Bunting and pressies!

I've made no secret about it - I love a bit of bunting. I've made quite a lot of bunting in the last few years but this is definitely my best to date. This was another present, this time for my mum, who hosted a birthday afternoon tea for me last year. She mentioned that some bunting would be nice so I made this as a surprise! 

The fabric was from my favourite website ohsewcrafty.co.uk and is in a range of creams and blues to complement my Mum's dining room. I wanted to include different prints and patterns, so there are polka dots, stripes, gingham and lots of florals! Each triangle is double sided and had to be turned and ironed. For the tape, I used white 2" bias tape which I ironed in half.

It looked great at the party and my Mum loved it so much she kept it up for the next few days. I'm really proud of the professional finish and just had to share!

I also wanted to (belatedly) blog about some christmas and birthday pressies I have made recently. The first are two glasses cases, one for my Uncle for Christmas and one for my Mum in Law for her birthday.

I used a pattern from Sew! Cath Kidston, which I used previously to make these specs cases for my Mum and Dad. It was much easier the second time around ... in fact I actually made 5 glasses cases at the same time for various family members. One each for my Nanny and Grandad for christmas, which I stupidly forgot to photograph. These two and another which was destined for my Father in Law, which failed miserably - the piping really didn't work!

What I love about these glasses cases is the fact that they are quick to make and are a great stash buster! It has allowed me to get creative with different fabric combinations and I even tried using lace instead of piping which worked well. They have been well received and it's nice to gift people a personal, homemade but practical present.

And finally, my Aunt is great at crochet and I decided to make her a crochet roll for Christmas. I used an online freeby from Today we made. I picked this tutorial because it didn't require any pattern pieces as it is constructed from rectangles of fabric. The step-by-step instructions also included photographs which made it very easy to follow. 

I used left over fabric from my Mum's bunting, with the only purchase being a fat quarter of blue floral fabric for the lining. Instead of ribbon I used a length of left over bias tape which I ironed in half and topstitched along the edge. I deviated slightly from the pattern by using fusible wadding instead of the recommended medium-weight interfacing. I also added a cute piece of lace to the needle pocket for detail! 

It was amazingly easy to make and I completed it within an hour. I'm so please with the neat finish and my Aunt really liked it too!

I always thought that I preferred sewing for myself but to my surprise I've discovered I quite like making presents for other people. I'd quite like to have a try at bag making next!