Yarn Christmas trees tutorial

I love these Christmas trees! They are so soft and peaceful to the eyes. And very fast to make! I just may make a whole forest of these and set them on top of my hutch. Or at least give them away to friends =)

Here is my mom's version...

So cute!

Below is the tutorial on how to make these yarn Christmas trees.

Materials:

All of the materials should be available at your local craft store. I purchased mine from Joan fabrics.

• 1 skein of a thick yarn. I used a Red Heart brand.
• 1 skein of a fuzzy yarn.
• 3 foam cones (usually found in the floral section) or however many trees you want to make.
• Pins
• Accessories of your choice for decorating the trees. I used fake red berries, bird, nest, and stars made of stem floral wire (directions for making the stars are below as well).
• Christmas music (preferably something along the lines of Last Christmas by Wham).
  

Directions

1. Beginning at the base of the cone, pin both yarns together to the base. Continue to wrap the strands around the base, pinning every 2" or so.


2. Once you have wrapped the yarns around the base, continue to wrap the yarns around the cone working your way up to the top. There is no need to continue to pin the yarn. Just the base needs to be pinned for now.


3. Once you have reached the top, pin the yarns around the top of the cone. Work your way around the top of the cone in a circular direction until the top is covered with yarn. Pin where needed at the top. Be sure to cover all of the cone (the pic doesn't show this).
   


4. Now begin to wrap the yarn back down the cone.
5. At the bottom of the cone, cut the strands and secure in place with a pin (pic doesn't show yarn cut...DANG!).


6. You can leave your tree as is or you can accessorize. To add red berries, simply cut off the berries from the berry cluster. Be sure to leave the wire stem attached to the berry.


7. Poke the berry into the tree. If the berry is not going into the tree foam easily, simply weave the stem into the yarn. Continue to poke as many berries as needed in the tree.
   

For my mom's tree, she pinned the ornaments to the tree.

* Star Topper *

Materials

• Floral stem wire
• wire cutters
  
• glitter
• craft glue
• 3" of a 16 or 20 gauge wire (not shown in material pic... oops)
  

Instructions

1. Bend the wire like so...

2. Cut off the end and wrap it around the beginning point.
3. Lightly spray the star with craft glue.
4. Lightly sprinkle some glitter on the star.
5. Wrap the star with the end of the 3" wire. Leave the other end straight.

6. Poke the end through the top of the tree.

The bird and nest are from Joann fabrics. I pinned the nest to the tree top and nestled the bird into it's home.

Here are the trees without the stars and with a different bird.

I love handmade Christmas decorations!
Please feel free to share on the Pretty Ditty Show and Tell flickr group. There's plenty of eggnog to go around.

Peace and joy,

Jamie

Thanksgiving and winners

What a Thanksgiving! I made it through 2 family Thanksgivings, 2 BIG Thanksgiving dinners, 2 Thanksgiving desserts, and a Joann fabrics shopping trip early the next morning. Whew! Before I go into sharing my Thanksgiving with you all, lets announce the fabric give-away winners.

By way of the random number generator, the winners are Melissa M who wrote The day after Thanksgiving, I'm going to the outlets for the midnight madness sale =) and Alissa who wrote This day after Thanksgiving I will be reorganizing my house. (And taking blog reading breaks, of course!). Winners please send me your fabric choice along with your shipping address to: apronstreet at yahoo.com. Let me just say that I loved reading your comments. I was truly touched by them. It's wonderful to be able to share in others thankfulness. Thanks =)

Thanksgiving was very yummy this year. My sister made some delicious appetizers such as

Asparagus Bouquets

• 1 lb prosciutto deli sliced
• 1/2 or 8 ounces neufchatel {softened} or asiago cheese
• 20 to 30 spears of asparagus {depending on thickness of spears}

1. Preheat oven to 450, place asparagus in boiling pot room temp h20 on stove top. Cook on med high until boil. Drain and place in ice water for 2 min. Towel dry the asparagus
2. Place a piece of cheese on top of a piece of prosciutto and wrap two to three asparagus' (depending on thickness of spears).
   
3. Drizzle with evoo and Balsamic. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 15 min

And...

Caprese

• 1 lb fresh mozzarella sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 2 lrg ripe tomatoes
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup basil sliced long
• coarse salt and ground peppercorn for seasoning
• dress with evoo and true balsamic vinegar

My mom cooked the main dinner and just when I thought she couldn't top the previous year's Thanksgiving dinner, she does. By the time dinner was served, I was in such an eating frenzy that I forgot to take pictures of the turkey, stuffing, green beans, and homemade mash potatoes (my childhood favorite). After all of that we went to my in-laws for more great food.


***

A new guest at my families Thanksgiving dinner was my dog nephew Zorro.

Every time my sister went outside, he would wait longingly by the front window for her return. And according to my sister, he loves wearing clothes. She even has pajamas for him.

I have to show you a picture of the mushrooms growing in my parent's backyard...

They look so strange and enchanting at the same time.

Lastly, we crafted for quite some time the day after Thanksgiving. Here's a little peek at one of the crafts...

I'll share the rest with you tomorrow along with the tutorial.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving or weekend (International friends).

Cheers,

Jamie

Thanksgiving is when? Then lets have a giveaway!

My concept of time is off. This past Friday, when I was taking my kids to school, I ran into a friend of mine, whom was also dropping off her kids, and she said, "I can't wait for the break! I'm having such a hard time getting my kids out the door." I nodded my head as though I knew what she was talking about, when in fact, I had no clue. I then ran into another friend and noticed she was carrying a crock-pot full of corn. When I asked her what it was for, she looked at me strangely and said, "It's for the class party." "Really?" I responded, "What party?" "Thanksgiving!" she said.

Then it all made sense! The other mom saying she could hardly wait for the break. The stressed out look on some of the other parent's faces (knowing that they were going to be home for a week with their kids). And all of the food that the moms were taking to class... except for me. Our school district gives the entire week off for Thanksgiving and I had completely forgotten about it. For some reason, I just felt like it was still the beginning of November and not the week before Thanksgiving. Crazy! I hope I get a calendar this Christmas ;)

So Thanksgiving is this Wednesday and... just joking, I know it's Thursday. Yes, this Thursday is Thanksgiving and I just so happen to have some pretty cute tights to wear...

They're called Pinwheel tights from Anthro.

Any big plans for the day after Thanksgiving? I've never done that 3am shopping mania stuff. However, this year my sister, mom, and I will go to Jo-Ann's around 6am to buy stuff for crafting. Then, we plan on crafting all day long afterward. I'm really looking forward to that. Hopefully, I'll have some fun crafts and tutes to share with you after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Being as I won't have time to blog this week (kids home and all), lets have a giveaway! To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me what your day after Thanksgiving plans are or what you are thankful for. Two winners will randomly be selected on Monday November 30th. The Winners will each win 1 yard of the fabric of their choice from Phatfabric.com. The giveaway will close November 29th, 2009. International friends are welcome to enter.

So, to all of my American friends, thank you and be sure to have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! And to all of my International friends, I am thankful for you too! =)

Cheers,

Jamie

One quick note: The Japanese fabric sale will come to close this Saturday.

The giveaway is now closed. I will announce the winners Monday morning. Thank you!

Sewing on the edge of reason

If danger is your middle name and you enjoy things like medieval torture techniques, UFC fights, and crossword puzzles, have I got the sewing pattern for you!

Above are the pattern pieces for John Galliano's Pirate Jacket. And here is the link to the pattern pdf. Through a series of links, I came across this pattern. As you can imagine, I was very excited to get a glimpse into the mind of such a uniquely gifted designer. That glimpse... scared me! However, after giving myself a pep talk and checking out the gallery of other sewers that conquered the beast, I just may give it shot.... Oh who am I kidding, I'm totally not. Seriously, where's the front bodice? But if some brave reader out there should decide to embark on the journey and live to tell... you're my hero!

Rock on!

Jamie

New Echino Fall 09 collection

You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet here in Prettydittyville. That's because the party is happening at Phatfabric! This month is like Japanese fabric celebration month for the Phatfabric shop. For the last week, the shop has been having a Japanese fabric sale, which is still going on. On top of that, there's this...

the new Echino Fall 09 collection! The fabric world just wouldn't be the same without the bright happy colors of Echino. Seriously, how pretty is the bottom left fabric aptly named Bird Song. Bird Song runs railroad, which means parallel to the selvedges.

OK - here's a question for anyone who knows the answer - Is it selvedge or selvage? I have seen both spellings in sewing books. Being as I write patterns and have a fabric shop, I should make sure I get it right. Lets take a vote! I vote for selvedge, because that's how I've spelled it in past patterns and the current sewing pattern that I am working on. Now that I think about it, I don't want to go back through the patten and change all of the "selvedge" spellings. There! It's settled! Selvedge wins! Thanks for playing.

Anyways, where were we? Oh yes, railroad - yes, I always like making aprons out of this type of fabric, because though you are working with only one fabric, it looks like a few perfectly matched fabrics when sewn together. Plus, you can already see what part of the fabric should be the skirt, waistband, and bodice. It's just too perfect. I'm also anxious to make a jacket and a skirt or two from the Do-it-yourself clothes book with the new Echino fabric.
Here is a link to the new pretties.

Happy creating!

Jamie

The comic book apron

I made this retro comic book themed apron for my sister. Being as she is a hair stylist, she is always in need of new aprons. My thinking was why not give her clients something to read while sitting in her chair. Yes, there are magazines available, but here's another option. Now myself and my sister's other clients, can read comic strips.

Usually, I like to trim the bottom of aprons with tulle or a ruffle, but this time I trimmed it with black jumbo rick rack. I also trimmed the waistband with rick rack. If I'm going to make a Pretty Ditty apron with 1 fabric print rather than 2 or 3 different fabrics, I like to separate the waistband by adding some sort of trim. The fabric is by Alexander Henry fabrics and it's called Home Sewing is Easy.

Cheers,

Jamie

Japanese Fabric sale

Just a quick a note to say that I'm having a 20% off ALL Japanese Import fabric sale. Here's the link to the sale at Phat Fabric. And, one more note to let you know about Phat Fabric's new mailing list. The mailing list is for Phat Fabric sales and fabric news such as new fabric in stock. This will be the quickest way to get the 411 on all the new stuff happening at Phat Fabric. Here is the link to sign up for the mailing list (no spamming involved).
Lastly, have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Jamie