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It's both the winter and the summer solstice! |
Therefore, in celebration of this upcoming 21st of December – which may
arguably be my favourite day of the year – let me wish my
down under readers a happy and safe summer, while I offer a "stay warm"
message to those of us in the northern hemisphere who will be marking the
winter solstice.
Regardless of weather, this time of year is still the thick of the holiday season. If you're in a bind for last minute stocking stuffers or small gifts, today I'm going to highlight some past projects that would be appropriate for a quick, last minute sew... with an eye for the differences in temperature.
Yeah, nothing really new here today, apart from my words. If you're short on
time, you can run along... although you'll miss out on my
third last regular blog post! ʘ‿ʘ
In the latter part of August, hubby took part in a show and shine with his
muscle car. Unfortunately, it took place on a concrete parking lot at the
big mall on a 27 degree (Celsius) day. While a few small trees lining the
boulevard that separated the parking lot from the adjacent sidewalk provided
some shade, there was no real respite from the heat. He took along
his icy cool neck wrap and when he put it on, apparently it became as much a
point of conversation as his car. (Which didn't exactly thrill him — LOL!)
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| An indispensable item to have in the summer... |
If I had made extras, he could have sold them that day. Which is why I'm
taking this opportunity to draw this project to your attention. I'm usually
not one to recommend making things for sale, because (as I said
last week) unless you're really good at marketing yourself, it's not likely to be a
worthwhile effort. However, this thing – especially when able to be shown off
at an outdoor event such as a car show – just might sell itself.
In looking through my archives, it's clear that I have more projects aimed at
staying warm than cooling down. However, there are a couple of clothing
related ones that are appropriate for summer. The first is the
quick sew crop top
that I came up with in 2017 to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.
This was made with a single Spoonflower fat quarter of my own
design, but you can apply the simple technique to any knit fabric you have on
hand.
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| A more "mature" take on the crop top... |
I am, of course, suggesting it as part of this modest layered look for summer
if you're beyond the age of exposing your navel to the world. 😜
The second summery project that I made very early on in this sewing journey
was
this sun hat
from a pattern by Lorenna Buck that I found on Craftsy. (You can still find it easily online by searching for
lorenna buck sun hat.)
Coincidentally enough, she states that she first made this for her mom for
Mother's Day and then made another for herself. In my case, it was the
opposite. I made this first one for me and then another for my mother for
her birthday.
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| My summery sun hat... |
I remember being approached by a beach vendor who wanted to sell me a straw
hat on one of my subsequent Mexico trips. I took this out of my bag and showed
it to him, demonstrating that I could crunch it up with no issues. ᕙ(`▽´)ᕗ
I'm still not much of a hat wearer, but this one does the trick when I need
one, and yes, it travels well.
For those who will be shivering under the wrath of winter, my recommendation is these fleece mittens. During this past summer, I took the time to make three new pairs; one for me, one for hubby and one for Mom.
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| Three new pairs of soft pile-lined fleece mittens... |
The exterior of each pair can be made out of one of Spoonflower's
fleece fat quarters (30" x 18"), if you're looking to make this out of new
fabric. The two identical pairs shown here are made out of my
Maple Leaf on Black (Medium)
in Polartec® fleece. When purchased on sale at 50% off – although it's
questionable whether that level of discount will ever be offered in future, since the last
two sales were only 40% off – it's a decent buy at $8.50 for each FQ, plus
shipping.
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| These can be worn with the ends turned out or not... |
That said, if you're looking for a more sustainable option, you can
repurpose a fleece scarf for the exterior of these mittens. As I wrote a
long time ago, we all likely have
fleece scarves that we no longer wear. Most are long enough to accommodate this pattern.
For the lining, you may be able to find something in your household or
thrift shop to repurpose like I did.
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| Got a blanket like this that you don't use anymore? |
My linings came from a small blanket that had pile on one side and black
faux fur on the other (similar to the one shown above). The blanket was
sized for a child and had never found any real use in our household, so it
was a successful repurposing. Some of the faux fur got paired with more of
the maple leaf fabric to become a scarf for hubby.
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| Faux fur and fleece scarf... |
I first made these mittens about three years ago, using my
Luminescent Ocean Dreams
minky fabric and some of the leftover sherpa-like material from my
refashioned vest. (The free pattern comes from Helen Spencer at
Hellosewing.com. Search for free mitten pattern hellowsewing and you'll find it).
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| My original pair in minky... |
This time, I made them all in the large size so that there's room for all of
us to wear an additional pair of knit gloves underneath for extra warmth. [A
bit of advice about the pattern if you want to make this: pin the top and
bottom part of the two palm templates together and compare it to the single
back template before you commit to cutting any fabric. I found that they
didn't match in length.]
If you're looking for even quicker projects, how about these socks turned into hand warmers? I've been wearing these again since late October and they really do an amazing job of keeping my hands comfy and cozy while at the keyboard.
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| Turn old socks into handwarmers... |
I will say, however, that someone in your actual household might welcome these
more than others. After all, this would be a gift of old socks. (¬‿¬)
On that note, happy summer/winter solstice, everyone!
'Til next...
'Til next...
Hi Rochelle, I love that your neck cooler has those tiny reusable ice cubes in them! So much easier than the gel crystals soaked in water in the fridge. But for this cold season I’m thinking a nice filling of rice to warm up in the microwave would be fun! The socks to gloves is just what I need for driving - my steering wheel is ice cold even with a dollar tree cover on it! I need my fingers free to access the touch feature of my phone to use the GPS. What fun things to sew - I love functional! Marie
ReplyDeleteI love functional too. Just make sure that if you're going to make one of those microwave rice thingies, to use cotton thread and fabric... don't want it to catch fire! Oh, and I'm one of the lucky ones who has a heat function on my steering wheel. (Truly an embarrassment of riches!)
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