Between my sewing and the Cricut I figured that this Christmas would have a lot of handmade elements, and so it was. Here are a few.

Mark did very well this year. I made him two pairs of speedos from checked fabric scraps left over from my bathers. Just in the nick of time apparently as he was down to his last pair and didn’t have a spare in his swimming bag. It’s going to be fun when we wear our checks to the pool together!

I’ve been meaning to make him a pair of oven mitts for ages, and have finally done it, using the Liz Haywood minimal waste pattern, which is free. The outer fabric was left over from some cushions a friend made, the linings are different scraps from my stash and I have used some thermal insulation I bought at the Fibres West Garage Sale and part of a wool blanket that belonged to Mark’s aunt. They are thick! He is thrilled!

Some of his tee shirts were beginning to look tatty so I found some lovely grey cotton knit in my stash and made him a new one. Then I looked at the leftover fabric and decided I could make him two! The only variation is with the labels. I used a mixture of KATM labels and ones I produced on my Cricut.

I lined the necks with some tape that has got Purl Soho printed on the other side – obviously wrapped around something I bought there, but it’s fabulous tape. The “A cut above” label was produced as part of a course I’m doing. Unfortunately the mouth didn’t work out, so I thought I’d paint one on with a laundry marker, but all I achieved was giving the flower a five o’clock shadow! I’m still quite pleased with it though.

I found some beautiful cotton in my stash that I thought would make nice trousers, and, again, had enough left to get a pair of shorts from the fabric. As soon as the clothes were unwrapped, he had one of the tee shirts and shorts on, so here are some fit photos.

I put zips in the pockets of the trousers, which he always finds handy. I have made him so many pairs of these shorts and trousers over the years, I can make them in very quick time.

These are the three patterns I use – all Kwik Sew and all really good to sew.

I made myself a top whilst I had the Lotta Jansdotter Esme dress pattern out (see previous post). I modified the hem and added a pocket to which I attached yet another Mary Quant daisy from glitter iron on vinyl given to me by Katherine of Sew Blooms. The fabric is from a roll of circular knit that Sarah got for me from a deceased estate. I am slowly working my way through it, it’s lovely cotton, but quite light. Here I am dancing with Miss G.

I made quite a few gifts for friends; like this little bird made from a felted ball and which sits on a cinnamon stick. I made one for us too and it should make the house smell nice, but I haven’t smelt anything! You can see it on our tree. The peg reindeer underneath was made by one of the boys with my Mum. She made the best Christmas things!

I made some of these birds for friends and put them in little houses made on the Cricut – a real exercise in folding, but very cute. I also made cut out cards.

I used the same design to make a big house for another friend. These make lovely gift boxes and I filled this one with gingerbread men and a couple of chocolates. I decorated the houses with scraps cut out from other things. I save everything!

I made several Christmas cards which were really a way of practicing with the Cricut. The envelopes were made with the Cricut too. Again, the Christmas tree is decorated with off cuts, and it pops up.

I made all the gift tags on the Cricut, just from scrap paper. I used foam between the layers to produce a 3D effect. You can see how they look under the tree. The presents were wrapped in recycled and new brown paper. On the window sill is a little winter village that I made early in the piece. The tags can be reused next year, which is handy.

We bought Miss G a balance bike for Christmas and I added her name. Each letter is part of a flower. She immediately hopped on, but has to wear a helmet (which she wouldn’t take off – just like her daddy at that age!). I’m a bit in love with the cute wicker basket given to her by her uncle.

I also made her a Santa snack plate. These were unheard of when my boys were little, but they seem to be everywhere now. It’s a piece of MDF with adhesive vinyl details. I’m still using the vinyl I got with the machine, but I did find a box of no-name brand stuff at the op shop. I could not leave it behind!

I decided that it needed to be varnished but that teeny tiny writing just washed off. I had spent hours on it, and kept finding it stuck to my hands and other places. In the end I picked it all off and called it a day.

I think it worked out ok. Tom thought it had been bought on Etsy so that made me happy.

I had to share this lovely photo of Miss G and her Mum talking about it. The cookie is a gingerbread teddy that I made, but I admit it’s unrecognisable! Hope Santa enjoyed it.

The last thing to show you is a reindeer I made for Miss G’s bedroom door. I haven’t done macrame for nearly fifty years and it did show but thanks to Youtube I got there in the end. The cord that I wrapped the antlers in came from my Mum’s stash. I modified the pattern slightly to make it simpler,

Another long post, I’m sorry, but I thought you’d enjoy a video of Miss G lapping water in imitation of Heidi. I had to cut off the end, but she gives a very self-satisfied smile.