Sewing projects for Christmas

I started sewing for Christmas in early November and I could not post my projects until after Christmas as I did not want to spoil the surprise for the recipients. So now that Christmas is over I can share.

I made some hats for the grandkids. Mr. Bear got the privilege of modeling the hats and then I got pictures of the grandkids with their hats.

        

Zeke had 2 hats, a mohawk fleece hat and a "ninja" fleece hat. He loved both of them. Fleece hats are easy to make but the added mohawk would have been a challenge for my old machine. I still have it, it's an old Kenmore that I bought in the '80's. My new machine, a Juki, handles lots of layers with no problems. My Juki is an industrial machine, it only does a straight stitch and does it really well. With the mohawk seam I ended up sewing thru 6 layers of fabric. The "ninja" hat is just like a ski mask. It has a trim around the face opening and bottom that is "Fold-Over Elastic". I found that I love working with this elastic. It has a (for lack of better words) line down the middle of it that makes it really easy to fold over the edges of something. I used my Kenmore to sew this part. I needed a very small zig-zag stitch and my Juki couldn't do that one. In fact I could not use the regular zig-zag stitch on my Kenmore. I ended up using part of the button hole stitch in order to get a very small zig-zag. The face part can be pulled down from the nose to sit under the chin in case someone wants to eat or drink something.

      

Again Mr. Bear was my model for this hat before Christmas. It is Micaela's favorite color lately. And I made her a t-shirt dress. I had left over material from her rabbit purse that I made her for her birthday. It worked great for this t-shirt dress. T-shirt dresses are easy to make, the shirt was a $4.47 Walmart purchase and went really well with the rabbit material-and it's her favorite color. Both of these projects were done on my Juki.

One of my projects was a challenge. There was no pattern, only an old tool roll from a 1969 Land Cruiser. When I was in California for Thanksgiving I got a chance to take measurements of the old one in order to make a new one for my son-in-law, Ryan. The old one was in fragile condition and Dani had some fabric and trim for me to use.




The fabric is waxed canvas. I'd never sewn on waxed canvas before. Ryan likes vintage items and this item seemed like it was from WWII. They had bought the fabric and trim from an army supply store but Dani's machine was not able to sew on it, too thick. It wasn't too thick for my Juki tho. The thickest part was 6 layers thick counting the trim. I put some tools in it just to make sure it could hold them okay. I was not able to find a buckle like the old one but had a wider one in my stash and a vinyl strap that worked to finish it off. I was surprised at how well it came out and the project got me to thinking about sewing more tool rolls for these types of projects and other occupations as well.

I got to sew a new bag for Dani.



I started out making her a lunch bag, but my original lunch bag was too small. I made one that looked just like a paper bag, it was cute but not good for a lunch-maybe a snack. Anyway I pulled out a book  that Dani let me borrow and made this for her. I had not sewn with zippers in ages but the directions in this book made it easy. I picked up this fabric at the thrift store. It was curtains that were in great shape. It had contrasting fabric plus an off white lining that I used for the inside of this bag. I'm pretty sure she can fit her lunch or whatever she wants in this one.

And I had more than enough curtain fabric to make another purse, this one for Jeni.



I had made Jeni one of these over the shoulder purses before and she still uses it but it is falling apart. The fabric is worn thru and it has holes in it. So I thought a new one was in order. It's a great purse to use when your hands are full with a couple of kids and all their "stuff". For this project I used the same fabric for the outside and the lining. It does have the contrasting stripe across the front and it has a 3 section pocket inside. Both Dani and Jeni's projects were sewn on my Juki.

I had great fun sewing for Christmas. I was very glad to have my Juki and I had taken some thread and needle classes at the sewing store. The information I learned was very helpful with all of these projects. I'm looking forward to sewing more in the future. Keep you all posted on future projects.