I think I’m ready for Christmas…finally…Cards and parcels are ready to go in the post tomorrow and the last Christmas presents have been made this afternoon;

I bought my mum some special handcream but I wanted to give her a little extra, so I decided to make her a wash bag, she quite often goes away for weekends so hopefully it will be useful. I found a tutorial on Sew4Home for a boxy shaped one. I chose some material from my stash which is quilted liberty tana lawn, it’s really pretty, I think it may have originally been in my mothers stash until she passed it on to me! For the lining I’ve used some white waterproof fabric which I’ve not sewn with before but was actually ok.

I’ve made a lot of bags and purses over the years so I understand the basic construction techniques, however I must admit to getting a bit confused by the instructions so in the end I just constructed it how I thought and it seems to have some out ok! I’m hoping to make myself one in time for our holiday in January!

This afternoon I’ve made two tissue holders for a friend and my sister. The friend is my oldest ever friend, like we grew up together living a couple of doors away, we still send a little gift at Christmas, the type of gift that’s more about thought than cost. My sister is notoriously difficult to buy for, I’ve bought one present but I just wanted a little extra. I telephoned her today and she is full of cold, she happened to mention that she likes to keep the little tissue packets in her handbag. Eureka! Present sorted, a tissue holder. I’ve only seen patterns with a horizontal opening but I happened to notice one on pinterest that was a vertival opening. I googled it (as you do!) and found  a pattern on The Inspired Wren

I chose a beautiful batik with a gold leaf pattern and a coordinating batik for the lining. The first one I made was according to pattern. The instructions were really clear and easy to follow and I’m really pleased with the result. With the second one I made two adaptations, I love the boxed corners at the bottom of the holder, so I also put them at the top, which meant positioning the tab slightly lower. I also felt I preferred a button fastening, so I added an elastic loop and a gold button, next time I will stitch the elastic into the seam instead of top-stitching it in afterwards. Hopefully they will both be put to good use 🙂