See You Next Year

I appreciate the fact that most of you have taken down your Christmas decorations. But I took the gracious words, "finish at your leisure" quite literally on my last custom order. Thankfully the client knew I needed to spend some time with my family during the holiday rush and let me finish the stocking for the pets in their family when I could get to it.


Lucky for her, that meant I scored some velvet and Christmas prints at rock-bottom prices. And with the spare time I always seem to have on Christmas day -- when all the house is playing with its new toys -- I chose to adorn this last stocking with hand beading. See, good things DO come to those who wait.


PS -- The Pièce de résistance of this project is the lining. It is little cat angels adorned in Christmas gowns. What good hunting dog wouldn't want that in their stocking?!?!?!

Seasonally Appropriate: Christmas Stockings

I just finished a custom order for Christmas stockings. They'll be heading to Texas tomorrow. But I think I'm going to miss them. This unique project required that I use existing needlepoint stockings -- much like you might buy from Land's End or Horchow. They were rather small, so I needed to extend them while still making the needlepoint look like a natural part of the stockings. Or rather, make the addition look like part of the original stocking.

I also knew the client wanted to class up her stockings. Needlepoint stockings are classic, but I knew she wanted something with pow. Hope these are what she had in mind...







Notable notions:
vintage buckle
interior design trim that was priced $8/yard. (that's much more expensive, higher-quality than I am accustomed working with)
handmade button "believe"
stretch velvet -- to accommodate big stocking stuffers
microfiber suede, leather look

Custom Order: The Flower Girl's Flower Girl

One of my recent custom sewing orders was to create a flower girl dress for the flower girl's American Girl doll. I had a picture and a fabric swatch (for matching the color) and that's it. Was a fun project. And it's actually a really cute gift for the bride to give the flower girls. Good idea.
PS -- I also made the matching headband (pictured) for the flower girl. David's Bridal couldn't get it done in time. Imagine!?!?!?

Glass Act

I only made the one up front with the word GROW etched into the glass. This craft day was organized by my neighbor Kate -- she has the funnest ideas!

I made two other things, that will not be pictured here, as they are now part of my clandestine preparations for gift giving.