Christmas gift making has begun!

Project #20 was a small cosmetics bag for weekend travel. No pattern, just measured an old one and stitched it up.

I used beautiful Sassaman fabrics and did some free motion quilting. I love it!

Project #21 is a nightgown for next summer or a warm trip to Mexico this winter.

At my local fabric store, I saw this very soft, organic cotton knit and thought it would be perfect for a nightgown and I couldn’t find a nice one to buy.

This was Kwik Sew #3943 which I saw online but then couldn’t find it at Joann’s to buy the pattern. I would think that Joann’s would carry it since Kwik Sew is owned by Simplicity…but no!  I could have ordered it and waited for a week to get it but I thought I’d do the instant pattern download so I could start right away.

Well, that was an experience that I don’t want to go through again! This simple pattern consisted of a front, back, sleeve and neck/sleeve facings. It took 55 sheets of paper to print this and then I had to tile it up in 5 columns of 11 sheets each….overlap it 1/8 inch and tape it all over! That took a good bit of time and who has the space on a table for that? I had to do it in sections. And then when I was done, I cut out the individual pieces but you know regular paper is too stiff and you can’t see through it like pattern tissue. For $8 next time I will order it and wait!

The neck detail had these nice 1/4 inch tucks. When I tried it on, the neckline was too big so I tightened it up by adding 3 tucks to each of the sleeve pieces at the neckline.  Then it was good.  The sleeve was long and it had tucks at the bottom edge of it but I cut the sleeves to elbow length and eliminated those. It’ll be great for warmer weather!

So, Christmas gift sewing began in September! Here is a fancy vest that I made for my youngest son. He doesn’t read my blog, I’m sure!

It’s a Vogue men’s pattern and I bought the purple in Boston on a college visit but forgot about it. Then I had some black silk satin for the trim and made covered buttons.  The bottom photo in the sun shows the color and shine and details better.

I also sewed more Xmas gifts but not sure I should reveal them too early or my friends won’t be surprised with their gifts!