A Quiet Christmas


Hello there!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas however you spent the time, and got lots of lovely presents. 

We had a very quiet Christmas here, just me, hubby and my parents.  We should have been joined by my sister and her husband, but unfortunately on Christmas Eve they phoned to say they were unable to spend the day with us.   I still seemed to spend most of the day cooking food, serving food, or clearing away food.  By the time my parents left just before 10pm all I could do was flop on the sofa with a(nother) glass of wine.

Present wise, I got a couple of small crafty gifts from hubby, both of which I’d put on my list for him.  The first was a set of French curves and the second was a 1 metre ruler.  Apparently he had terrible trouble finding this!  Who knew that 1 metre rulers were so hard to find. 
 
Our local art/craft shop offered to order one for him, but said it wouldn’t be in until the New Year, and would cost £28.  £28 for a piece of metal?  I don’t think so!  In desperation he tried the funny little DIY place at the end of our road.  It’s the kind of shop that sells EVERYTHING, and you can never find anything without a member of staff helping you.  Well, they had one in stock, but it’s bent!  It doesn’t lay flat on the table without being pressed down.  But hey, it does the job, and it was only £5.  Much more reasonable, and more money left for other gifts.  Hee hee! 

Sadly that was it in the way of crafty gifts from other people, but luckily I’ve recently treated myself to a couple of patterns that I’ve seen other bloggers talk about.

The first is McCalls 5972 that Lauren over at Lladybird showed recently.  I love her vintage looking version with the collar, and I’d been searching for the perfect shift dress pattern.  When I saw the collared version of this one I knew I’d found it.

Not sure about the ruffles!
 
The second is a vintage pattern, Simplicity 8498. 

This pattern was published the year I was born!


Tasia at Sewaholic showed this as "a less than perfect project" recently, although I loved what she’d made.  I think part of the reason that she’d classed it as less than perfect was because the patterned fabric she used hid the lovely seam detail on the front.  

This one hasn’t arrived yet, but I can’t wait to try it in a plain fabric when it does pop through my letterbox. 

Yesterday I treated myself to the Maria Denmark Day to Night Drape Top pattern,  after seeing Winnie’s lovely butterfly version, and some jersey fabric to make my own.  I spent yesterday afternoon sewing and ended up with a lovely top, which I’ll share with you very soon.

That was my Christmas, I’d love to hear about yours.  Did you get lots of lovely crafty gifts?

 

 

 

3 comments

  1. I just bought the Maria Denmark pattern too. I was hoping to try it out this weekend, but now it looks like there won't be time. Can't wait to see yours!

    I'm also very interested in the Simplicity pattern. I have the modern reprint of that design, and like you, I think the lines created by the seaming are really nice.

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    1. Hi Gail! The Maria Denmark pattern is great, really easy and quick to make. I made it in one afternoon, which included downloading, taping together and cutting out the pattern. I'm already kicking myself that I didn't buy some of the other jersey fabric I liked in John Lewis earlier this week.

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  2. I think Christmas is just exhausting - full stop! Love the patterns, I think you need to buy them yourself, to make sure they're 'just right', it's actually a kindness to your friends and family, takes the pressure off! Happy New Year x

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