A little while back Maryanne blogged about the embroidered serviettes  that she made for The Haby Goddesses' Red and White Kris Kringle.  She's way more organised than I am and finished her contribution before the deadline.
Me? I'm a deadline kind of girl and managed to finish my present right. on. the. due. date. phew!
This project kind of evolved.  I've  really enjoyed my brief foray into patchwork in the last couple of weeks so I decided to make a spotty, scrappy table runner.  

Staying true to our scrappy Christmas goal, I managed to make it out of my stash.  

I machine appliquéd lots of hand cut red circle scraps on to white to make the front of the runner and while I planned  a plain red backing, I found that I didn't have enough fabric so I stripped (is that even a verb? ... in the sewing sense I mean!)up  a panel for the middle. Luckily, a gross miscalculation (maths was never my thing) when I was making advent bunting meant that I had plenty of red and white checked binding to finish the  project off.
The hardest thing about this project was taking a reasonable picture of it ... hence the collage. Like Lizzy's cushions it's a little bit wonky but made with lots of Christmas spirit and the very best of intentions!  
Thank you  so much Jodi for organising this - I have really enjoyed it and you have inspired me to make my whole Christmas a red and white one this year!

Ok, so this isn't really a Christmas project, but it's definitely classified as scrappy sewing - this project made a  little dint in my pink scraps (and I have a lot of pink scrappiness in my cupboards)

Lizzy moved into her room just before Martin was born and it's been a work in progress since then.  It's a room without much of a theme - just a unifying colour - in Lizzy's eyes if something is pink it's more than welcome in her room!

Without a doubt, Patchwork is the best way to get through your scraps.  I'm not a patchworker by any means, but decided to have a go at some cushions.  They had to be pink of course, in candy spots and stripes.  I really love the crispness of white as a background

They're a little bit wonky (mum  - I get what you mean by accuracy in cutting and seam allowances now!) but they were made and received with  love.  In my mind, that equals scrap - busting success!

This is a quick one today! Use some of your scraps to make some gift cards.

I cut my fabric at 3inches x 3inches.
I even found an old brown cardboard folder to sew the fabric on to, so these cards really cost me nothing.
Triple stitch gave me a look that I liked. I lengthened the stitch to 3.5mm and a jersey needle seemed to punch through the cardboard better than a sharper needle.

Here's one close up:

I know the photos would have looked better if I had included a half eaten mince pie, but today I resisted the urge!

The lovely Jodie from The Habygoddess has been hosting a Handmade Kris Kringle. The theme was Christmas - Red and White. I had lots of fun with this project, so thank you Jodie.

I love Christmas. I think it is my favourite time of the year. Yes it is busy (OK - hysterical), but for me, it is a time to think about the people and the values that are most important to me.

So, this is a gift of six napkins embroidered with the ideas I want to celebrate at Christmas time:

You can see how  the embroidery runs across the whole serviette.

The embroidery was inspired by some I had seen on the Quillow tutorial from A cuppa and a catch up -a tutorial I have been studying quite closely lately!

If you want to make a set for yourself:
I cut the napkins at 18 inches and used my trusty water soluble marker to mark out my embroidery.
The embroidery is a simple combination of running stitch and back stitch.
Once the embroidery was  completed, I sewed them right sides together with the backing fabric, leaving a small hole to turn them through. Once they were nicely ironed with crisp corners, I top stitched them. If you would like more detailed information and pictures to make some double sided napkins, I found a tutorial here.

And this last picture?

Well I needed an excuse to eat a mince pie...

It was good!

My head space for sewing right now is Christmas, Christmas , Christmas. My physical space for sewing is mess, mess, mess - fabric, stuffing, embroidery thread, books and patterns from one end of the small room to the other. I can't show you any pictures, I am too embarrassed. Just feel very sorry for my husband who shares this space with me for his study. We are being walled in by my sewing stuff.

Caroline and I have been talking in the past few weeks and both think  that for so many reasons a scrappy Christmas is a happy one:

1. Christmas is usually a time of mass consumption. By using what we already have we can try and reduce buying too much new stuff.
   
2. By using scraps we can justify our sewing time as tidying time - with each project I complete there will be one less scrap on my sewing room floor!
3. Scraps often have lovely memories associated with them. Re-live them while you sew!
4. Scrappy projects are often small and fast to make - this means you can give more of your family and friends a handmade Christmas

So over the next few weeks we will be posting some of the Christmas gifts we have been making, with a commitment that (most of them!) will be from the scrap pile.

To start things off I thought I would do a bit of a scrappy gift idea round up.

I love this little organiser. I have already made one and done the patchwork outer for another 5! Madeleine and Pippi's teachers will all be getting them, filled with some little stationary loveliness. I am obsessed with this patchworking technique. I'll write more about it next week. You can find this great tutorial here at Where the Orchids Grow

Sew a rainbow of scraps? Who wouldn't want to do that?
Susan, from Living with Punks had a Scrap Your Stash Month with lots of fantastic tutorials. This Pen Wrap and Roll is one of my favourites. Its made by Katy from No Big Dill

This fabric bowl is made using cotton clothes line wrapped in scraps - something I have never seen before and would never thought of. I love the way it allows you to create a bowl with structure. You can find this great tutorial at CraftStylish.

In 2009 Sew Mama Sew did a Scrap Buster Month. This sweet dolly quilt will really use up your tiny scraps - the pieces you need are 1 x 2 inches. Wouldn't it be a great way to use the scraps from all the clothing you have made a special little girl to make her dolly a quilt. The technique looks a lot easier and quicker than you think. Thanks to Amanda Jean for this great tutorial

This tutorial from Jeni at In Color Order is the cleverest way to make a lined drawstring bag that I have seen. I have made a few to use for gift wrapping. With a rotary cutter and a big ruler you could make 5 or 6 of these in an evening.

These Juggling Balls were also featured in the Living With Punks Scrap Your Stash Month. They were created by Sachiko from Tea Rose Home.
They are beautifully constructed and I love her choice of fabrics. She has sewn them by hand and I am really enjoying a little bit of hand sewing. These are on my list for Will. I will make a fabric basket to toss them into and store them when they are not being used. I could also make them for my brother - he could use them to improve his juggling skills!

So that's just a little taste of some Scrappy Projects on offer for your Christmas gifts. All these tutorials are well written and simple enough that if you have done a beginners sewing course (like ours!) you would be able to complete them with ease. Don't forget our tutorial page - many of the projects there only require small amounts of fabric and would look great made up with some scraps.

Have fun!

I am off to do some sewing... I mean tidy the sewing room...

Since I've had children, making an advent calendar has been on my to do list.
Four years down the track I've finally done it!  Christmas day is over in a flash - an advent calendar gives you the chance to enjoy the anticipation of the big day  and this one can be easily filled (and refilled) with special treats and suprises...

There isn't really whole lot to this project.  It's just repetitive - you have to do the same thing 24 times!

You'll need

• Five metres of twill tape
• 8.5 - 9  metres of bias tape -  I took the simple approach and bought mine
• Red fabric
• Something to make the numbers - I used my Silhouette and white heat transfer vinyl, but you can use whatever takes your fancy!

To start with, you'll need to make a template using the following steps.

• Cut a rectangle 12cm x 15cm
• Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise and use a plate/cd/cup/whatever is close at hand to round off the bottom corner.
• Voila!  Now you need to cut 48 of them out of your fabric
  

Take 24 of the pieces you have just cut and measure and mark 5cm down from the top - just like this...

Fold on the line you have drawn and press.  After you have done this sew a row of stitching 1cm from the folded edge.  Repeat 23 times!

If you want to applique a number onto the front of your pocket - now is the time to do it! We'll now call these pieces the front pocket.

Next, take one front pocket piece and one back pocket piece.  Place them wrong sides together.  Take your bias tape and pin it to the curved edge of the back of the pocket.  Pin through the bias, the back and the front pieces of the pocket.

This is what the front of the pocket looks like at this stage...

There should be numbers on the front of the pocket at this stage, but I put mine on later!

Sew the bias tape on, using a 1cm seam allowance.

The next thing you need to do is flip the unsewn edge of the bias tape to the front of the pocket and pin carefully.

Sew as close as you can to the inside edge of the bias tape.  Repeat 23 times!  Phew!

You should have 23 pockets that look like this...

Now you're up to the easy part!  Take your twill tape and iron it in half length wise like this -

Sandwich and pin the pockets between the two edges of the twill tape. 

Leave about 15cm at the beginning and the end of the tape so yo can hang your bunting.  I left a 5cm gap between each pocket - but it's really up to you.  Because you need 24 pockets you end up with a super long piece of bunting.  I ended up making two 12 pocket pieces of bunting because I think they'll be easier to hang in my house. 

Sew along the length of the twill tape close to the edge of the pockets.  All of your raw edges should now be enclosed in the twill tape.

There - you're done!  Fill your pockets with treats and have a very merry Christmas!