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Monday, 16 July 2012

Busy being Christmasy

I'm still busy being all Christmasy here.  Mr Crafty Shenanigans is confused by it all but that's ok 'coz I'm having fun!  I've decided that my mother-in-law shall be getting one of these in her overseas Christmas maily this year. 

Christmas Hanging Tea Towel


This hangs on the handle right under the kitchen sink - this makes a really handy kitchen hand towel!

Or hang it from the oven door handle (please excuse my smudgy oven glass door)!
I purchased a pack of three tea towels from Dunelm yesterday and used one of them to make these two hanging dish towels - or hanging tea towels as I prefer to call them.  I pre-washed them and they shrunk from originally being 28"x20" down to 22"x16" so I am glad I shrunk them BEFORE sewing them up!  I don't normally pre-wash my quilting fabric but on this occasion I did because these will be used-and-washed-and-used-and-washed lots so it is better to have all the shrinking done before construction!  However, this has made the tea towel look all used and wrinkly so perhaps I should have ironed them before I took the photo!!  Iron - what's an iron!???

I used a lovely and VERY easy tutorial from a blog called Kleios Belly.  She has lots of good stuff on her blog so check it out!!  And my favourite bit - these were super easy to do and very very quick to make.  More instant gratification which I LOVE!!  These two useful festive items are part of my Christmas in July sewing/crafting spree which so far includes:
  1. Smiling Snowman Notebook/Journal cover
  2. Five Christmas Thank You cards
  3. Ten scrappy gift tags
  4. One Mug Rug (not completely finished yet)
  5. Christmas Stocking cross-stitch (not completely finished yet - might become a pin cushion or door ornament)
  6. Two Christmas Hanging Tea Towels and a
  7. Partridge in a Pear Tree Large Christmas Stocking
Maybe this is turning in to "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" for me...or the twelve projects of Christmas??!  I shall post some pictures of the other items soon.  My Christmas in July inspiration comes from four blogs and their Christmas sewing events - more about those another day!
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You know I love buttons.  I have three tins {nearly} full of them.  I could sit and colour-sort them for hours and make piles of my favourites or the interesting ones or just the red ones...  hmmmm -- buttons!

So it may come as a shock to you that I have NEVER actually made a button hole before.  Tonight, just a few hours ago, I made my first ever button holes!  Yay for me!  Here are my first five attempts on scraps before I went and did the real thing on my two hanging tea towels (and the holes on the hanging tea towels turned out pretty good for an amateur I may add, obviously leaving me with loads of room for improvement!):
Left to right - you can see my progress as I slowly get the hang of it!
Not perfect looking but they work a treat!  With the buttons in them they look great!

Ok, back to the sewing!  I still have lots and lots of Christmasy things I want to make so I will report back soon! 

Linking up with Manic Monday, Sew What Monday, Made by You Monday, Making Monday Marvelous and July Finishes - and no doubt TNT Thursday later this week.




Sew Happy Geek
July Finishes
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12 comments:

  1. Di17 July 2012 at 00:15

    Amy you are far too organised for me Christmas presents in July! I never start until the end of August!!! Di x

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  2. Kirstin @ Hello Kirsti17 July 2012 at 03:16

    Good job getting ahead on your xmas projects! It took me a while to figure out button holes as well =)

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  3. Charlotte17 July 2012 at 08:14

    aieeeeee - buttonholes! My nemesis! You did a *very* good job. Next time I need to make one I know where to go!

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  4. Anonymous17 July 2012 at 08:19

    I love your practicing, button holes for me are one of those things that either go first time, or the quick up picker becomes permanently welded to my hand!

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  5. Kelly17 July 2012 at 13:44

    Excellent button holes but you need to stop this christmassy making madness!!

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  6. TroubleT17 July 2012 at 15:04

    I made my first set of these hanging towels a couple of months ago. Since, I've decided that these will be my holiday gift to all of the cooks in my family.

    Great job on the button hole stitch! It took me forever to get the hang of it as well. :D

    Followed you over from Sew What Monday...

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  7. Carol17 July 2012 at 15:33

    Ack! Christmas planning already. I'm jealous. The towels are a fun idea.They look great.

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  8. Melissa Corry19 July 2012 at 15:14

    Yippee Skippee for trying out a button hole!! Way to go. I did that for the first time on my new machine a little while ago. so fun!!

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  9. Sara19 July 2012 at 16:26

    I can do this on my machine so why I have not done it who knows!! I blame it on other projects! Your towels came out beautiful!!

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  10. Sew Create It - Jane19 July 2012 at 17:59

    I've just sewed buttonholes on my machine yesterday for the first time in years... quite nerve wracking, and but I got there in the end :-) love the towels.. They will make great gifts.

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  11. kathy20 July 2012 at 03:50

    Good thinking to practice a bit first! Great job! These towels will make handy gifts.

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  12. Elizabeth21 July 2012 at 05:07

    Such cute little towels! I especially like the little Christmas Tree fabric! You did great for your first button holes! Love your Christmas in July projects. Thank you for linking up!

    xo -E

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