Skin of my teeth!

So on the evening before 1 December I finished my Advent Calender!  Maybe I should have started it a bit earlier but now its done.  I only have 3 ornament so I shall be doing them as we carry on, both the girls birthdays are in December so I think I will make a present with their initial on for their respective birthdays.  We already have a calender which we put little chocolates and they alternate days so they get the chocolate on their birthday so this will run alongside that one and they can alternate the ornaments.  

Neat blanket stitch 

Lovely tree shape

sparkly!

My first set of ornaments!  Need to get moving!

I'm really pleased with how its come out and the kids love it.  I hope that it will give them great joy over the coming years and even to their own children.....  I've embroidered my name and date on the back so my girls can't pass it off as theirs!!!!

I shall be linking up with all these lovely link parties this week

Advent Calender Sew Along #2 - Progress

Managed to get all the numbers finished and sewn onto the background.  I also made 3 ornaments last night so here's my progress to date.

• I've got 2 squares left to make
• a tree to cut out
• all the squares and tree to be sewn onto the background
• some sort of hanging mechanism to be organised
• front and back sewn together
• Ornaments to be designed and made (3/24 made)

getting there, long way to go through!

Africa Day

Miss M has been studying Africa this term ( a very large and general topic!) and one day the school wanted the kids to get into character and dress up as ANYTHING African.  I knew this was coming and back in the summer we were in Claires Accessories and saw a lion headband and mask so I knew we had to have it.

I had a plan that I would get some yellow/brown leggings & t-shirt, add a bit of fur and a tail and we'd be set.  So off I went to find my supplies and first thing I found was a yellow polo shirt for 50p!  Bargain, having that! So then I was looking for matching leggings but of course do you think I could find some? No! Then inspiration struck, I've got a pattern for leggings and at 50p a shirt I could get a couple more and make leggings!

So I cut the pattern out, even though I'd got the biggest t-shirt they had there wasn't quite enough fabric for the full length of the leggings so I improvised with the fur!

I sew a few inches of fur to the bottom of the leggings before sewing the seams, I also made a tail from some of the scrap fabric and stuffed it and sewed it onto the t-shirt.

Miss M in character!

Please ignore Miss C bored expression in the background, she wasn't interested in Miss M costume until I told her she will be wearing it in 3 years time!  Hey, if the school can recycle the syllabus I can recycle the costume!!!

I shall be linking up with all these lovely link parties this week

Advent Calender Sew Along #1 - I must be crazy!

So last weekend I was going through my bogs and I came to Homemade by Jill and saw that she has started an Advent Calender Sew Along so of course I decided in the middle of November that I NEEDED to make a new advent calender!  You know how it is, we see something on a blog and our life will never be satisfied if we don't make it as well!  So off I went to the fabric shop to get some nice white felt, I already had coloured felt and embroidery silks so I've been off and away.   So a week later, this is where I am, 

• I've got 2 squares left to make
• a tree to cut out
• all the squares and tree to be sewn onto the background
• some sort of hanging mechanism to be organised
• Ornaments to be designed and made

Add to this the usual Christmas shopping, cooking & preparation for 10 guests for the Christmas period (staying!) and both my kids birthdays in Dec (including a really exciting intricate Harry Potter party) and you can see that I'm beginning to think I've bitten off more than I can chew!!!!  I'm not going to be able to make all the ornaments before Dec starts but as long as I can finish them the night before I should be ok.......

Check out the Flickr group for more lovely calenders but don't blame me if you fall in love and feel you have to make one, its a bit too late now!