Santa's Workshop is Officially Open

Yes, my workshop is officially open, but before I show you what I've been up to, I have to share this wonderful apron that I received from Julie for the Holiday Hostess Flirty Apron Swap. Ain't it grand? I just love it. The camera, of course, does not capture the beauty of this apron.
and look -- it's reversible! My favorite!!!
Check out the cool coordinating pocket!!
This apron will definitely be a part of my holiday wardrobe! Thanks Julie!!

Here's what's been going on in the workshop this past week.

Scarves in fun, funky colors and fun fabrics. This one is out of that whisker fabric. I'm not sure of the fabric family group for this particular fabric. This one will go to my one day daughter-in-law in Seattle.
And in novelty fleece, a lovely blue.
a great yellow,
and a minty green. The irony of the scarves is this. This fabric has been in my stash forever. My mom sent it (forever translates to one, perhaps 2 years) but I couldn't figure out what to do with the fabric. I mean it was a quarter yard, for crying out loud. So, in my cleaning frenzy last week, I put the fabric in the donation bags.

Well, during my cyber-Christmas shopping, I came across scarves. They had great, bright colors, interesting textures -- chenille, fleece, yarn, you name it. Then, the other day, when I was out in the garage, I glanced in one of the bags and viola!! Fashion forwards scarves were born. And the great thing about them -- they are light weight and toasty warm!
I also put together a gift set for my 7 year old goddaughter. We were in Disney, where hubby really wanted to get her a gift. You see, we have shopped there for her for years. But, I subtly reminded him that she is 7 and that there was nothing in that store that would entertain her. He was very sad to realize that she is a little lady now. So, I came home and made her something that I know she'll love -- a faux fur blanket and pillow set.

Now, this fabric has been in my stash for over a year and I finally decided to do something with it. So, a blanket. Let me tell you, this was not only hot work, but also messy. Not only was I covered in fake fur, but the floor was covered and so was the dog, who refused to get out of the way.
The back side of the blanket is a soft fleece, which I've had forever. I love this fabric and I think Julien is going to love the softness too. Since they live in Colorado, she will be able to put this to use. We decided this is a great laying on the floor blanket.

So, why is it 4 colors that really don't match? Not enough fabric? Well, yes and no. There was not enough of any one fabric to make a large enough blanket and I wanted to make a coordinated set, so the end result was patchwork.
And here's the complete set. A patchwork faux fur blanket and 4 fuzzy pillows. The round pillow is actually make from two fabrics, the side that you see and the yellow/pink combo, which is on the other side (I forgot to turn it over for the picture). It took an entire box of fiberfill to stuff the pillows, and even then, I was a bit short. Luckily, I had two bags of shredded foam (supposed to be used for Bootsy's bed) and added some to the blue pillow, in addition to fiber fill. I like that pillow the best. It is the softest.
I can honestly say that even though manipulating the fabric was a chore at time, it was a fun set to make. Right up until the point where I had to come the seam lines and fluff that fur. Ugh.

Well, I have a lot of sewing to do . This week, I'm concentrating on gifts that need to go out of town. In order to avoid temptation, I have taken the fabrics and patterns, for gifts that stay local out to the garage (out of sight, out of mind). And not only that. In order to keep the stress out of this exercise, I have decided to allow retail to help me with my Christmas party clothing needs, while sticking to Tim Gunn's 10 items that need to be in a closet list. My day dress should be arriving tomorrow (a great dress I got from Needless Markup (Neiman Marcus) when they had an additional 50% off clearance last week) in addition to my necklace (Ann Taylor clearance, plus 25% off). My shoes arrived two days ago (Ann Taylor Loft clearance, plus 25% off) (everything was free shipping -- and I didn't make a single purchase without checking the net for additional promotional codes). Yep, I've been busy. I spent the crazy shopping days at home on my computer signing up for sale alerts at the department stores (have to watch those pennies). While my purchases are for the most part boring -- just the basics and classic items right now, I have managed to get quality pieces for a fraction of the retail prices. Who knew?

Well, happy sewing y'all. I have really got to get back to work. Why did you let me prattle on so long?