2013 Handmade Christmas Gifts - Part 2

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope you had a fun and safe New Year's Eve.

This is Part 2 of my handmade Christmas presents for 2013.

A couple of years ago, I made my husband a cell phone case for his Iphone.  He wanted to be able to put it on his belt but he wasn't happy with the one's that were available on the market at that time.  He tried several different ones and didn't like any of them. 

Then I saw a tutorial in a sewing magazine (Volume 2 of Sew it All) for a camera case by Sara Boughner.  I started thinking about how perfect an Iphone would fit into something like that but the case didn't have anyway to attach it to anything.  The camera strap just stuck out the side and that was how you carried it.  So I started to think of ways that I could adjust it so that my husband could wear it on his belt.  My solution was to make a fabric loop on the back of the case that he could slide onto his belt.  It worked perfectly.  He has used his case everyday for at least a year and a half.  I thought I might have blogged about it but I can't find the post.  His case is a lightweight denim fabric with Mickey Mouse lining and a fussy cut Mickey Mouse on the flap.  This fabric was HIS choice by the way, not mine.  And yes, he wears it to work everyday.  He got some flak about it at first but everyone knows how crazy he is about Disney so, there you go.

Anyhoo, my FIL wanted me to make him one for his Iphone but without the Disney characters.  So, I made three.  The first one was too big, the second, too small and the third, mostly just right.  I gave him that one for Christmas.  And here it is:

I used the same lightweight denim that I used on my hubby's but the lining is white Kona cotton.  I embroidered the flap with his initials in a "manly" font, lol.  There is velcro sewn onto the flap and the case to keep it closed.

This is the back of the case.  See the fabric belt loop?  You slide your belt through all your pants loops except the last one, then you slide the phone case onto the belt then put the belt through the last loop on your pants.  This holds your phone right next to your body, it won't fall out if you bend over, it's more comfortable than it would be in your pants pocket and you don't have to put it in your shirt pocket - which drags your shirt pocket down.  It's the perfect solution.  Also, it's not going to fall out and into the toilet - yuck!

My FIL wears a lot of denim so this will practically blend in with his clothing.

Here is a pic of the velcro on  the case and inside flap.  I used a stiff interfacing between the layer of cotton and denim to help it hold it's shape.  I didn't use that on my hubby's and his has gotten a bit "slouchy".

This is how his phone would look inside the case.  He has this same phone and otter box.  This is a great handmade gift for a guy.  I'm about to make my husband another one using up some of the UT Austin scraps I had leftover from his pillowcase.

And my last little handmade was some potholders.  My MIL said she didn't want anything for Christmas and she was very adamant about it.  But I don't like for her to have nothing.  It just doesn't seem right.  So at the very last minute (meaning the night before and the morning of), I made her some potholders out of my 30's reproduction mini charm pack from Moda.  I LOVE those mini charms.

I'm not going to ramble on about how to make these because there are about a million tutorials online if you don't know.  Plus a lot of quilting blogs did a tut on these for Christmas.

So, I'll just show pics.  :)  Everyone needs new potholders right?  I know I do.  Mine all look like crap.  All burned and stained.  So sad.

Backside of potholders.

Cute retro fabric.

There you have it folks.  I'll stop rambling now.  I still have 2 quilty finishes to share so be sure and come back to see.  You can follow my blog with bloglovin (button at the top on the left) or with Google (on right side bar).

Swap Gifts

Guess what I'm doing right now? I'm sitting at my dining room table, watching it snow! I know the people in colder states are wishing it would stop snowing but this is really exciting and unusual for East Texas. We may even be able to make snowballs by this afternoon. There's a chance we'll get up to 4 inches. My son was so excited this morning to wake up to snow. Unfortunately, it's not enough yet to cancel school but I told him maybe they would get to go play in it this afternoon during recess. And there's always a chance of a snow day tomorrow.

So anyhoo, I participated in 2 gift swaps in January through my team, Etsy Texas Crafters. One was a Winter Blues swap where we had to use the color blue in the item that we made. The other was an "I made it with leftovers" swap, where we had to use leftover scraps of some kind to make our gift.

My swap partners for the Winter Blues swap was Duane and Ben from MoltenGecko and Surfbunny. I was so excited to get Duane and Ben for my partners because they seem like really cool guys. Since they like to read, I made them 4 bookmarks - 2 beaded ones with blue beads and 2 long ribbon ones with blue ribbon. And they sent me this awesome suncatcher: I love it! I'm going to hang it in my dining room window.

For the "leftovers" swap, my partner was Monica from theIDConnection. She made me this sweet, pink earring and necklace set as well as an ID badge holder. She also sent me a vintage tea cup set which I loved!
I do have pictures of the gift I sent Monica. I made her 3 potholders from leftover scrap fabric. The orange and blue fabric is leftover from skirts I made myself last year and the blue/white fabric is leftover from valances I made for my son's room.
It was the first time I had ever done any piecework and I was excited about how it turned out. I didn't use any kind of pattern, just kind of winged it. I want to start doing more of this kind of stuff, maybe make some pillows for my etsy shop. I've had this idea in my head for awhile and I just need to get it out. :)
Even the Insul-bright that I used inside the potholders was leftover from when I made potholders for my mom and MIL last Mother's Day. So, I think I did pretty good with the leftover idea. :)

Oh, and the bathroom is finished. I'll get pics posted soon! It looks so pretty!

What I gave for Mother's Day!

As you know, I've been working on my sewing skills lately. I wanted to make my mother and my mother in law something handmade for Mother's day, so I chose to make them potholders. Something pretty and useful.

I found this pretty bird fabric at Hancock's Fabric that was white with black birds. I decided to applique a bird on the front in a turquoise color to give it a POP. Plus, I LOVE this turquoise color, though I'm never sure if I should call it turquoise or aqua. This one actually looks more Tiffany blue to me.

I think the finished product was pretty good although not perfect. My machine HATES sewing on seam binding for some reason. It completely freezes up. Is that just because my machine is cheap and crappy? Or because it's about to die? Or do all machines hate sewing on seam binding? I just don't know. But the binding that I sewed around the edges didn't come out like I had hoped.

I drew the bird out myself and hand stitched around it (after using fusible bonding). My hubby suggested using the red thread which I think was a GREAT idea.

I used two layers of Insul bright inside the potholders. I'm hoping this will help keep the heat off the hands. I have some handmade potholders that I think the maker just used batting in. They are not good for lifting hot pans out of the oven - and after all, isn't that their intended purpose?

The last picture shows the "plain" potholders that I made to go with the appliqued one. So each mom got one birdie and one plain potholder. I like the way I did the "plain" ones. I think it worked out well and my machine liked sewing them better since there was only seam binding on one side.

Sorry my pics are a little fuzzy. They looked fine on my camera but when I uploaded them, they were fuzzy. Weird.

My MIL liked her gift but I haven't given my mom her's yet. She's a much better seamstress than me so I'm sure she'll be able to catch all the flaws. But at least they are made with love (not mass produced in China).

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out in ciber world. We have the hardest but most rewarding job on the planet.