|
|
Holiday sewing ideas you may have missed... |
As some of you may know, I pulled back from blogging on a weekly basis because there were
increasingly fewer things to write about. A year later, nothing has changed
in that sense. Even though I check YouTube
less frequently than before, I don't find more content to inspire
whenever I do visit. Even the newer channels that I follow are running out of
fresh ideas. (Oh, and I don't know if some of you are encountering the same thing,
but increasingly, crafters aren't showing their finished items until the very
end of their videos. I find it irksome to have to fast forward to the end just
to see if I want to see it. It seems incredibly presumptuous to assume that viewers will commit to watching something without knowing what "it" is.)
Anyway, it was with great excitement that a couple of weeks ago, I unexpectedly
came across a source of freebie projects that were new to me.
Where was this? It was at Moda Fabrics, a company that actually celebrated their fiftieth anniversary a few months
ago. If you go to their website (modafabrics.com), you can find these projects
and more under Inspiration + Resources, Free Patterns.
Moda's business is first and foremost about selling fabrics, and the way to sell more fabrics is to provide a plethora of quilting projects to entice your customer base. (At least, that's my take on it.) Therefore, the free projects available here are heavily skewed towards quilts.
If you're a quilting person, that's wonderful. As for me, I'm forever looking
for non-quilting projects. In that vein, I was also pleasantly surprised to
find several that can be filed under the category of Christmas or holiday
sewing, apropos for the time of year... hence the additional blog post.
First up is this collection called Christmas Faire by
Cathe Holden. (For those of you whose French is a little rusty, the name is a take on the
verb, to do. Clever.) The collection looks to be only about a year old.
|
| Christmas Faire by Cathe Holden for Moda Fabrics... |
Visually, you can identify two of the projects immediately: a wine bottle
holder and a mini Christmas tree. The third project that may not be as easily
discernible is a bowl. On the surface of it, none are new or different, but I
certainly like how the bottle bag – which is reversible – has a square base.
The Christmas tree is yet another take on a stuffed tree – this time, simply
cone shaped – but look at how it's decorated with fabric covered buttons... an
opportunity to upcycle and use scraps.
|
| Fabric bowl... |
As for the bowl, it's pieced together around an octagonal base, using a
technique that's similar to how I've done my own
3D fabric pieced projects.
The 8 page PDF contains instructions for each project as well as the
templates.
Another holiday themed project that I came across was this large wall hanging
advent calendar, designed by Alexia Marcelle Abegg. Again, sewn advent calendars are hardly new, but if you've ever wanted to
make one, this is as good an option to start with as any.
|
| Advent calendar and tree ornaments... |
The bonus part is that this pattern comes with instructions for making
different shaped ornaments that are perfect for scrap busting. All required
templates (such as for the numbers and the various shaped ornaments) are
included in the 7 page PDF.
This last pattern is totally fun and definitely different. If you have a crafty young lady on your list, this would be a wonderful handmade gift to pass along. You might even use it to introduce her to sewing.
Welcome to Flats world!
|
| Angela Yosten's flat house... |
The project is a fold-out house/room for flat dolls. (If you're thinking that
it reminds you of paper dolls, that's exactly the whole point.) Folded up and
carried as shown above, you see the front of the house, with door, windows
and assorted planters appliqued on it. (The back side is just plain, but you
could totally add your own elements.)
|
| Inside the flat house... |
Opened up, the whole thing converts into a four-sided room with a rug on the
floor, couch along the back with pictures above it, and two side walls, one
with a lamp on a table and the other with a set of stairs and a small door
underneath. The PDF provides templates for all of the elements described.
What about the doll, you ask?
|
| What a lot of fun this would have been! |
Well, the unfortunate part is that this project dates back to 2013. The
corresponding dolls (and pets) were printed on fabric panels that were part of
a line that Angela Yosten released for Moda at that time. The
panels themselves are now virtually impossible to find.
If you go to their site, there's a video that demonstrates what they're selling (see image at right) and how to use it. You'll have to
supply the fabric and additional materials in this case, since the package just contains the original drawn patterns on fusible interfacing. If you're not one to DIY the concept just by watching the video – i.e., draw your own dolls and clothes – the pricing is quite reasonable.
It's been said that we don't provide today's children with enough imaginative
play opportunities that can be explored on their own. I think this would be a
wonderful gift for that purpose... not to mention it looks like great fun to make. (Although I wouldn't make an assumption that it's easy, since it takes a certain amount of patience and control to sew around the edges of these things!)
Note that I've only highlighted the three projects from Moda's website that I thought were timely for the holidays. There were others that caught my eye and my interest; perhaps you'll find others to inspire you as well!
'Til next...
