I have a few more presents to show that have been opened and (thankfully) well received.  This is a plastic bag made from many, many plastic bags.  The directions came from Esty Labs and a quick search on youtube will give you a video of the whole process.  You fuse three plastic bags together between sheets of parchment paper then zigzag them all together to make plastic fabric. I was originally going to make it in the shape of a plastic bag, but I kept melting holes in the plastic and the “fabric” was getting smaller and smaller.  There is a picture of a patchwork plastic bag in the link above, so with that in mind I cut a bunch of squares and using a paper bag for a template (how ironic) made a plastic patchwork bag.  Plastic bags are surprisingly easy to sew and this came together very quickly.  It’s incredibly light and though it doesn’t feel sturdy it can hold a bunch of stuff.  It’s hard to avoid ending up with a bunch of plastic bags these days, even if you make a special effort not to.  And this is a nice way to at least put those evil things to good use.

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?

Isn’t it lovely? This was my little patchwork swap treat from my partner Clara (who has no blog). A little quilted zipper pouch done with some beautiful fabrics. And she sent me a big stack of patchwork squares. Here are just some of my favorite ones (the little black and white drawn vegetable print is fantastic–anyone know where it’s from?).

I sent out my little package today. I made a patchwork needlebook that turned out a little too big, so I hope my partner has lots of needles to store!

And of course she got a big stack of scraps as well. I hope she likes it (I’ll tell you who she is as soon as she gets it).

That’s it I’m afraid. I’m worn out from 2 whiny babies who don’t seem to need sleep.

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.