Handmade Christmas Gifts & Swaps

And finally, handmade Christmas gifts and swaps.

There are so very many swaps on Instagram and Flickr that I want to join, but more than anything, I wanted to have time to swap with my friend Gwen; I absolutely adore all of her creations and she has been such a good friend to me.

Gwen made me the most adorable Ho Ho Ho pillow. I forgot to take a photo of the back, but it is the green owl and presents print, and so clever. The side button closures are the perfect finishing touch. This pillow has already been very well loved by all in the family - a favorite to snuggle on the couch.

You may notice that there are several fabrics in the pillow that are also in the hexie Christmas stocking I made. Gwen mailed me some fun Christmas scraps to add to my stocking - she has the best holiday fabric, truly. As a little thank you, I used leftovers from the generous scraps she sent, along with some of my own, and made her English paper pieced hexie mug rug/mini quilt.

Backing is one of my favorite Kate Spain prints.

I also made Gwen a mini version of my Crate and Barrel Winter Solstice Pillow copy. 

Finally, I made her a medium size canvas Nova Tote using a Swoon block on the pocket.  This bag is not really in the theme of a Christmas swap, but I wanted to make something that can be used all year. The Priory Square contrast bottom is interfaced with fusible fleece. I am so in love with this navy Priory Square print, and Joel Dewberry herringbone is one of my favorite binding fabrics. Inside, I added a DS Prints navy and blue floral lining, and a 9" inset zipper pocket.

I made some pouches for quick gifts. Right now, I love to make patchwork zipper pouches. I say quick, but I got carried away cutting mini charms for this pink quilt. I keep trying to find the motivation to cut some from other color scraps, but it hasn't happened yet.

For my Crafty Tuesday holiday swap, I made a Kate Spain Solstice patchwork zip pouch. I used charm squares subcut into mini charms. I used some of the leftovers to make hexies for my stocking.

The last pouch I made, I used strips of Anna Maria's Pretty Potent line and lined with another AMH print. This was fun to construct. I usually use two panels for the exterior, but on this one I pieced my strips lengthwise and folded in half as one panel. It was a puzzle to attach the zipper and lining, but not difficult at all. 

The very last bit of sewing I did in December was another Sew Together Bag. Fabric is All My Heart by Iron Orchid Designs for Blend Fabric.

 

 

The typewriter pincushion is my favorite detail:

And that's a wrap on December sewing.

Felt Winter Solstice Pillow

Somehow the last six weeks passed me by without a single Christmas crafting post. I guess I was so caught up in trying to finish all of my hand sewing that I didn't take the time to document here. Over the next few days I will be posting some of my holiday project finishes and some new projects as well.

First up, one of my favorite projects to date - a 16" x 24" felt winter solstice pillow I copied from Crate and Barrel.

When I was shopping at Crate and Barrel, I saw their Winter Solstice pillow and fell in love with everything but the price tag. I thought it might be a fun way to use up some of my wool felt stash and save $70.

I used the same dimensions as the C&B pillow and cut a piece of freezer paper to size then eyeballed the approximate placement of the houses, and drew the snow shapes. I made a template for the houses, wreathes, trees and made copies to move around on the pillow for final placement. Once I was satisfied that my house and tree template sizes worked, I printed them on cardstock to make pattern pieces. 

I am not excellent at drawing, but I was really impressed with my trees and wreaths. I spent an evening in front of TV watching Supernatural, cutting my felt, and hand stitching my little houses.

I drew freehand circles on white felt with Frixion pen to make snowballs and whip stitched them into place. By the end of the weekend I had a cute pillow top.

Here is the finished pillow next to the original Crate and Barrel one.

(Bottom photo credit: Crate and Barrel)

Next up, handmade stockings....

Brick Quilt Pattern Shower Curtain Tutorial

Always looking to add more quiltiness to our house, I decided to make a shower curtain for my daughters' bathroom in a longer length to account for the high shower curtain rod. (The photo above is actually my bathroom, as their bathroom is awkward to take pics of the full shower curtain. Pics of their finished space are at the end of the post.)

Brambleberry Ridge and Indelible fabric lines match my house and style perfectly. I also thought they added a touch of whimsy for the girls without being juvenile. This was important because it's a bathroom guests also use. As I told my 12 year old, I know you like this, but I really made it so I can look at it all the time. Ha

I didn't use a pattern for this shower curtain. Instead, I adopted the mentality my mom always used when sewing - take some measurements and make it up as you go along. I wanted to use a brick pattern for three reasons - it mimics the subway tile layout in the bath surround, looks great while being quick to piece, and can be hemmed on the sides and bottom without adding sashing or cutting into a design element. 

I made notes and took pics along the way in case I want to make another one. This isn't really a full tutorial, but I'll list my notes and pics for anyone who is interested in giving it a try. This works with any 72" square quilt pattern (or 72" x 75", as I made mine)

My long shower curtain finished size: approximately 70" wide x 76" long
Standard shower curtain size: 72" x 72"

70" wide works great even on my curved rod shower curtain and was a good width for the quilt pattern I wanted to use without waste. With my higher shower curtain rod, 72" length is too short, so I added three additional inches. By omitting one row on the shower curtain, finished size is 73" if hemmed with a 1.5" width. Hem and top panel widths can also be manipulated to slight adjustments. I hemmed the bottom of my shower curtain last in order to double check length.

This is not a waterproof shower curtain. Add a vinyl/waterproof lining to the back when you hang it in your bathroom.

Materials

• For long length use (300) 3.5" x 6.5" rectangles to make 72 1/2" x 75 1/2" front (size prior to top panel and hemming)
  For standard length shower curtain use (288) 3.5" x 6.5" rectangles to make 72 1/2" square front (size prior to top panel and hemming)
• 2 width of fabric x 6" for top panel piece
• heavyweight interfacing or SF101 shape flex interfacing - 6" x 72"
• 1 full size flat sheet for backing (I bought the cheapest one I could find at Target)
• (12) 7/16" grommets - get the kit so you have the tools needed to install

Cutting and Layout

I drew a 72" square layout with 12" blocks just to get a visual of the shower curtain before cutting.

 Long shower curtain layout - 25 rows x 12 rectangles per row = 300 rectangles

Standard shower curtain - 24 rows x 12 rectangles per row = 288 rectangles

From fat quarters: 3.5" x 19.5" strips yield three 3.5" x 6.5" rectangles each

For my project:
I used 28 different fat quarters. There is no reason for this other than that is the number of fabrics I had that matched my theme. Fabric on the left is Cotton + Steel metallic basics and Violet Craft Brambleberry Ridge. Fabric on the Right is Katarina Roccella Indelible.

From my fabric, I cut:

20 fat quarters - three 3.5" x 19.5" strips and one 3.5" x 13" strip
Remaining 8 fat quarters - three 3.5" x 19.5" strips and one 3.5" x 6.5" strip
Subcut each strip into 3.5" x 6.5" rectangles

 

Piecing:

I laid out my fabrics prior to piecing and then chain pieced by row, but intrepid spirits can simply grab and piece randomly - 12 rectangles per row. Every other row, I slid each rectangle over to the left halfway, cut one end rectangle in half (into two 3.5" x 3.25" pieces), and used one at each end of the row. The rows that have not been cut end up a bit longer than the other ones this way, but I just pieced all in one direction, then trimmed the side even.

I pressed my seams open to lay as flat as possible.

Backing:

I dislike measuring and cutting large pieces of fabric, so I tried to keep this as simple as possible. I bought a cheap full size flat sheet from Target, pressed it well, and then laid it on the floor. I laid the shower curtain front on top, and spray basted in place. I wasn't overly concerned about it laying completely flat because I just wanted it to adhere temporarily. So I decided not to tape the back to the floor before basting. I cannot recommend this method - it was more work in the end - but it didn't have any large wrinkles either, so it worked out. In the future, I would recommend to trim down the sheet a little bit and tape it to the floor as though you are basting a quilt. I didn't use batting, but batting can be used if you want to quilt the layers. 

 

After basting the layers together, trim the backing to the size of the front.

Top Panel:

Piece the two WOF x 6" strips on one short edge, making one long piece. Fuse the interfacing on the back. I was lazy and didn't measure my cotton fabric length. I just fused the interfacing on the back, then attached the fused top panel to the top of the shower curtain with 1/4" seam allowance, and trimmed off the excess. Press the seam toward the top of the shower curtain. 

A note about interfacing: I was lazy about that as well.  I didn't really want to measure a long piece of interfacing and have a 6" chunk missing 72" down my bolt. I cut 4 pieces by the 20" width of shape flex. The last piece I cut down to 6" x 12". I fused the pieces on the back of the top panel, slightly overlapping the edges.

Hem the Sides:

On each side, fold over the raw edge 1/2" and press. Fold over another 1/2", press, and topstitch in place.

On each hemmed section, I used school glue to baste the raw edge down when I folded and pressed it. It helps the two layers of fabric lay nicely. (Tip: if you glue baste, use the iron to heat set the glue.) I then used wonder clips to hold the fabric in place to topstitch.

Hem the Top Panel:

Fold the top raw edge of the top panel down 1/2". Fold the top down again so that the top folded edge is over the stitching line by at least 1/8". I glue basted the second fold as well. Steam a Seam also works really well to hold the fabric in place.

Flip the shower curtain to the front and stitch in the ditch where the top panel meets the body of the shower curtain.

Hem the Bottom Panel:

Fold over the raw edge 1/2" and press. Fold over another 3/4" and press. Topstitch in place.

Again, you can adjust the hem length to add or subtract length.

Add Grommets:

I purchased Dritz grommets at Joann Fabric. I bought a kit with 10 grommets, and a refill pack with 10 grommets. 12 are needed for a shower curtain. 

You can use an old grommet shower curtain to measure hole placement. I used the following measurements, tracing the inside of the grommet holes onto the fabric, with success:

From top edge: top of circle 5/8" down

First and last grommet: outside of circle 1 3/4" from outside edge

All other grommets: 5 1/2" apart from edge of circle to edge of circle

The grommet tool kit explains how to use them; it is not hard, so don't be scared. I poked a hole in the center of the circle I drew with an awl, cut the fabric inside the the circle to just barely inside the lines I drew. The grommets should be snug, but not tight, and definitely not loose.

You do need to whack the grommets pretty hard (try not to hit your fingers). Make sure to attach the grommets on a hard surface like concrete, and not on wood floors or precious tile.

Add a vinyl shower curtain liner to the back, and you are done!

Here is the shower curtain in its permanent space.