christmas crafts

it took me almost a whole month post-holiday, but i finally finished making all the xmas gifts i needed to make. here are some highlights.

jason wanted a tree pillow like the one i made myself a few months ago, so i did basically the same thing, just with different styling around the edge and a different fabric on the back.

laura sent me a pic of an old navy bag she liked, so i made her a custom one with her favorite colors.

diamonds are a pain in the ass shape! i don’t like them! they look simple but they’re very tricky! i could have simplified my life by printing out a diamond shape to use as a pattern, but no, i had to cut them out freehand like a dumb idiot.

i inadvertently stumbled upon a pretty decent sock monkey hat design while trying to make a cap for laura’s miniature dachshund. rusty (the dachshund) has eye problems and always squints in the sunlight, so laura asked me to sew him a hat for protection. i took his measurements beforehand and did my damnedest to fashion a tiny cap, then i wanted to take a picture of it so i went to my room to find a stuffed animal and discovered that sarsaparilla (the sock monkey) was exactly the right size to model.

unfortunately while it's just the right size to shade a sock monkey's eyes, it doesn't quite cover a dog's. laura sent me a cell phone pic of rusty wearing the hat...

and his brother dexter being tortured with it.

i made a sock monkey for my cousin lauren. i like how the eyes turned out on this one.

after i took a picture of it laying in the snow this cute imprint was left:

i made a few things for my parents: huge, framed 11x14 prints of b&w portraits i took of the dogs, a photo calendar, and this mosaic frame i put together specifically for a photo i took of them riding their bikes in front of the cabin in mccall:

i made a bag for reed’s sister asta, with a big bisected nautilus shell design sewn on the front pocket:

finally, my favorite piece: a messenger bag for reed, embroidered with an illustration and lines from this amazingly beautiful poem he wrote me.

it reads “if you can share my carrots / i’ll carry your marigolds”. the whole thing took me about 12-13 hours to finish, once i moved out of the never-ending development and design stage and finally began construction. i severely pricked myself with pins at least four times in the process but luckily avoided bloodying the fabric. the obsession, the backbreaking labor, the massive injuries...they were all so worth it because he loves it.

i designed it so that the strap is easy to replace--it can be changed to any neck tie or belt or whathaveyou without adding any hardware or altering the tie/belt. and i even added a special inside pocket flap:

my sewing machine was pissed at me--first i made her pretend to be an embroidery machine, then i made her pretend to be a heavy-duty industrial machine and sew through up to eight layers of heavy cotton duck cloth at once. but my trusty fifty-year-old new home, she prevailed! with minimal thread jams and without catching flame! hooray!