OrnaMENTAL!

This is the first year my boyfriend and I will be in our own place for Christmas, so we’re starting from scratch as far as ornaments and decorations go. We bought a string of lights and two packs of shiny baubles from the store, but apart from a few candy canes, the tree was bare.

I started with some festive bunting, by cutting triangles of fabric from an off-white curtain sample (donated by my boyfriend’s mother) and sewing them all together in a long strip of dark green bias binding.

Early gifts – Electric sheep and birds in my sleep

Sheep!

When my good friends Brian and Sharon heard the news that I’m likely to be spending time in hospital soon, they sent me a parcel out of the blue, with a huge box of crayons and a colouring book (for something to do in a hospital bed!) and about 4 yards of this:


There was a note attached, too: “To make comfy lounge pants”! I’m not one to disregard notes so I reckon I’ll be turning these wee sheep into Jalie 2686 that I recently made in purple silk for Pip. It’s nice to have proper pyjamas when you’re in a situation when they might be seen by other people…

Electronic sewing!

And speaking of Pip, we exchanged gifts last week and she got me the fabulous Fashioning Technology book.

Sewing Gift Guide

Christmas is coming up, and so I thought I’d offer a helping hand to all the friends, relatives, and significant others of the sewing obsessed looking for sewing gifts this holiday season. I’ve tried to roughly break this down into “beginners” and “everyone else”, but it helps if you can snoop around their sewing area first to have an idea of what they’ve already got before buying something off this list.

And if you’re reading this and are feeling truly overwhelmed, then:

  1. Print this page.
  2. Google for your nearest sewing or fabric store
  3. Give this page to a store clerk with a smile a “Can you help me please?” and let them show you what some of this stuff is…

For beginners

If you know someone who’s very new to sewing or is getting their first machine this Christmas, it’s a great idea to create a little bundle of all the necessary tools for someone just starting out. You can often find these pre-packaged at sewing shops, or to create your own for a new sewer, I’d recommend placing the following in a zippered pouch, box, or (if you yourself are a sewer) a sewn case:

  • Dedicated sewing scissors (write “fabric only” on the blades with a marker!)
  • Glass-headed pins (plastic-headed pins melt on contact with an iron!)
  • Clear ruler or hem gauge
  • A pack of standard sewing machine needles
  • A pack of hand sewing needles
  • A seam ripper
  • Spools of Sew All (polyester or cotton-coated polyester) thread in black and white (and also grey, beige, red, and navy if you’re feeling flush)
  • A tomato pin cushion