A stitch in time...Christmas gifts sneak peak

Fancied up denim skirts for my nieces...

A sparkly, pretty dress for my daughter

Adorable!

and an itty-bitty baby beanie!

All out on the cheap for Christmas means I've been chained to my sewing machine for weeks trying to whip up homemade gifts for everyone this year. My blog posts have been short, my house isn't particularly clean, and I've been missed on facebook (silly, I know!) and I thought I'd share a sneak peak of some of things I've done so far. I'm just going to be sharing pics of the gifts to people who don't actually read the blog, just so the element of surprise isn't spoiled.
The denim skirts.
I actually had a far more complicated project in mind for my nieces (and my daughter insists she needs one too...) involving layers and frills and after picking out a sewed on backward piece one too many times, I came up with a new plan. What little girl doesn't like pretty things covered with tulle? Well, my nieces (and daughter) sure do and so I went to the thrift store and picked up 3 denim skirts for 3 dollars a piece. They were all in great condition and I took them home and cut off the bottom hems. I have blue and yellow tulle remnants that I picked up for under a dollar and plenty of girlie floral cotton blend material in my stash. I chose coordinating material for the tulle and sewed ruffled bottoms for the skirts. I then ran a length of coordinating ribbon over my seems and stitched it down as well. After a few well placed flowers (to cover up the ribbon ends) I was done! I can't believe how cute they turned out! Maybe I'll have to make for myself...hmmm...;0)
My daughter's sparkly Christmas dress.
I know the pictures don't do this dress justice, but I'm impressed with how cute it turned out! Even a Christmas dress from Wal-Mart will run you 20 bucks and as tradition the girls in the family always get a new one every year. I knew I could do it cheaper and set out to try. I first picked up some sparkly pink material that has little stars through it, in the remnant bin for 2 bucks. They also had some pink cotton for a buck and I picked that up for the lining. Now for the top...hmmm...I went to the thrift store on the off chance they had something pretty to use and I scored! I found a stretchy-velvet top with sheer sleeves covered with sequins, that looked like it belonged to a skirt or something, in my daughter's size for 3 dollars. I also picked up some black satin ribbon for the sash and a package of pretty pink rosettes for about 3 dollars as well. I made a skirt out of the sparkly material and the pink cotton for the lining. I didn't have quite enough of the pink lining material, but was lucky enough to have some extra in a shade darker and I just sewed a couple of darker panels to the front and back, you can't tell at all though! I attached the skirt to the bottom of the shirt next and went about trying to figure out the best way to attach the sash. I measured out the length of the sash and took two short pieces of ribbon and stitched them to the front to act as belt loops. I then used some iron on hemming tape and ironed the sash down and stitched the front of it too. I finished up with the rosettes and just look at how adorable it turned out!
The baby beanie.
This is a project I started as I hitched a ride to Vegas on Monday and finished up yesterday. Super fast! My friend's little baby is adorable and teeny! She is 10 months old and weighs 13 lbs and stands up at knee height, she's so little! Imagine having a 10 month old that only wears 3-6 month clothes and won't keep anything on her head unless it's tied on! Yep, that might make it difficult to find a warm little hat that fits and it has been. So, when she was here last week I took a quick measurement of her head and started planning for a little hat to fit it. I made a cute one for my daughter a few years ago and I patterned this little one after it, it's so cute!
As you can see, I'm well on my way to having a pile of wonderful homemade gifts to give out for Christmas! Now if you'll excuse me...I need to get a sewing! ;0)