handmade gifts for christmas and celebrations 2011

cuddles123

Latest Mug Cosy for my football mad nephew, so knitted in his team colours.

Thanks for the help re orange wool

wammy77

youngoldlady/housewifeintraining/dizzytina/diddly74/Pootleflump - thank you all for the comments re: sewing machines I've been following it closely!!!

I've been looking to get one for ages now... was never sure what to get (so many to choose from!!!). Have picked the one I'd like - hubby has said he'll get it for my birthday - I'm so excited :j !!!!!!

Looking forward to making some sock monkeys for my little ones

charlies-aunt

Just a quick question - what is the best time of year for cutting willow branches etc to make HM Christmas wreaths? I haven't done before and wondered when its best to pick the branches?

Also would I need permission to take these from trees growing wild? - there are hundreds of willow trees growing on a large local area of uncultivated marshland - I only want to take a small amount - enough to make 3 or 4 wreaths - not strip whole trees!

qwiksave

charlies-aunt wrote: »

Just a quick question - what is the best time of year for cutting willow branches etc to make HM Christmas wreaths? I haven't done before and wondered when its best to pick the branches?

Also would I need permission to take these from trees growing wild? - there are hundreds of willow trees growing on a large local area of uncultivated marshland - I only want to take a small amount - enough to make 3 or 4 wreaths - not strip whole trees!

If nobody here knows the answer to your question, maybe you could try asking in the Greenfingered MoneySaving Board section of MSE here.

housewifeintraining

Just finished making a drawstring backpack for my swimming trip with my little man next week. I'm quite pleased with it and it didn't take too long (much longer than it would have taken a more seasoned sewer I'm sure) so think I'll be making some of those for our nieces and nephews.

housewifeintraining

So looking for a new little project and thought maybe I would try and make myself one of these handbags http://www.made-by-rae.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern.html and if it turns out well I can make another for sisters birthday

My question is - what type of fabric do I need for the actual bag?

esmer

any Quilters? I really want to make one for when DD gets her big bed. She is in her cot bed just now, and want to get her a single bed for late summer, so I really wanted to make a lovely quilt for her bed. Never quilted before, so any help, turorials would be appreciated.

thats a lovely bag housewife..... have you got photos of the bag you made for swimming?

PootleFlump_3

housewifeintraining wrote: »

So looking for a new little project and thought maybe I would try and make myself one of these handbags http://www.made-by-rae.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern.html and if it turns out well I can make another for sisters birthday

My question is - what type of fabric do I need for the actual bag?

You can pretty much use whatever type of fabric you like. Cotton will work fine providing you use a medium weight interfacing with it or upholstery fabric will be fine too. For your lining you can either use proper lining fabric or just use cotton. The only thing I would say is that this bag is quite small once finished. There is an adapted version of this on crafster (I think its crafter anyway) which is a bit bigger. This is a similar style which I made but preferred to the butterfly bag as its much bigger and has internal pockets. The link for the tutorial is on my blog. x

craftygranny

I have the alison howard one on order from amazon and the shelf i keep them on is right by the scanner so i'm sure they may fall on it at any page you want.lol said delivery between 25th and 27th .
I also have the same one on order as ct has.

cuddles123 wrote: »

Hi Caroline,

I know exactly what you mean.
My blue Mug Cosy is almost as wide as the mug, and I was going to make the second one a few stitches narrower, but the wool was slightly thinner and knit up smaller.

Which book do you have? Is it the Alison Howard one? I am after some patterns from that one and tried to get it from the Library, but it was going to be £2.50, so I may buy the book. Is it worth it?

I have posted the pattern for the Cable Mug Cosy on the Knitters Thread if you want it

craftygranny

cuddles123 wrote: »

Latest Mug Cosy for my football mad nephew, so knitted in his team colours.

Thanks for the help re orange wool

oooh love this one.