Raffle Quilt

Pile of t-shirts

    The place where I train, The Fitness Pursuit, in Grayslake was having a client appreciation day.  They had gotten raffle prizes from various vendors and I decided to offer one of my t-shirt quilts as a prize.  Carl D chose my quilt as his prize.

Completed t-shirt quilt

     Several weeks later, after sorting through his many race shirts, he gave me 20 of them.  I cut them apart, ironed on interfacing and cut them to size.  For one t-shirt I chose to use part of the back also, so I sewed those two pieces together before ironing on the interfacing.

     I laid them out on the floor to determine placement and then sewed them together.  A trip to JoAnn Fabrics to get 2 yards of fleece for the backing was next.  I placed the top and fleece right sides together, pinned all-around the edges and trimmed off the extra fleece.  I sewed around, leaving an opening to turn.  Then I stitched all around the outside, closing up the opening.  To keep the layers together, I did some stitch-in-the-ditch quilting at the corners of the t-shirts, just about 3-4 stitches in all four directions.

     Carl was very pleased with his prize.

A Stocking for Teddy

A stocking for Teddy

     My almost 4 year old grandson asked where was a stocking for Teddy when he saw all the stockings hanging up at our house before Christmas.  Teddy happens to be his teddy bear blanket that goes everywhere with him.  I asked him why Teddy needed a stocking and he said because Teddy wanted some sunglasses.  So of course I got together a stocking for Teddy.

Stocking before embroidery

     I had several of these felt stockings in my sewing room.  I had bought them a few years ago to decorate and use them to give gifts to the nieces and nephews for a time.  I removed most of the stitching to make it easier to embroider.

Templates in place

     I printed out templates of the designs and placed them on the stocking.  I marked the placement with pins and then used sticky paper to hoop the stocking.  I did the stitching and then sewed the stocking back up.  No problem.  The harder part was finding sunglasses for his bear blanket.  I found some swim goggles for an 18" doll and we colored the inside of the lenses.  It actually worked and they did fit on his blanket :-)

Embroidery design 

     I think that is it on my Christmas items until later this year when I start sewing again for the family.  I wonder if there will be more stockings to make for a new grandchild or two???

A Christmas Stocking for Miles

Completed stocking

     Still writing about all the sewing I did for Christmas.  This stocking is for my newest grandson.  This one is for his house.  Here is the blog where I did one for him for our house.

Stitched design on jeans leg

     For our oldest grandson I made him a stocking from his grandpa's jeans so for this one I chose to use a pair of my old jeans.

Outer stocking sewn up

     I again went to Embroidery Library for a design.  I chose to use this one because the other one I liked had wording in it.  Why was that a problem you might wonder.  Well I had to do a mirror image of the design for him because his mom and dad's stockings both point to the right.  I didn't want his going the other way.

Lining sewn up with opening on the side

     I traced the stocking outline onto a leg of the jeans.  I printed out the templates of the designs and arranged them on the jeans leg.  I hooped sticky pair and stitched out the design in two parts.  I pressed the fabric and retraced the pattern and cut it out.

Cuff embroidered

     I then cut out another stocking piece from the jeans and then two from a lining fabric.  I sewed the outer pieces together  and then the same for the lining pieces, leaving a 2-3 inch opening in the side for turning.

Sewn together and turned

   I then cut a cuff from felt and embroidered his name.  I stitched the cuff into a circle.  I then placed the cuff onto the outer stocking with the raw edges even at the top and then placed that into the lining, with right sides together and stitched around the top.  I pulled it right side out through the opening in the lining.

Sewing the opening closed

     I stitched the opening closed and tucked the lining back inside.  All finished.

Christmas 2016 Outfits

Dress

Vest

     This past Christmas my daughter asked me to make matching outfits again for her two little ones.  Of course I said yes.  She bought the flannel at JoAnne Fabrics.  I did a prewash in hot water to shrink it.  Little did I know but the cute reindeer fabric that my grandson picked out would bleed onto the red flannel.  I have never had this happen before.

Vest pattern

      Fortunately she had bought extra fabric so I was able to cut out the sleeves and collar to avoid the worst of the staining.  I used this same pattern last year for her dress and just traced off the next size.

      For the vest I had this pattern in my stash.  It didn't have a buckle and belt for the back so I just added it to the side seams.


     Since the candy cane buttons are really just for show, I added snaps for the closures on both.  On his vest I also stitched one of the buttons over a candy cane that the reindeer was holding in the printed fabric.  Added a fun touch.

Pajamas

Pajama embroidery

     I also embroidered a pair of pajamas for my grandson.  I bought these fun ones with the striped leggings in every size that they had.  Every year I will embroider the next size up with a gender neutral design.  That way they can be passed down to his sister and any cousins that come along.  He already has one little cousin on his mommy's side that they can be passed onto.

Vest back

     Already anticipating what I will do for next year.