Christmas Archives | Gala Fabrics

Despite there being 364 days between one Christmas and the next, I always seem to panic sew at the last minute in order to get Christmas gifts done in time. Thankfully this year, the family decided to just do gifts for the kids this year. That cuts my list down from a potential 20 humans and 3 dogs to just 7 children.

Three of these children are quite young, ranging from 3 weeks to 18 months. Last year, I made bibs using the Bapron pattern. While the reviews for this bib were positive, feedback was that these bibs were better for older children because of the arm manipulation. Instead, I found this simple to make pattern from Nana Company.

These are so easy, I could almost make them in my sleep! For maximum absorbency for drool and food drips, I used flannelette for both the face and the lining of the bib. 35cm (14″) of 115cm (45″) wide fabric, will easily produce 4 bibs fronts. I know some people have used velcro for the fastening, but I prefer snaps since velcro is hard and scratchy and also collects hair and lint. Yuck! Here is my sister’s child modelling.

Unfortunately, my other sister’s 18 month baby was too big for these bibs, so his got passed down to his cousins. Instead I traced his current bib (a bib with sleeves) to make some of those. I also found this pattern online by Mommy Imaginings that I might try.

My brother’s baby, the 3 week old, received some bibs but also some knit covers. Apparently, the latest baby must have item is a Milk Snob cover. If you are unfamiliar with this item, it is a knit cover that can be used as a car seat cover, a nursing cover, a feeding tray cover, even a diaper changing blanket. My brother bought one and showed it to me. It is unbelievably easy to make! I traced the shape of his purchased cover, dug into my stash and churned out 4 – 2 from each different fabric.

As you can see, it is basically an jar shaped piece – 75cm tall by 70cm wide. Cut 2 pieces (a front piece and a back piece) to be sewn together along the sides. Hem the top and bottom. That’s it! You have to use a 4 way stretch fabric such as a rayon or bamboo knit. I also found similar pre-made covers on Wish

As to the older children, there are 4 ranging in age from 6 to 12. Since this age group were mostly interested in electronic games and gadgets, I gifted them with cash. But to make it interesting, at least for me, I put the cash inside some food. I made some gingerbread dough, used a store bought poop emoji shaped cookie cutter and made brown poop cookies. Using some chocolate frosting, I sandwiched 2 cookies together, slipped the cash wrapped in plastic in between and decorated the front. Being kids, they jumped on the cookies and started eating. I didn’t say anything until one of them mentioned not being able to chew part of the cookie. I know, I’m a bad auntie! But we spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the remaining the cookies. That kept them busy for a while!

Wishing you all the best for the holiday season! Can you believe 2020 is just around the corner?!?

Well, it’s Christmas Day and guess what I’m doing? (Besides writing this blog post!) Yep. Sewing last minute Christmas gifts. My excuse for the lateness is that this year my family will be getting together and exchanging gifts tomorrow (Boxing Day) only because this year is the “other grandparents” year for the little people (all under 8 years old)

Mind you, the gifts I’m working on are also pretty simple. Something that you too could make in a pinch. Good for guys and gals. The ubiquitous scarf!

You can make the scarf from a long and narrow piece of fabric (I have made some of these and like the length of 2m with the width of the scarf being half the width of the fabric. So if the fabric was 150cm (60″) wide then you can get 2 scarves at 2m x 75cm) Or, you can use a square piece of fabric which I prefer for more versatility. You can use any kind of fabric that is not too heavy such as light weight wool, silk chiffon or even quilting cotton.

What you need:

A square piece of fabric be it 115cm square or 150cm square. I find the 150cm square a bit big and unwieldy for most neck tying applications but this size is good for shawls or beach coverups.
A sewing machine or serger with a rolled hem stitch. Or if you prefer the hand sewing technique, a fine needle and thread to hand roll the hem. Personally, I am forever grateful for the Industrialized Revolution!
Matching thread.
A large eyed needle to work in the thread tails from the machine sewn edges.

I used my serger. For some reason, the 2 thread rolled hem option wasn’t working so I used the 3 thread option. If I was using the 2 thread option, I would probably use woolly nylon thread since this thread gives more coverage. I used regular sewing thread in my serger mainly because I had a ready availability of colours. It does give a heavier hem finish but I don’t mind it.

Here are a couple suggestions from my experience.

When using the serger, sew a bit before introducing the fabric. (about 10cm worth) This gives you a thread tail to help you guide some of the lighter weight fabrics (such as chiffon) through the machine. Do the same when you reach the end of the seam.
Make sure you hold the tail or you will have the same mess I had!
Turn down the speed of your machine. When at full speed, I found my serger bounced around making it difficult to control everything.
After you have sewn all the edges, you will have thread tails on each of the corners. You need to tighten up the threads before sewing them into the hem. To do this, you hold the fabric by the thread tail in one hand. With your other hand, lightly pinch the thread tail and run your fingernail along the tail. This will tighten up the looser looper thread. Here are before and after tightening images.

You have the option of clipping the thread tails even with the fabric edge and using fray check to finish the threads but I find that product leaves a hard residue. Or you can thread the tail back through the stitches.

If you have the time and desire to do this by hand, here is a handy refresher video.

And if you want some different ideas on how to tie your scarf, here are 2 videos as a resource.

Happy sewing and Merry Christmas! The store will be having a silk print sale in the new year so keep your eye open for the sale code to use in the web store.

Holiday Sewing Done!

Last Minute Sewing!

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