I am halfway through this handmade holiday thing–making everyone’s gift is a lot of work.  Thankfully I have a fantastic husband who lets me hide in my studio and sew for hours.  I even got myself to the post office Monday morning before it opened (there was already a line!) and a bunch of presents are on their way! The apron above is from Denyse Schmidt’s book and has an oven mitt to match. I made a few of these set for a few sets of people–aprons for the girls and oven mitts for the boys.  I think an oven mitt makes a fine man gift. I only have a few boys on my christmas list, but I have some crafty man gifts up my sleeve, which really I should be making now that I think about it…

These all are (or will be) pockets for Denyse Schmidt’s shimy, shake, and bake apron. The first and the fourth ones I made with the pattern in her book, but I feel a little funny using a pattern for something that is made specifically to look unplanned and a little wonky. I can do wonky just fine on my own. So I just winged (wung? wang?) it with the other two and they came out just fine. The grey fabric was very thin and puckered quite a bit–can anyone explain to me why and how to remedy it? I don’t know if I’ll do it over, or leave it and just consider it extra homemade.

I do love me some egg fabric. I have reams of this stuff. why?

Actually, it’s quite difficult to find pictures of the things I have made, as most of them were gifts. And, to be honest, probably finished moments before they were given, so there was no time to take a picture. But last year I made a quilt (again as a gift) and I could not stop taking pictures of it. Denyse Schmidt’s book had recently come out and it seemed everyone in the craft world was making a quilt. I have been reading craft blogs for a long time now, and though the pictures and stories are beautiful and inspiring, they tend to make things look easy (not that I blame them. It’s embarassing to write about the full blown argument you had with your sewing machine or admidt to breaking down and sobbing when you discover you have to rip out yet another seam–because, dammit, this is supposed to be relaxing. Or am I the only one who does these things?). Making a quilt is not easy. And making a full size quilt in a month will drive you mad. I picked the pattern that seemed the most straight forward–it was tied, not quilted and all the seams were straight. I was so new to sewing and there was much crying and swearing and walking to the repair shop with an 8 month old on my back and my sewing machine under my arm, but I finished and on time to boot. The experience was incrediblly rewarding: I learned about my machine, about how I work, and how to make a quilt.