Crafty Christmas Things

I managed to finish a few crafty Christmas things and was sewing right up until the last moment ...

Crafty Christmas #1: Cushion for my Mother-in-Law

I came across this gorgeous fabric by Kristen Doran, a sydney based designer. I saw the panel on Duckcloth and decided to get one. It was originally going to be part of an apron that I was planning, but when I saw it in real life .. it became a pillow. I ended up using an invisable zip and size 16 cushion insert from Spotlight.

I backed the pillow with red micro-cord to make it more tacktile and Christmas-y. Check out her panels, she really does some lovely refined work with a european feel.

Crafty Christmas #2: Tool Roll for my Dad

Knowing that my father has a van full of spanners it was quite hard to decide how many to put in this roll. So he ended up with ten spaces. I only have a metre of this fabric and I wanted to use it for something worthwhile.

The tool roll is closed with two D-rings and a strap of heading tape doubled over and sewn.

In order to keep the spanners in, a flap goes over them before rolling them up ...

I used one of those nifty clover 25mm bias makers to make the bias to use around the outside of the roll. Dad will be letting me know what improvements I need to do it it before I make a few for my market stall.

Crafty Task #3: Drink Coasters for my Mum

This started off as a table runner, and then I wasn't happy with the colours or the placement so I ripped it up and decided to do some samples in the form of drink coasteres. The middle pansy was part of panel fabric that I got at a Quilting fair last year and the blocking fabric is purple butterflies from Spotlight.

Crafty Task #4: Flame Diary for Father-in-law

My father-in-law scored a Flame Diary. He has a business "rocks on fire" and this diary fits in well with what he does.

Inside a standard A5 diary with elastic and bookmark.

My crafty Christmas didn't turn out the way it started off. Apron's became pillows and table runners became drink coasters. But that is what I like about creating Christmas gifts, you never know what you will end up with. The positive thing is that no-one got hurt making my Christmas gifts this year (Tori pulled the hot iron onto her foot ...).