Christmas Sewing Completed

 Though yesterday was grey it wasn't depressing. The high got to 3.6C and the wind blew from the NE. This morning it was 2C and the high is to get to 3C with a chance of flurries or showers. 

Lifestyle

Though I was tired and sore from Wednesday's cleaning, I pushed myself to finish the rest of the upstairs. It was slower going has I had to rest more frequently. But I got it done before lunch and sat for 20 minutes and admired how nice it looks. 

I did launder the red blankets in the living room which adds to the Christmas look. They will be put away in the Christmas stuff when I find new ones for the couches. I'm hoping to find something in navy blue or light grey. I may even knit an afghan to snuggle under. I do have a pattern I'd love to knit. A friend gave it to me years ago when I lived in Ashcroft. 

Sewing

I headed downstairs after lunch and finished the gift bag. I am pleased with how it turned out for the first try. 

A few changes for next time. The bag is perfect up to the putting it together. That is where the tweaking will begin. 

    1. Turn the outer fabric under 1/2" and baste in place (I did that with this one and perfect. I pinned the handles in place before basting. 

    2. Turn the lining fabric under 5/8" and baste in place. This makes the lining just a tiny bit shorter and it fits perfectly inside the bag. I only turned under 1/2" as called for. 

    3. Baste both layers together at the top as this bag is tiny and the pins poked me as I sewed it together. It will also keep both edges from slipping up or down from each other. 

    4. Top stitch close to the edge and 1/4" away. I did that and loved how it looks.  

One thing I did was fold the bottom of the bag as shown in the tutorial before I marked where I wanted the centre of the stitching to be. After stitching I used Shir-Tailor interfacing (Pellon 950F) on both the outer and lining fabrics. It gave it the body to stand up. I will be making this bag again in this and the other sizes. 

As I was on a high from bag success, I sewed the buttons on the last 4 towel toppers plus mine. 

Mine is now hanging on my stove and I love it. No picture of it done as I hurried upstairs so I could use. 
Knitting

I am now officially done Christmas sewing and will start to clean the sewing room again. I need to clean off the cutting table and then move on to the design table. I'm looking forward to cleaning up the room after the marathon sewing spree I had. 

I got another 5" of knitting done last night and the stole is really growing in length. I've got 20" done and may stop at 30" though I'm thinking 35" in length. Once 30" is done, I will try it on the doll. I think it will be too short at 30".

Thoughts    

    I looked at yarn for an afghan for the living room and loved this one. This will be my one big purchase of yarn this year. 

    I am getting over not wanting any taupes in the house. I am finding as long as they are cool toned I will use them sparingly when decorating. I think having the house painted in a warm beige made me not want any taupes in the house. I'm slowly getting over it. 

Today

I need to grocery shop and then check on son to see if he needs any thing or help. I want to wrap presents today and then knit tonight. I may get over to see my neighbour if I have time. 

Until the next time....................................................................