Stuffed full of Joy

This week I gave my students an invaluable present. I taught them how to sew. I saw this cute pattern for a bird in the book Quick Patchwork Gifts (I'll find the link later) and decided that this is what I would do for our Christmas project/ It was a little more work than I thought it would be, but a lot more rewarding, as well. The kids loved it. Those who caught on quickly were wonderful helpers for the rest of the class, and best of all, no one stuck anyone else with a needle!





























On the home sewing front, I made my first bound buttonholes for my jacket. They're not perfect, but passable. I tried a few different methods in different books, but decided to go with the "organza patch method" found in my old Vogue sewing book. This was the easiest, but would look most perfect if you have organza that is the same color as your fashion fabric. My jacket is lighter weight than I had expected and I'm wondering if I would have liked it better had I fused it with a different interfacing that had a little more body. We'll see when it's finished. I kind of got hung up on the pockets because they were pulling the front, so I am going to baste those on by hand and see what I think before I sew them, which will also be done by hand so that they won't show through on the lining. I'm ready now to do all the finishing (sleeves, lapels, collar, hem,) but have put it aside until I get some Christmas projects finished!