A Fast and Easy Christmas Dress......

I have a friend that has a precious 2 year old daughter.  I wanted to make something for her but I knew it had to be fast and easy considering how close we are to Thanksgiving and Christmas.  So I turned to the Madeline dress pattern by my friend Samantha of The Handmade Dress.  I used a piece of fabric that had been in my stash for a few years.  I always thought I would make my Elisabeth a jumper out of it.....but she doesn't care much for jumpers anymore.  So I thought it would be perfect for this cute dress.  And honestly, I probably made this dress from start to finish in just 2 hours.  I can't tell you how many of these dresses I have made over the years.  I used to even make my girls Christmas nightgowns with this pattern.  Oh, and halloween costumes too!  This was one of my favorites...Pippi Longstocking!!!  Do you have a favorite pattern that you use over and over???

Happy Stitching!!!

How to Make a Gift Card Ornament......

I had a gift card that I needed to somehow package for a friend.  I pondered putting the gift card in with their Christmas card but ultimately I decided to stitch a quick gift card holder.  I put the gift card down on a piece of blue felt and traced around the card leaving about a quarter of an inch on the two long sides and one short side.  I then cut a second piece the same dimensions but about a quarter of an inch shorter.  My two pieces were 3 1/2" x 2 3/4" and 3 1/4" x 2 3/4" and should work for any standard-sized gift cards.

Before I stitched the two pieces together, I took the slightly smaller piece and hand stitched a triangular piece of green felt onto it.  I used green embroidery floss to stitch the tree using a quick running stitch.  Then I used red and white floss to create the ornaments making simple french knots.  I used brown floss to make the trunk using bullions.  And likewise, using yellow floss, I created a five-pointed star on the top using bullions.  Next I put the two blue felt pieces together, matching up three sides, and using blue floss ran a quick running stitch around those three sides.  And finally, I stitched on a looped white ribbon so the card and holder could be hung on the tree.  I'm just thinking that even if you don't have a gift card to package you could put cash in the holder too.

I've made several of these over the years but I think this one worked up the fastest and I liked it the most. Stitching for family and friends is so fun this time of year!! I hope you consider stitching one this Christmas!  And if you do, I would love to see it!!!

Happy Stitching, Friends!!!

xoxo!
Cindy