My only handmade gift

Wow, that's terrible!  I only made Christmas gifts for a single recipient, my sister, and it was something I should have made for her over the summer!  This apron, from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing, is my favorite for everyday wear.  It covers you, and it's reversible.  This one was made with lovely printed linen, with gray twill for the ties.  

Since I had some leftover fabric, I whipped up some matching potholders (my own pattern).  I love the free-hand spiral quilting:

I guess with a busy end of term at work, silk slip project for Britex, Christmas rush and all the various school-related pre-Christmas activities, there just wasn't time for a bunch of sewing for gifts.  I even opted to purchase pajamas for my boys (despite having bought fabric to make some) when it got to the eleventh hour and I still had a party and a dinner at my home to prepare for.  From the kids' perspective, I'm sure a sane mom is preferable to mom-made PJs!

Since we didn't fly home to NY for the holiday, my sis sent along a photo of her with the gifts, along with a note that said she loved them.  Since I could only chose one person to get a made-by-me present, I'm glad she was the one!

Did you get as much holiday sewing done as you wanted to?  As a sewist, do you feel an obligation to make gifts?

Farewell apron

I was sad to learn that one of the lovely teachers at my son's daycare is leaving this week.  She is a former elementary school teacher in Japan and is just an incredibly hardworking and dedicated teacher for the children at the daycare.  My son has learned so much!  Anyhow, I had given her this apron for Christmas; she wore it every week like a pinafore under a cardigan and told me all the time how much she loved it.  I had plans to make her another one already, but when I found out she was leaving, it was an obvious, and perfect, going away gift. 

She said she loved spring colors, and green in particular, so the main fabric, from the Summersault collection by Erin McMorris, was perfect (and on sale!).  The contrasting fabric felt risky when I was picking them out, but I like the combination in the end (Frippery by Thomas Knauer).

Fabric covered buttons...so pretty, so easy (especially this kind, with the teeth on the inside).

Another application for handmade bias!  I get a ridiculous amount of use out of my bias tape makers (I have two, and may need to invest in more sizes!)

Miho-san opened the gift and immediately put the apron on over her dress at her farewell party today.  I think she liked it :)

Apron times two

As my last post of the year, I wanted to share the two aprons I made for my youngest's daycare teachers. Both were based on this vintage pattern, though I made enough changes to the first apron that it's virtually unrecognizable as the same style: