Making some handmade gifts/decor this holiday season was good for my heart. I stretched myself and tried a few things I wasn’t really sure how to accomplish (thank GOD for YouTube). Here are some of the fun projects (and their tutorial links) I completed over the holidays.
First of all, I went a little yarn crazy. I had every intention to make blankets for pretty much every person we know but my steam ran out at blanket number six (I didn’t even take a picture of number six).
This basic granny square pattern was new to me – I was intimidated by it. Turns out, it is one of the easiest stitches in all of crochet-dom. This is the pattern I followed to get granny’ing.
The pom pom border on this blanket is my favorite. This tutorial was my FAVORITE (plus, her accent is charming).
This blanket’s starburst pattern and scalloped edges were so fun to put together. This is the pattern I followed.
This hexagon pattern was the most challenging blanket I’ve done – I’m glad it was just a little baby sized guy. The tutorial I watched to make the hexagons can be found here.
My friend Megan and I went to Boise’s Wintry Market this year and walked away feeling totally inspired to bust out the sewing machines and start making some handmade gifts for our kiddos.
I ended up stitching together these sleeping bags for Ivy’s buddies. She carries around two Doc McStuffins dolls (Big Doc and Tiny) as well as a host of other tiny figurines. She also really enjoys wrapping all of them up in blankets. I thought she would really like this idea; she has shown zero interest in them. Oh well. I liked this project. This is the tutorial I watched.
While I had my sewing machine set up, I decided to go the handmade route for a gift for my MIL.
This apron was really, really easy to put together (as most aprons probably are…don’t judge me). I wanted something that was lined and adjustable. Low and behold, CraftyCaroline was standing at the ready to teach me how to whip this puppy up (watch the tutorial here). The best part of this project was picking out the fabric – chambray, muslin, and that sweet floral pattern.
The following was inspired by a pattern I saw on Etsy. Here is the inspiration image (and a link to the pattern):
Here is my best “I’m too cheap to buy the pattern” attempt:
I also wanted to crank out some stockings for our family. “It’ll be easy,” someone said. So easy, I thought, that I wouldn’t need a pattern. Thank goodness I bought more fabric than I needed because I had to start over numerous times; I also became very proficient with my seam ripper.
They turned out alright. Here is the tutorial!
This felty garland kept catching my eye on Pinterest so I gave it a shot. Cutting out those leaves took me and my tired hands about three hours. Worth it. This lady tells you how to get the job done.
These projects were an excellent outlet for some of my crazy this year. I don’t know that I’ll be picking up any crochet hooks or stomping on any sewing pedals anytime soon but at least we (the hooks and the pedals and I) had a couple months together.
-Layne