Pressies I recently made!

Well I completed these two projects little over a week ago.  Now that I'm certain the recipient has gotten the goods I couldn't wait to post about them.

To me, homemade gifts are given from the heart at a deeper level than "standard issue" items you can walk into the store and pick up or click online with your mouse. 

I was super happy with the outcome of these items made for a special August birthday girl, my friend Ella from the UK.  There were a lot of imperfections on these items but the love that goes into something you sew is greater than any flaw in my opinion!

First off we have the classic apron for all your household domestics, cooking, cleaning, etc.  I feel this is more of an apron/smock because I made quite a few pockets if you wanted to paint in this or have some tools placed in the pockets.

I made this in my favorite style of "empire waist".  All I did was attach a pillowcase (as you know I am famous for using).  I feel empire waist styling is really flattering, even in apron form!  The pillowcase serves as the front bodice and styling and as the pockets which I thought was clever.  I love this apron so much.  The only problem is I did not make one for myself and I am always on a domestic project.  So the next thing I will be making is my own apron and I will definitely post the results.  My real inspiration was that Ella and I speak about (and dream about) doing a gluten free bakery one day.  I imagined us donning these aprons as we applied fluffy pink frosting to our cupcakes....so that was the method behind the madness on this idea :o).  I say dream big and big dreams come true.

(wish this photo was more clear, have to rely on the kiddos to help with blog post pics, lol)

And now for the handbag.  I decided not to use any patterns on these creations.  I wanted it to be an original design by myself, which I feel adds a special quality when you decide to undertake handmade gifts.  You can tell that the bottom part is not perfectly aligned when I did the cutting but again more character! HAHA.  I also did a fun embellishment I learned on You Tube which is a fabric flower.  I will try to find that video to post because the gal that inspired me for making the fabric flowers is great at her craft.  All you do is take a piece of scrap material and cut about 5 half circles in them.  You then hand sew to bunch it up into a flower shape.  It is very easy and adds that special touch.  It is really hard to make out in this photo, but watch the tutorial above for instructions on making a fabric flower.

Well these are my last gifts for awhile (if not forever).  I did enjoy making quite a few things for friends and family.

*Cheers*