Christmas has come . . . and gone

Last year ended in a whirlwind of fabric, as I did my usual sewing frenzy in the lead-up to Christmas, including these Christmas stockings for my brother and sister-in-law. We spent Christmas - New Year with them in Hobart and had a wonderful time sampling local food.

Queen Elsa - Frozen

Emma had a 'Frozen'-themed birthday party this year and wanted a Queen Elsa dress. I haven't seen the movie but I found a McCall's pattern that fitted the bill. Emma was quite pleased with the result.

I also made Emma some satin nightdresses (silkies), which led me to think about what Queen Elsa would wear to bed. This is what I came up with.

Winter knitting

John chose the wool for this jumper but, when I went to make it, I realised that I didn't have enough to make a jumper for him. So I made it up in a smaller size but no-one else in the family wanted it. I eventually found a home for it.

This scarf was a big change from the jumper - a bright, cheerful colour, quick and easy to make (I did it in one evening) and no sewing up at the end. And my friend, Wanda, was very happy with it when I gave it to her as a birthday present.

Embroiderers' Guild Annual Exhibition

The Embroiderers' Guild of the ACT held their annual exhibition this week. I entered a few pieces that I've shown previously plus these two pieces. 

The first one is called "In Flanders Fields" and was my entry for the postcard challenge, which had the theme "Stitching Love and Hope". We were asked to re-interpret the silk postcards sent home by soldiers in France and Belgium during World War I. I'm really thrilled because my card won the viewer's choice prize.

I also entered this leaf. Back in March, I finished an autumn embroidery, and I saved all the thread snippets, which I then put between two piece of solvy, machine-stitched over it, cut out the leaf shape on the Accuquilt Go Cutter, and then hand-stitched the veins and stem. Unfortunately, this isn't a very good photo but it gives the effect of a decaying autumn leaf.

Trapped objects

Many years ago, I came across a project in Stitch magazine that used trapped objects. I liked the idea but didn't want to do that particular project, so earlier this year I made up a piece using trapped objects plus stitching and beading and then made it up into a cushion.

Cloaks

For some time now, Emma has been fascinated by cloaks. She would wrap any piece of fabric she could find (and there are quite a few in my stash) around her shoulders. So I decided to make her a proper cloak - purple, of course. 

And then I remembered the issue with bags at Christmas time, so I found some pink fabric and made a cloak for Olivia as well. Emma loves her cloak but Olivia was less impressed by hers - though she's happy enough in this photo.

Emma had a little lamb

It's fleece might have been white as snow once upon a time but its fur has greyed over the years, having been much loved and much travelled (Abigail has been to England, France, Switzerland and Italy). But Emma still loves her little lamb.

So, when I made a winter "silkie" for Emma, I machine-embroidered a lamb onto it - much to Emma's delight.

This photo gives a clearer view of the embroidered lamb: