Holiday Gratitude

Autumn walk in Squamish, BC, Canada

I am a very blessed woman.  I mean it.  I have a wonderful husband who I adore, and who loves me more than I deserve.  Together, we are lucky to have our beautiful 11-month-old daughter.  She is healthy and happy (most days... she is teething, ha!).  We live in the beautiful community of Squamish, and we both have good jobs that we enjoy.

I really feel like sometimes I need to sit back and remind myself of these things and be grateful.  In light of the appalling events that took place last week in the U.S., it's important to be thankful for what we have and appreciate the fragility of life.  Our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected by this tragedy, including the families of the gunmen as that cannot be an easy cross to bear...

Try not to get caught up in the frenzy of the season... spend less money, but give more of your time.  Make memories with your loved ones and enjoy the things you do have, instead of lusting for the things you don't.  Sending love and light to everyone during this holiday season.

View from First Peak, The Chief, Squamish

Happy Monday!
xxx
Caramia

Handmade Christmas revealed!

When I first flipped through Wenlan Chia's book Twinkle Sews, one of the first projects on my to-do list was the On The Sidelines sweatshirt.  I basically copied the version from the book, making the sweatshirt up in a nice beige colour and adding some studs I found at Dressew in Vancouver ($0.25 for a package of 35!).  I ended up making 2 versions of this project, with the intent of giving both of them away to my sisters-in-law for Christmas.

For J's version, I added a self-drafted hood since she prefers hoodies over sweatshirts.  I also increased the length of the sleeves to full-length (as opposed to the 3/4 length sleeves in the pattern).  I'm not sure what the deal is with the waistband at the bottom of the top, but I shorted it by several inches and it was still WAAAAY too big, so I ended up adding a drawstring so it could be cinched up.

Bunnyhug / Hoodie version for Jana

I plan to give the sweatshirt version to my other sister-in-law, but since she lives in England I won't be able to give it to her until next summer when she comes home for her wedding.  I haven't had a chance to sew the buttons on it yet, but now that I have my fancy new Janome sewing machine, button-holes are no longer a problem for me.  Woot woot!

Sweatshirt version for Caleigh - try and act surprised!

I also made a nice wrap dress for my mom using the Crepe pattern from Colette.  My mom's favorite colour is royal blue, so I found this fabric (in the clearance centre, funny enough) that I knew would be just perfect.  Sorry the photos aren't that great of quality.  She also just threw it on over what she was already wearing so it's kind of hard to see the dress.  But I promise it's really nice!  She was so happy and is excited to wear it in the spring.

My mom showing off the front of the dress, plus my in-laws' dog says hello!

Back view of the dress, plus my mother-in-law with some turkey action in the background

I also made a purse for my husband's nana, as well as a hot water bottle cover for his great-aunt.  I can't seem to find photos of either of them at the moment, but I know I did take some!  Anyways, it's New Year's Eve tonight (not typically one of my favourite nights, it always seems to be a let-down), but it should be alright.  We're going to some friends' place for a house party, so I'd better scoot and get ready.  Hope all 5 of you that might possibly read this have a safe, healthy and happy 2011!
xoxox

Turban Headbands!

I'd been thinking for awhile now about making a turban-style headband... lo and behold Burdastyle read my mind and posted this article last week!  That's it!  I finally went for it on Friday!  They were so quick and easy that I ended up making two of them in one evening!

Originally I started following this video by New York Design Shop, using the 8" x 24" measurements in the video, but quickly found the turban to be WAY too tight.  I suppose the fabric I chose wasn't stretchy enough...  But it is a great project anyways!

For my version you will need:

• Stretchy-knit fabric like a t-shirt, etc. (I found a royal blue velour zip-up bunnyhug at Value Village for $4!)
• Thread (duh)
• Sewing machine that can do a stretch-stitch, or you can hand-sew it...  (I'm impatient and HATE hand-sewing)

Step 1.  Measure out two 8" by 24" rectangles.  I used fabric from the back of the jacket.

Step 2.  Fold each rectangle in half lengthwise, right sides together (read: "right side" means the part of the fabric that you want to show on the outside of the finished headband). Sew a straight line down the long side so you create a tube.  Turn the fabric tube inside out so that your raw ends are on the inside.

Step 3 (Optional).  On one of my turban-style headbands I decided to add some embellishment.  I found these round studs at Dressew in Vancouver.  I simply pushed them through the top layer of the tube and then folded the little teeth to secure them.  It was pretty easy to reach inside the tube and add the studs since I placed them near the opening on both ends of the tube.  Since there is another layer of fabric underneath the studs (between the outside and the part sitting against the head) it should be nice and comfy!

Step 4.  Since my fabric had a finished edge along what used to be the bottom hem of the jacket, I simply tucked the raw edges end of the tube inside the finished edge.  Sew a straight line to join the two ends together.  You will now have a circular tube, and it will look like a headband!
 
Step 5.  I made another (smaller) tube using the same method as Step 2 and then wrapped it over the joined ends (as per Step 4) to hide the joined ends so it looks like a continuous headband with a "knot" in the front.  I secured the smaller "wrap" tube in the same way as Step 4 by tucking the raw edges inside the hemmed edge.  To keep the "knot" from sliding around, I hand-tacked (read: hand-sewed) a few stitches on the back.

Headband #1 all finished!

Headband #2 all finished!

Lovin' the studs!

Donezies! 

Easy peasy!  I love the look of the headbands, they look so chic and the studs add just the right amount of bling!