I sew now. Which means I want everything I own to be handmade. Key word being WANT. It is hard to make everything from scratch. Not only does it take time, but it is MORE expensive to make something than to buy it. I know this. But there is something very special about having something YOU MADE. It has more meaning. I LOVE the things that I make and the things people make for me. I treasure them.
I decided I was going to make our family Christmas Stockings this year. On December 15th.
You see, my girlfriend and I decided we needed a girls getaway weekend. Nicole likes to sit and watch Hallmark movies (VOMIT), AND be in her pajamas by 1pm. I thought she was joking about the PJ’S, but she was not. I decided I would bring my travel sewing machine and make my family Christmas stockings. There is no way I can watch a Hallmark movie from start to finish. None.
Nicole snuggled in and turned on Hallmark and I started to sew. I chose to make the Scandi Stocking from Modern Textiles. A) They are cute. B) Roxanne wrote the pattern so if I was having issues I knew who to turn too.
I started with the stripes because that seems pretty straight forward. And it was. Until this happened. Twice. In case you are unaware, this is not how it should look. Both toes SHOULD be facing the same way. In the picture I am smiling, but on the inside I am not.
It was at this point that Nicole says, “You know they SELL stocking for like $5 at Target.” She clearly does not get handmade. I give her the evil eye and she smiles and goes back to Hallmark.
Once I figured out what I was doing wrong, the rest of the stocking was easy peasy.
Next up, the tree. Super easy. I had it all sewed up in 25 minutes. Then I look down at the table and see this.
Why is this big piece of batting left from my kit??? OHHHHH, it’s because I forgot to QUILT my stocking. Did I quilt the first one? Yes, yes I did. Why would I NOT quilt the second one? I HAVE NO IDEA. I think Hallmark channel is distracting me. Between Hallmark and Nicole saying, “Target is just around the corner. $5 stockings. Just sayin'” I have lost focus.
I decided I needed a break. Nicole and I switch from Hallmark and binge watched the entire season of “A Typical” on Netflix. Very funny.
This puts me in better spirits so I move along to my next stocking. The Gnome. NO ISSUES.
Lastly, the dreaded snowflake. I was purposely holding this for last because of all the cutting and lining up of seams. Surprisingly, this went fairly well. My snowflake looks like a snowflake. The one issue I had was this:
I missed some of my seams. Boo. A little hand stitching, sharpie marker and boom, you’d never know!
I also find matching the fronts and the backs difficult.
However, I LOVE them. They are not perfect and I love them anyway. They make me happy. I will hang them proudly for Christmas NEXT year, as I just finished the last one as I write this. December 28th. I know Nicole is just WISHING she had a set of her own:) I would make her some BUT she has too many kids!
Cheers!
Andrea
