but luckily she doesn't seem to mind.

Next on the sewing agenda is a pair of matching dresses for the Westies inspired by the Rockettes -- no, we don't dress them up as habit, they really do hate it. These will be costumes for a Christmas card photo.

The dresses are almost finished and I'll write about them tomorrow. I just need to gather some props and figure out how I'm gonna get these two Barkettes to pose the way I want them for the photo . . . at the rate I'm going, it may end up being an after-Christmas card . . . more to follow, soon.

Quick Update: Christmas UFO Projects

There isn't too much to report on these Christmas UFO projects.

The Christmas Tree Countdown Calendar and the Santa and Snowman ornaments are unchanged.

I did make a second pair of Christmas In-the-hoop Potholders:

From Christmas 2008 - in progress

These coordinate with my Winterberry pattern from Pfaltzgraff. I have not continued with other designs because I ran out of tearaway stabilizer. I've been working on other projects, but I may get around to making more potholders later in December.