The longies really did get finished eventually, as did my xmas presents!

Since I'm back blogging again, I might as well update on what I have actually gotten done over the last few months.

The longies, of which I'd only done the waistband last time I posted eventually got finished in January.  I really love how they colours pooled differently in the different sections.  These longies were my first attempt at Kitchener stitch and everything I've read about it was true, you really have to concentrate or you'll mess up, at the start at least.  I ended up making one small mistake, but over all I think it was a success.

An action shot of the longies, expertly modeled by The Boy.

In addition to this I also had a few Xmas presents that I finished in December, in addition to the Pig t-shirt and the ITNG t-shirt, I did another appliqued t-shirt, this one for my nephew.
He's recently started playing football and I thought a personalised shirt might be nice for him.

Front, with his initial on a badge

Back, the panel at the top had his surname, and then the number 10 below.

Again, it's felt appliqué, this was my first go at machine appliqué.  The different layers of the badge and the name panel were sewn by hand and then the front badge, and the number 10 were sewn onto the shirt by machine, and the name panel was attached by hand.  I really enjoyed making this, although it was A LOT of work and I ended up still working on it at about 2am on Xmas morning!  I remember my mam doing similar when I was little, I'm getting so like her LOL!

Another appliqué

One more xmas present down, lots more to go.  I everntually got The Boy's INTG tshirt done.

Pics aren't great :(

 

I stared at him for ages when I thought he was done, for some reason he just didn't look like Iggle Piggle.  It was only when The Blokey pointed out that I'd forgotten his hair.  How on earth can I forget that when I see it every day LOL, and The Blokey, who hardly ever sees it, could realise.  I obviously don't pay attention to cbeebies, can you blame me?

Pig. Done!

I eventually got Peppa finished.  I backed the entire area of the t-shirt with interfacing, to stiffen it up and stop it stretching, and then used an embroidery hoop to keep everything nice and taut.  It worked a treat.  I'm so chuffed with how she turned out!

She's survived a 30 degree wash in my machine, just to make sure the colours don't run.  She's currently back in the machine on a 40 degree wash (eek), I hope she makes it.

Oink

I've spent pretty much the whole day handstitching a 'Peppa Pig' from felt to sew onto the front of a t-shirt.  She's pretty much finished, and I must say I'm really pleased with how she turned out.

I started stitching her to the shirt, but I've discovered it's really difficult without an embroidery hoop, so I need to source one of them (probably from my mam LOL) before I can continue.  Once she's stitched on I just need to add her arms and legs and she's done!

Felt the felt

I decided to do some felt applique t-shirts for xmas, so I ordered some felt from ebay, 70% synthetic, 30% wool.  My postie brought it yesterday and I couldn't wait to get started, but the felt seemed very thin and I was worried about it shrinking once I'd sewn the designs onto the clothing and ending up as a big mess rather than a lovely picture.  I decided that to be on the safe side I should give it some abuse to see if it shrinks, as I'd rather have it shrink in a controlled fashion by me than shrink later when the gift recipients wash their t-shirts.  What a good job I did!  The felt shrank massively!  And at all different rates.

The black felt and the ones behind it haven't yet been felted, the orange, red and purple have.  There's a huge difference.  Hopefully they should be safe enough to use on clothing now though.
I also have some beigey coloured sheets that I'll be using to make some felt pasta for The Boy, for xmas, not bothering to felt those though.


I've also started a secret project this week, for the DIY Secret Santa over on Cloth Nappy Tree.  I tried 3 different patterns but each one was wrong, so in the end I just decided to make it up as I went along.  Hope it turns out ok, I think it should though.

Finally, I managed to unravel the tail of The Boy's toy snake that I made, to add a rattle.  I couldn't find ANYWHERE online to buy rattle beads that supplies Europe, so I had to improvise, I used the plastic egg from a Kinder Egg and popped some rice inside.  It sounds perfect!  Exactly like a rattlesnake :D Very impressed.