Easy Custom Fleece Christmas Stockings

Posted on December 1, 2015 by jewelsathome

I made the first of these stockings more than a decade ago, and how our little collection of stockings has grown over the years! I made the first ones when our oldest was born, and back then, it was just Steve, me, baby K, and our old dog Cooper. Over the years, I added extended family for the Christmases we hosted, two more babies, and now, I am very excited to add the stockings for my twin nieces!

Materials:

fleece fabric (less than 1/2 a yard per stocking)
cuff fabric (only about 7″ long x about 20″ wide – I find scraps for this)
ribbon for hanging (5″ long; I also used scraps)
iron-on applique letters for name

Instructions:

Make a template for your stocking. I’ve included a half inch seam allowance on my pattern

Use the template to cut out two pieces of fleece.

With the right sides together, sew around the sides and bottom of the stocking, leaving about 7″ open at the back top. Clip the seam allowance around the curves.

Pattern for Easy Custom Fleece Christmas Stockings | Jewels at Home

Cut a cuff that is about 6.5″ tall and 10″ wide. Hem the cuff.

Sew the cuff to the top of the stocking, with the right side of the cuff facing the wrong side of the stocking, as shown.

Pattern for Easy Custom Fleece Christmas Stockings | Jewels at Home

Flip the cuff over as shown. I found it helped to pin it in place for the next step.

Line up the edge of the cuff and the stocking and slip your ribbon in, too, with the ends tucked into where you’ll see. Now sew up the last 7″ of the back of the stocking, sewing through the stocking, cuff, and ribbon.

Flip your stocking right side out and iron on the letters!

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!

“Jewels”

Vintage Photo Garland

Posted on November 22, 2015 by jewelsathome

As you know, this year’s Christmas has a vintage theme, and I thought it would be great fun to share some old Christmas pictures with this simple and pretty photo garland.

To start, I collected old pictures, including some of from my childhood and from my parents before I was born! Once I got into the project, I added some more recent pictures of our kids. I edited all of the pictures using an iPhone app called Instants, which makes them look like vintage Polaroids.

I used ric rac ribbon from my mom’s stash to make the garland, so this is authentic vintage! I hung the photos from the ric rac using clothes pins decorated with scrapbook paper in this year’s colors of pink, turquoise, and red.

This was an easy project, and it’s simple enough that I’m going to leave it up, even though I won’t be decorating the rest of the house until after Thanksgiving.

Retro Mid-Century Ornament Wreath

Posted on November 13, 2015 by jewelsathome

So, if you have been following along, you will know that I have a colorful Mid-Century Christmas planned for this year. So far, my preparations have included a new Christmas tree skirt, and next up was this pretty ornament wreath!

I found a lot of beautiful inspirations for this type of wreath, including some beautiful and whimsical examples from Georgia Peachez.

There are a lot of different methods out there for making ornament wreaths, and I read through several examples before starting my own.

I used a piece of foam leftover from another project as my wreath base. It was flexible, but once the ornaments were glued in place, it held its shape. I used a piece of heavy beading wire to create a hanger on the back, before I started attaching the ornaments.

To attach the ornaments, I hot-glued a ring of the large balls in this year’s colors of pink, turquoise, and red around the entire outside and inside of the wreath base. I then added a few large ornaments to the top and filled in with medium and smaller ornaments. I included a few pine cone ornaments to change up the look. Also, I kept the hangers visible on a handful of the ornaments for more visual interest.

Some methods include tinsel on the base or painting the base. Since I didn’t do either, I needed to make sure I filled all the gaps, so I finished off the wreath with some vase filler and large beads. This is definitely one of those projects, like L’s birthday quilt, where it takes a long time and a lot of planning to make it look “random.” By the time I went to bed, I was seeing ornaments float before my eyes…

But it was all worth it! I am not decorating quite yet, so for now, the wreath is adding some cheer to my craft room window, and as Nicola said when she came over for our recent Creativity Circle, it looks pretty good there!

With the new tree skirt and this wreath, I think I am well on my way to creating this year’s theme, but I do still have a few projects I’d like to add, if time allows! Looking forward to seeing it all come together!

“Jewels”

Retro Mid-Century Ornaments Christmas Tree Skirt

Posted on November 9, 2015 by jewelsathome

I know it is only November, but I am already getting excited about the upcoming Christmas season. The last few years, I’ve changed up our decorations to have a different theme each season. This year, I decided to go with a retro mid-century Christmas theme. You may remember that I am a big fan of the TV series Mad Men, and I really wanted to have a party to mark the series finale this spring, but life is way too busy, so I decided to have some Mid-Century fun for Christmas. One of my inspirations was this Christmas tree skirt that I saw advertised on mod cloth last year.
It’s sold out now, and it was also smaller than I wanted, so of course I decided to make my own. If you are feeling inspired, here’s how I did it.

You’ll need:

White fabric for the background
Mix of colored fabrics and/or felt for the ornaments
Heat’n Bond Lite Iron-on Adhesive
Thin ribbon
matching thread

Instructions:

I sewed the skirt with the same 60″ diameter as our grey and white tree skirt
I then cut out and appliqued the ornaments the way I made appliqued onesies. For the print fabrics, I just did a simple silhouette. For the more solid fabrics, I cut out some shapes, taking inspiration from the Mod Cloth original
I sewed the ornaments and ribbons in place, and ta-da!

I’m waiting a few more weeks to set up our decorations, and I am so excited to see this pretty skirt under our tree!

Update: Here are some pictures of the skirt under our tree!

“Jewels”

A Simple Fabric Tote Bag for Halloween, Shopping, and Beyond

Posted on October 7, 2015 by jewelsathome

It seems like you can never have enough bags – we use them for groceries, toys, books, snacks, whatever! And a nice fabric tote bag is a simple sewing project to display your favorite fun prints.

I made these bags for the boys to go with their superhero costumes.

Materials:

20″ long x 34″ wide piece of fabric
Ribbon for strap (21″ long x 3.5″ wide)

Instructions:

I folded the fabric in half lengthwise, with wrong sides together, and sewed down the length to make a tube. I flipped the tube so that the right sides were together and then sewed another seam to create a neat hidden French seam.

Next, I sewed the bottom of the bag closed.

At each bottom corner, I folded the fabric and sewed across the corner to make a flat bottom for the bag:

To attach the handle, I ironed a hem at the top and tucked the ribbon for the strap under the hem.

Then, I sewed down the top hem, with extra stitching around the handles.

And here are the finished bags! Now, Batman and Superman can be stylish and practical!

“Jewels”

Gotta Catch ‘Em All! Pokemon Pocket T-shirts

Posted on October 4, 2015 by jewelsathome

Yes, yes, our third of three (do we get a special trophy?) Pokemon birthday parties is in the planning stages. I try to give our guests one special party favor that has more lasting power than a bunch of smaller … Continue reading →

Wild Kratts Power Suit T-Shirt

Posted on August 24, 2015 by jewelsathome

As the youngest of three boys, I’m disappointed to confess that JJ has a lot interests that are not particularly age-appropriate for a four-year-old. So, I’m always happy to encourage him when he gets excited by something more wholesome than Power … Continue reading →

Sew a Travel Jewelry Case

Posted on July 30, 2015 by jewelsathome

This travel roll for jewelry is a quick and easy project, proven by the fact I made it the night before we left for family vacation!
My jewelry roll is perfect for packing necklaces and bracelets, which is what I usually wear.

To make your own, you’ll need

10″x23″ quilted fabric
14″x27″ coordinating fabric for the outside
3/8″ wide grosgrain ribbon, about 42″ total
1″ wide grosgrain ribbon, about 1 yard
Thread and sewing machine

I cut the narrow grosgrain into four-inch sections to make the loops.

Next, I lay the small quilted material on the wrong side of the outer material. I folded over a border on all sides, and tucked the loops under the hem, pinning them in place.

Tutorial for a jewelry travel case | Jewels at Home

I stitched down the border, which also secured the loops.

Tutorial for a jewelry travel case | Jewels at Home

To make the outside tie, I folded the wide grosgrain in half and sewed it to one end of the roll, on the outside.

Tutorial for a jewelry travel case | Jewels at Home

And that’s it!

Easy and pretty!

Happy travels!

“Jewels”

Hand-painted Superman Shoes

Posted on June 10, 2015 by jewelsathome

You may remember that our littlest is a big fan of superheroes, especially Superman. We threw him a fun Superman birthday a while back, and he dressed up as Superman for Halloween, also.

Of course, he wants all the Superhero-themed shoes, and I am not saying that I have never given in to these wishes, but generally, I try to avoid the commercial superhero shoes, because they have just a few too many lights and colors for my taste. That being said, I like to keep my little guys happy, so I decided to get him a pair of plain blue slip-on Vans and paint a Superman log on them with dimensional fabric paint.

Now this mini Superman is ready to fly!

“Jewels” aka Superman’s mom

Patchwork Quilt Tablecloth for a Tea Party

Posted on June 7, 2015 by jewelsathome

A few years ago, I arranged a tea party baby shower for my dear friend, Nicola. Each year after that, I have hosted a tea party, combined with a Stella and Dot Jewelry Show (this is a fundraiser for our Avon Walk team and until June 21, 10-15% of the sales will go to our team!). I’ve been slowly adding details to the tea party, and this year, it was this tablecloth quilt. The floral fabrics create a romantic vintage feel that is a bit kitschy and a lot fun.

Here are some pictures of the quilt. It’s a mix of fabrics from my mom’s and my stash, including scraps from the curtains that hung in the first townhouse Steve and I lived in. Patchwork Quilt Tablecloth for a Tea Party | Jewels at Home