Little Christmas Slippies

I needed a quick little yarn gift, 

so I adapted a slipper pattern I had made myself 

and came up with some tiny little slippers.  

Perfect!  

This is for a pair of slippers that are 

4" long & approx. 2 1/4" at widest part of foot

using a size G hook.

Just like in socks/slippers, start a base row to fit your toe line.

You can adjust the amount of chains for your size needed.

Base Row (for toe line): Ch 3

(work in-round from now on)

1.) 2 sc's in 3rd ch of base row, 2 sc's in next ch, 5 sc's into 1st ch, 2 sc's in next, 3 sc's in next, sl st together.

2.) *sc in next 6 sc's, 3 sc's in next, * repeat again, sl st together.

Change color if desired & create the pattern you wish for the foot section in the next 8 rows.

3.) - 11.) sc around (18 sc total)

Change color if desired. (I changed to red)

To form heel area:

12.) - 18.) sc in next 9 sc's. Turn after each row. Sl St heel end together.

Change color. (I changed to pink)

19.) Hook into top of heel area and sc around. sl st together. Tie off & weave in end. 

You can continue on with a nice trim row, 

or make a pompom for the heel area, or continue on for a sock!   

The socks are perfect to tie one onto 

 the top of your gifts with a candy cane! 
 Or hung on the tree!
 

     

Christmas Skirts

I found this fabric last year at a cute quilt shop.  
I love these shops! The ones that actually take the time to keep the hues flowing throughout the store, while tucking the pretty eye-catching sets in cabinet displays.

  

 (Moda fabrics)

They remind me of Norwegian Holiday sets, and Christmas at my Grandma's.  I thought about making another set of the dresses.  They are perfect for the contrasting of pretty fabrics, but not so much for this time of year.  At least not here in the Northwest!

 
So bringing in the brightness of the fabrics, I thought about little Cindy Lou Who on The Grinch Movie...and twirly skirts took form!    

Now just to make a red tutu petticoat layer underneath for the perfect full twirl!

 I added a little red heart to one side of the skirt hem, 

and made a puffy red heart pin for the pocket!  

A few little trinkets for added cuteness! 

I'll do up a tutorial with what I did as I create the next one & post here!  

Happy Skirt-Twirlling Nieces!

Patchwork Skirt Fun!

I had a little time this past month to tuck into my fabric stash and came up with a few patchwork ideas to use up some of my favorite pieces, odds & ends, and crocheted adornments.

I started a crazy-patchwork quilt first, something for my husband and I to look back on with the "ohhh, remember that concert"  and "oh that fabric is from...".  A great memory quilt, if you will.  I'm not rushing thru it, but piecing it together with a slow progress so that I'm sure it turns out "just right".  

So in the meantime I got to thinking on the bright colorful pieces of fabrics that I have kept.  The cheery owls, scraps of pretty flowers...and all those fun things inside my basket.  

Searching "patchwork" came up with the basic tote bags, quilts, placemats...and oh, skirts!  Yet, the skirts were too basic for what I had in mind.  So I took up with the patchwork skirt idea, and added some major flair to it!

I am sooo happy with how it turned out!  

Lots of colors and very twirl-worthy!

I have a basket that I keep so many of my favorite buttons, sequins & beads, crochet trims and flowers...all the little things that I knew I was keeping for something special. 
 

 Evening time spent making lots of hooked flowers and trims paid off...with such a fun way to showcase some of my favorites!  

And patches created out of some fun fabrics, adorned with sequins and beads to really make them pop!

Now...how did I do it?  I will have to be more exact in the measurements with the next skirt, so for now you get the "gist" of what I did.  There are many tutorial's online for patchwork skirts if you need a more in-depth and detailed step-by-step process!

Ronna's Patchwork Skirt:
For the squares I cut out pieces 5"w & 7"t, with some smaller pieces in width but still the 7"t.
I took the waist measurement- in this case was 29" and added 4" to it for some gathering which made it = 33". 
So for the waistband I cut out a piece approx 6"wide and 33" long.  Sew it into a band (like you do for your waistbands) leaving an opening for the elastic to be inserted.
Next I began sewing the rectangles together into rows.  Starting with the first row, adding to it until it was about 5" wider than the waistband.  I then top-stitched between each rectangle, knowing it would be annoying to attempt so after all sewn together! Then I gathered the top of that first row and attached it to the waistband. (Sew this as you would any skirt/pants etc)  Then from there I just kept adding another 2 rectangles or so to each row to give it some gather/twirlyness! Repeating the gathering the top of the row and adding it to the bottom of the previously attached row.  Press & top stitch etc.   For the hem-band I pieced together fabrics in lengths, making sure that it was 7" tall once all pieced together.  This was so that I could fold it under, giving the underside a bit of a prettier look instead of the underside of fabric. 
Back to finish the waistband.  Instead of the basic elastic waist, I took a piece of elastic 8" long and to each end I added a piece of hooked yarn (For this I did a row of sc, with 2 colors for some added pop & thickness.).  Insert like elastic/ribbon thru the waistband and then finish the waistband hem. 
Next was the fun part!  Adding all the patches, trims, ribbons, sequins & beads, buttons, and crocheted flowers!   

Cold Feet

Warm Socks

I really do hate wearing socks...but I love all the bright yarns I've picked up lately.  

The little "leftover" balls have been piling up in my yarn basket, begging for something to be done.

 

 This time I took the time to jot down the rows as I did them, no going back and guessing later hehe!

 I started out boxing/ doing a heel...

but then pulled that back 

and now I am just hooking in a basic sock/tube sock form.  

I like the look much better.

A few more rows before I add the top ribbing cuff...

and then begin the next one!

Skirts Requested

 This past weekend was spent with a visit to see two of my nieces. 

I needed new measurements for both of them, 

so I had to smile when the oldest pulled out a paper with         

a drawing of angels & hearts for me to use.  

These little drawings always make me smile later on in the week when I go back to check on their measurements that I had written down.  I really need to make a quilted wall hanging out of all these little drawings and measurements!

The request this time was "SKIRTS!".  

I'm sorry, but to be exact it was "SKIRTS, not like one but like more than two!"  

Thankfully I had been sorting through my fabric stash and found quite a few yards that would work.  

Four down...a few more to go! 

 Their requests were "PUPCAKES!"  

"Yeah, cupcakes...wait no, OWLS!"

I was lucky enough to find both on one print.  

 I like to use my RO's tags to mark the back of the skirts for them.  It's also handy to leave a little opening into the elastic waistband area, so you can adjust the size of the elastic as they grow! 

A little applique and it's a cute outfit! 

You don't really need a pattern to create these type of skirts.  

There are so many tutorials, youtube video's, or DIY links online to help you out. 

What do I do? 

Here are the basics:

1. Measure their waist & from waist to knee. 

2. Cut out your pieces, making sure you add for your seam allowances, hems etc. I cut-out on the fold of the fabric, using the full width of the fabric.  So far for my nieces sizes, this fits perfect.  (this also gives you only one side seam to sew up).  The waistband piece I cut out 2- 3" wider than their waist, width depends on your taste for the skirt!

3. Sew the hem first. I usually double this piece/fold in half so that it shows the "right side" on the underside of the skirt a bit.  Very cute for the girls who like to twirl!

4. Do a french seam up the side seam.

5. Sew the waistband into a circle, leaving a small opening for the size of your elastic.   Gather the top of the skirt and pin along one edge of the waistband (checking to make sure that the hole for the elastic insertion is on the correct side).

6. Sew skirt to waistband.  Trim, press the seams, all that stuff.  Fold under the top of the waistband, fold in half and press again.  Sew up your waistband.  

7. Insert your elastic into the hole you left.  

8. There you made a skirt!

Hoot Hoot!!

Who gets a craft idea from a Hooter's commerical?

This Auntie does!

If you've seen the Hooters commercial with  Jon Gruden, 

then you will know what I'm talking about.  

The cute little angel/devil owls.  

I thought they would be oh so cute out of brighter colors

...add two of my nieces 

and it would be a great afternoon craft-time project! 

I cut out the shapes and created some templates.

 

 I then cut out the shapes using basic felt.  

They had a lot of fun creating their own owls.

 Owl cuteness!

This one I cut out as one of the chubby cute little guys

and added some basic embroidery floss stitching.

Add a little heart to the bottom back (tail area)

and it's owl fingerpuppet time!