Happy New Year!  The holidays were lovely at our home, and I am itching for a new sewing project when the kids go back to school.  As always, I have several ideas swirling around in my head.  For now, I'm staying busy with the family.

I made a few small gifts this year, which I hadn't done in a very long time.  For my daughter and my mother, I knocked off a faux fur infinity scarf that I spotted at Dillards.  I made mine with Minky Fur -- which I think is much softer than the regular faux fur -- and a stretchy satin.  I stretched the satin as I sewed the Minky to it, so it gathers a tiny bit.  Simple project that uses about 8" length of 60" wide fabric, so it's not much money to make, but looks fab.

For my son, I made a Minky Fur "slanket" in zebra.  I was thrilled when he told me it was his favorite gift of Christmas, competing with the multitudes of Lego and video games he also received.  A simple project, but massive.  I lined it in rayon challis, because the back side of Minky fur is not soft, so it wasn't a cheap project either.  Did I mention he loves it?

My mom and step-father were the recipients of my custom place mats, in the same style as those I made for myself, but in a lovely black and gold print.  Can you believe I didn't photograph them?  Mom was thrilled, since she also has a round table.

For my husband, I didn't make anything, but I did lengthen his new pants.  He is 6'6", with extra long legs.  We can usually find some casual slacks at Eddie Bauer to fit him, but we noticed this year that the quality control on their slacks is lacking.  We ordered three pairs of pants in the same style and same size (34 x 36), and only one was actually a 36" inseam.  The other two were about an inch shorter.  

The pants had a 1.25" hem, so I was able to add a bias hem facing and give him an extra inch on those two pairs.  They don't look perfect, because the hem crease was so faded.  By top stitching in the old crease, it helped fill in the color a bit, and really, once the pants are on him, it's not bad.  I wouldn't recommend this method for anything other than casual pants, because of the crease, but it is better than being an inch too short.

For me, I hinted that I may need a serger, so that's what my husband bought me.  I've never owned one, and never really felt I needed one before now, but with a yearning for stretchy active wear, thought it may be necessary. I haven't quite figured it all out, yet, but I have managed to thread it, after accidentally breaking the pre-threaded threads.  So that's a start.  I hope to get around to plugging it in soon!

Having the kids around for the holidays has been great fun.  I keep telling them that I will be so lonely when they go back to school.  Lucky me -- a snow storm hit today and the first day of school has already been cancelled!  So I probably won't be back to sewing right away.