Ruffled Christmas Trees

I saw the most adorable project on Lori's blog last week. Original directions were from a new-to-me blog called Shanty2Chic (she makes CUTE STUFF!) I decided to make a couple sets for hostess gifts. I even splurged for the ruffler attachment for my Bernina; $100! (ouch) but I've been wanting it for a long time. Hopefully, I'll get more use out of it than these 6 trees. I had the fabric in my stash - someone gifted me a huge box of Christmas fabrics years ago (I'm sad that I don't remember who it was). Here are the two sets:

Fabric measurements:
Each strip is 1 1/2" x 45" (i.e. the width of the fabric)
Large tree took 8 strips, or 1/3 yard
Medium tree took 6 strips or 1/4 yard
Small tree took 4 strips or just under 1/4 yard

For the base, I used a wooden candle holder glued to a circle base (for stability) that were both painted a cream color. Instead of the finial at the top, I used wooden star shapes that I painted with a shimmery gold paint.

Other than the annoying hot glue blister on my thumb (5 days later and it's still here), this was a fun project that turned out cute!

Fast and Slow Projects

11/8/10 Edited to add - I just looked up the post regarding the muslin I made for this coat and it was THREE years ago, not two. LOL. I cringe at the photo of me. Even though I would like to lose some weight now, that picture of me was when I was going through my divorce. I had lost a lot of weight - not a good diet, let me tell ya!



I finished two items this weekend. My slow item is a coat that I planned on making two years ago for a sew-along. In autumn 2008, I purchased the fabric, joined the sewalong blog, read the tips in the blog, and that was it. In autumn 2009, I cut the coat out, interfaced all the pieces and let it sit in a basket. In late winter 2010, I sewed it all together. All I had left to do was hand sew the lining and make the buttonholes. Why I waited so long I'm not sure except that I was sick of looking at it and didn't think I would wear it much. Plus winter was almost over. Well, I finished it this weekend and now it's ready to go, although I suspect I will redo the closure. I was hesitant to make buttonholes in the multiple layers of thick fabric so I tried the ole fake buttons with snaps. I don't like it. I may try to find a local tailor / seamstress who has an industrial machine that I can pay to make the buttonholes.

The pattern is Vogue 8346, View B. Fabric is from Gorgeous Fabrics. It's one of her flannel coatings, similar to this although that's not the same color as mine. I lined it with a brown / pink polka dot poly lining purchased from JoAnn's.

My fast project (3-4 hours over the past week) is a cowl to wear with the coat. I had a pretty skein of yarn (di Ve Teseo, wool/microfiber) that wasn't long enough for a scarf so I opted for a cowl. The pattern is simply a 2x2 basketweave with 3 buttonholes at the end. The photo on the right shows the cowl flat although the colors are off. The colors are true in the photo on the left. I didn't bother to block it because it will be all scrunched up on my neck so it looks a little wonky when it lays flat.