Happy December! Christmas sewing has begun.

I don't know how I managed to do it, but I deflected all my alterations and other sewing jobs, and I have the entire month of December to myself!  Woo hoo!  I'll still be doing upholstery Monday-Wednesday, as per usual, but my Thursdays and Fridays (and subsequent weekends) are free!  

This was taken last year, and if you'll notice, I'm working on a wedding dress.  It was my first bridal alteration of my new sewing business.  I've done several more since then, but I don't have any this month!

 This was my mountain of PJ pants from last year.  I made 13 pairs!  This year, I'm making 9.  I wish I could show you the flannel for all of them, but I have to keep it a secret!

I've always wanted to make my own tree skirt, and last week I found this super easy quilting pattern and some excellent Christmas batiks at Fabricland.

I wasn't sure how long it would take me, as this is my first patchwork project, but I was pleasantly surprised that it went really fast.  It helps that the pieces are huge, too.

 Here you can see the 4 fabrics I chose.  Aren't they cute?  

 Lots and lots of triangles!  I have to say, I'm loving patchwork quilting.  My mom is a hardcore quilter, so I've been thinking about it for a while.  Last year I attempted a couple Christmas quilts, but they were applique.  I like this better!

 When I sew, I'm slow because I'm so picky.  Quilting is perfect!  I got to be totally anal with every seam, and it was pure heaven.  Sigh.  

 Don't tell my mom that I used pins for every seam!  Well, she'll know now.  (Hi, Mom!)  Hee hee.  I found that pinning everything allowed me to sew faster without fiddling with the edges of the fabric.  I know you're supposed to pin big pieces, but I did the little ones too.  

 This is the top.  Next up, I'll be layering it with batting, and binding the edges.  It will also have a hole in the middle.  I have to finish it quick so we can put up our Christmas tree!  


In addition to the pile of PJ pants, my other projects include a black skirt for the Christmas choir on Dec 12, a vest for my mom (don't worry, she already knows about it!), and a fleece PJ jumpsuit (onesie) for myself *excited!*.  I'm not going to set myself any more goals as of yet.  We'll see how week one goes.  I'm hoping that since I get to do all fun sewing, I'll put in lots of hours, get everything done early, and have time to make myself some new clothes!  But I know how it usually goes, so I'll just stick with my essentials for now.  


I hope everyone has some fun projects planned for Christmas!  Happy December!