All the homemade Christmas people over here please, lets share our ideas :) - SECOND EDITION :)

[BabyDubsEverywhere]

OLD THREAD

We were all on about pinterest, jars, and where we are up to in our christmas planning :)

Lets go...

Try this one, I didn't use one tbh but I make that many crayon rolls (to sell) that I just figured it out myself :o

firework, just hold both threads and the fabric as you guide it through. it will stop the thread shooting back and unthreading!

Really do you think that will work? Any ideas why it's started doing it?

Thanks! Where do you sell them because it'd be so much better for me to buy them

RueDe I love your car cozie, and funnily enough I just winged it to make mine too and it turned out very similar! I found some lovely vehicle fabric in John Lewis that was perfect for it, and then used the fabric from some old black cords of DS to make a black road, and had some yellow fabric to make the lines in the middle of the road. DS is very pleased with it (doh, I should have kept it for a christmas present for him though, sloppy error there)

Firework - is the needle the right way round? (Flat bit towards the back.) Also, hold the needle up to a light and check whether the eye of it is straight - I had a pack where they were all a bit skewed, and had horrendous problems with needles unthreading/thread breaking etc. Drove me further round the twist!

Mogs - I mostly sell at local playgroups and school/craft fairs etc but have a FB page too that I take orders for various stuff through, it ticks along well enough :o

I have been watching this thread for ages - you are all so inspirational! Your lucky friends and family having so many fab gifts coming their way.

I am going to try and adapt the car roll idea into a train one (for train-mad DS), has anyone else done this? Also planning to male a rag doll for DD (she's one on 23rd Dec). You have all given me the confidence to dust off the sewing kit! Thank you!

I've not made a train roll, but it would be easy enough to do - only thing would be I think you'd need to pleat the pockets, to make them roomy enough to hold the trains. You could do that by making the pocket fabric wider than the backing, then mark carefully - eg 4" on the pocket fabric but 3" on the backing, then sew the vertical lines first, make and pin a fold in the fabric to make the pleat, then sew along the bottom. And definitely reinforce them by sewing a couple of vertical lines for each line, otherwise it might be too weak.

(Does that make sense? :o)

RueDeWakening - no idea, it's a second hand machine so it was already done but will check thanks

Right i'm about to attempt GLAM!

or just theonewhoeatsitstraightoutthepot

Ok attempted it, and have it in jars, but my jars are still popping on the safety button :( i cannot get the buggers to seal, even tho they are filled to the brim, very hot jars, very hot jam. :(

I thought you had to fill them with hot jam, put the lids on then WAIT. As the jam cools it contracts and pulls the button in.

Doesn't it?

They are now not popping, seconds after i posted my last comment Yay!! Now they'll stay good till christmas now won't they?

Yes Trills you were right I was being impatient!! :)

Started making a DS cover for DC1 today out of a scrap of denim and some felt. He hates the cheap cover that came with his DS. Anyone else made one and if so any tips?

Well I have finished my first sewing project, a door stop

Thanks for the tip about holding into the thread

Ooh - post a pic up please love and glad you won the battle with the top thread :)

I made two of my Christmas cakes today, a bit late in the year, but I did have a few weeks off of normal life when my step dad had a brain haemorrhage, so I am going easier on my plans and probably focusing on food only now, with small bought gifts.

Going to have a shot later in the week at making some royal iced santas, have seen them for sale somewhere and reckon I could have a shot and if it goes badly then buy them.

Also had an idea to take my third cake, slice it, then ice it in slices onto small cake boards with a sort of penguin fishing off the side of an iceberg theme. A lot of people don't eat a whole lot of fruit cake, so it would be a good way of doing mini portions. Do you think it would work?

Flubba - will do tomorrow got to get the camera out and wait for the best light

Any suggestions as to what I should do with about a million leftover, green, buttons? I seem to have bought too many and am left with loads the same size. I have made 14 Christmas trees and 3 wreaths so far but the wreaths take me ages and it was really hard to finish off when using wire.

All ideas welcome!

Me me me me I know! Get a plain tshirt/similar top. Sew buttons onto it in the shape of a Christmas tree. Present it to random offspring (and make them wear it :o) on Christmas day!

Simples :o

I've actually just appliqued a couple of tshirts with Xmas tree shapes and sewed buttons onto the branches to be the baubles, it looks surprisingly good! Planning on reindeer antlers made of brown fleece on my next one...

Oh my goodness, that's brilliant! Every year, I spend far too many hours searching for a suitable Christmas jumper for my ds. This year he is turning into a grumpy old man more reluctant to indulge my love of a good Christmas jumper and is refusing to let me get him one...making my own will just make his Christmas...I just know it .

Also, a couple of friends and I are running a Christmas jumper competition this year - I wonder if I could use them for this project.

I probably should have added to my op that I am making things to sell at various craft fairs. The first one is on Thursday so I'm a little bit short of time .

If you're sewing the buttons by hand, take the project with you to the craft fair - people always like to have a nosy at something you're working on, plus it means you're not sitting around looking sad lonely like you're waiting for customers but have something to concentrate on.

Oh my. I have to read this entire thread and the previous thread, but not at this time of night! Marking my place!

And my pinterest link is : pinterest.com/singingsands/christmas/