Scuff's Year of Gifting Homemade

Katiehound

Hello Mysk your bag looks great.......just what I'd like on a dull dark day like today.

I have a nice roll bag pattern somewhere!!
Very easy as it's a long rectangle and you sew the zip in before you put the circular ends on. I can't find any picture that resembles is (roll bags seem to mean has wheels!!) But it is like a duffle bag turned on its side with long shoulder straps. I made one in thin nylon and it goes every where and holds a lot. If anyone wants the pattern I can hunt for it and write it out (imperial measures 'though.)

Little standard shopping bags are popular with small children. They can carry their own book/ toy etc.

Another well received gift is a cook's apron. Last year I got some new Christmas curtaining from a car boot sale for peanuts. I made a load of aprons covered with Christmas trees- great fun. In the past I have made them from other curtaining- good quality curtains usually wash and wear for ever if you choose cotton.
Finished size is : W:27" or 69cms (half the width of the material)
L: 30" or 76 cms
Basically a rectangle with curve at armhole, bib is 8 & half"/21cms at top. I used an existing apron as pattern but you could experiment with newspaper first. The strings were new shoe laces - sewn to be double width- oh & free!

mysk_girl

The bag is easy to sew, the cutting of the pieces I found was the hardest bit, getting them square, but the making instructions in the blog are easy to follow.

The fabric is by Amy Butler, the Soul Blossoms range - I had a jelly roll which is 40 x 2.5" wide strips, one of each fabric in the range - I sewed them together along the long edges and then cut my pieces out of the large piece I created, so they are sort of patchwork. I'm going to do the same patchwork for the next one, but dithering about fabric.

Thanks for all your comments! The recipient loved it as well :-)

Peanut, if you have a sewing machine I would just jump in and try - the tricks to getting things straight I sort of just picked up by making mistakes! But, as ever, YouTube is a brilliant resource :-) I've had a sewing machine for years, Mum bought me one when I bought my first house (that and a piano are her idea of essentials for setting up house - we got the piano when our first child was born!), and I just started with curtains and cushions (all straight lines) and then moved into bags when I was bought a copy of The Bag Making Bible. Now I make all sorts of bits and pieces and have bought a posher machine, although my old one is still in good condition - I have a more powerful one now for stitching through thicker fabric. Things like bunting are good to start on, cushions as well - and basic patchwork.

islandgirl8

mysk_girl wrote: »

The bag is easy to sew, the cutting of the pieces I found was the hardest bit, getting them square, but the making instructions in the blog are easy to follow.

The fabric is by Amy Butler, the Soul Blossoms range - I had a jelly roll which is 40 x 2.5" wide strips, one of each fabric in the range - I sewed them together along the long edges and then cut my pieces out of the large piece I created, so they are sort of patchwork. I'm going to do the same patchwork for the next one, but dithering about fabric.

Thanks for all your comments! The recipient loved it as well :-)

Thank you! I love Amy Butler and I'm going to try this.

Scuff

I'm planning on making the chilli vodka for my stepdad, together with chilli jam and maybe chilli biscuits(?) but does anyone know whether I can get a bottle of vodka for less than £10 anywhere - I was relying on aldi but it's still £9 for 70cl. I don't drink vodka & thought it would be cheaper - maybe I'm just being a tightwad haha. Also a good place to get flip cap bottles ? (i don't know what they're called!!)

Katiehound

I don't think you will get Vodka much cheaper. That's about the price I paid in Lidl for vodka when I was making my Limoncello. Just looked on-line and there were some cheap cheap vodkas.....until I saw the delivery price! Forget it

mum2one

Katiehound wrote: »

I don't think you will get Vodka much cheaper. That's about the price I paid in Lidl for vodka when I was making my Limoncello. Just looked on-line and there were some cheap cheap vodkas.....until I saw the delivery price! Forget it

I cheated slightly when I make flavoured vodkas, either Home Bargains or Iceland do a Vodka shnapps about £5 for a bottle - the alcohol % is 22% compared to 37.5% for standard vodka, but by the time you added ingredients noone can taste the difference, xx

boredjellybean

I've finally got my list of who to craft for - hope you don't mind me sharing but I'm struggling with ideas

adults;
3 x sisters in law
1 x brother in law
hubby
brother
2 dads
2 mums
fathers day x 3
mothers day x 2
friend - female
friend - male
niece (26) I'm going to knit some leg warmers
niece (18)

children; (ages in brackets)
nieces (4) (9)
nephew (7)
friends girls (4) (11) (2) (5) (10)
friends boys (5) (4) (9)

then there's Easter - I'm thinking of knitting or crocheting some egg cozies to go with a kinder egg & maybe some cheap egg cups (the wooden ones can be quite good value & I could paint to suit each child)

Christmas is another matter lol

yikes it's quite a lot when written down !!!

nuttybabe

mum2one wrote: »

I cheated slightly when I make flavoured vodkas, either Home Bargains or Iceland do a Vodka shnapps about £5 for a bottle - the alcohol % is 22% compared to 37.5% for standard vodka, but by the time you added ingredients noone can taste the difference, xx

thats what i used when i made toffee vodka a few years ago (got some from netto) and it tasted much nicer than the one i made with real vodka.

nuttybabe

boredjellybean wrote: »

I've finally got my list of who to craft for - hope you don't mind me sharing but I'm struggling with ideas

adults;
3 x sisters in law - diary organiser (fabric with pockets to hold diary and notepads) i love mine and carry it everywhere and am giving a huge one to my sil that has a pocket for a project book as well as diary and notepad
1 x brother in law - flavoured vodka
hubby
brother - flavoured vodka
2 dads - gardening sets
2 mums - diary organiser
fathers day x 3
mothers day x 2
friend - female
friend - male
niece (26) I'm going to knit some leg warmers
niece (18)

children; (ages in brackets)
nieces (4) (9) bobbles (either crochet flowers or ribbon ones) for younger one, maybe jewellery making kit for elder
nephew (7) my 8 year old loves his crochet angry bird (maybe you could make the set)
friends girls (4) (11) (2) (5) (10) bobbles for younger 3, sewing a sock monkey set for 11 year old
friends boys (5) (4) (9) - huge crochet dinosaurs for younger 2. not sure about older one.

then there's Easter - I'm thinking of knitting or crocheting some egg cozies to go with a kinder egg & maybe some cheap egg cups (the wooden ones can be quite good value & I could paint to suit each child)

Christmas is another matter lol

yikes it's quite a lot when written down !!!

put a few ideas in bold. Hope they are useful x

Peanut2013

Nutty, do you have an image of the diary organiser? Sounds lovely but can't picture it