Post-Christmas letdown

Well not exactly a let-down (for me anyways, Hazel is another thing altogether!) just sort of a "well what now?" and a reluctance to start something new. I had a total disaster while we were away - I was making some more of the little felt gingerbread men for myself and got all the bits ready for finishing up at Taupo Bay, took stuffing along, scissors, embroidery floss and put them together in a plastic bag. Which looked like rubbish and someone threw it out without checking what was inside. I didn't get too upset when I realised what had happened when we got home and it was missing, but I had to go and be by myself for awhile in my room!

But good things happened too!  There was sun...

...and sand castles...

...cafes...

...and walks on the beach.

And even though the weather crapped out towards the end we all had a lovely time

Wishing you (in advance) a very Merry Christmas!

 I'm off up north for a week to a lovely spot called Taupo Bay - there will be sun, sand, surf and lots of food and hopefully a book or two read. I'll be putting pictures up on Instagram and if I can manage, a photo or two here, but basically Hazelnuts is on holiday for a week! Have a very merry holiday yourself and if you are lucky enough to have snow send me some I'll send you some beach back.

Clothed Tomtes

Phew, I've got the two Christmas present Tomtes clothed and decent! They've turned out better than I'd hoped, though they do tend towards the pin-headed. I used the pattern in Scandinavian Stitches as a starter and then made some changes so they were more similar to the Maileg Pixies I love so much. I'm not one for promoting the "knock-off", which is a term and a business that I really have no time for, but I'm going to be a total hypocrite here and say that I was more than a little influenced by the lovely outfits you see on the Maileg pixies (as well as their ears, though mine are a work in progress I think!) and the proportions of the bodies. I would absolutely buy some of those though, if I had the chance to see them in person, the more I look at the pictures of them the more you can see the effort and class that went into them, I don't mind paying for that!

I figured out the patterns for their tops but the pants came from a pair in the Wee Wonderfuls book. The girl is in French General and the boy is in cotton jersey and pants are a Lecien fabric (I think). My mum knitted the scarf and was also a huge help putting the bodies together - stuffing, attaching arms etc. Their pear shapes made dressing them a little difficult but it's kind of adorable, especially in the boy. 

If I were to do them again I think I'd make them a little less pear-shaped, the heads a bit wider, and integrate the ears rather than sewing them on as an after-thought. I'd make the arms a little less long and the mittens rounder. I wouldn't change the clothes though, they're perfect and I'm really chuffed with myself for figuring out how to make the tops like that, and the fabrics are perfect. My two will be wearing the same outfits for sure; but imagine, I could do them a new set of clothes for each Christmas!

Second zippy pouch

This one is for Hazel's lovely teacher Ms. Nicholson



It's essentially a pencil case to put the Smiggle pens in, but I decided to put a bit of effort in because she really has been rather fabulous this year and anyone who can deal with that many kids on a daily basis needs all the affirmation I can give! Even if the fact she loves Smiggle (purple is her colour) drives the Smiggle-frenzy to fever pitch in the class at times! Her favourite colour is red, and hey it's mine too! (we share a similar taste in shoes) so I made up this bag using the 'Perfect Zip Bags' pattern by Elizabeth Hartman - I just checked for the link and the pdf pattern is out of stock... The pattern itself is super-easy to follow and this time the zip insertion worked nicely:



I'm not a 100% sure about the dart placement though, it seems a bit strange - the bag isn't hugely rounded, nor will it sit flat on a surface (it's propped up in the photo above) so it's a bit of 'neither one thing nor another'. I'd love to make one of the bags for me though, either the flat ones or the boxed bottom ones I think next time. However, there's no denying that it's a cutie, darts or not!

A mousie pouch

The other night at the AMQG challenge unveiling Helen asked me if I had any other Christmas sewing on and I said no, just a couple little zippy pouches. I suppose that wasn't quite honest because this is a bit more than a plain old zippy pouch in the end - and I'm very pleased with it even if zipper was a bit of a disaster because I tried to get all fancy with it.

 

It's for Hazel's bestie Brooke and I'll put in a chocolate Santa and a couple chocolate coins to round it off. The pattern is from Scandinavian Stitches.

Half-way there!

The tomtes are done but not clothed - still, they're rather appealing sitting in a row like that all nudie-nudie. Hazel has appropriated two already and is lugging them around the house.

Me on Instagram

One of the groups I regularly participate in on Instagram asked us to make up one of these little images to put up, I thought it was kind of neat and wanted to share it here.

Still beavering away on the Tomtes, I found some perfect knit fabric remnant today to make little sweaters for the boys. Will be so cute!