Handmade :: Part 3 of 4

For my sister-in-law:

So my SIL runs her own internet-based business, Penguinbot.com. You may remember it from a giveaway I had here a few months ago. At Penguinbot she sells amazing handbags, clutches, coin purses, aprons, oven mitts, etc. etc., all of which she sews herself. So you can imagine my apprehension whenever I decide to sew something for her. I worry about the quality, the color choice, and whether or not she could just whip up something better herself. Of course non of this worry is at all warranted because my SIL is a gracious and sincere person who would never think ill of something that was made for her. But still. I worry. It's how I roll.

And yet, despite the worry, I went ahead and sewed her an apron. I sewed my brother-in-law one too while I was at it.

{left: apron for SIL; right: apron for BIL}

My SIL's apron was actually supposed to be her present last year. I had found this penguin fabric that I thought was perfect and she was blogging about the curses of not owning an apron. It was going to be awesome. I sent her swatches of the fabric and promised an apron in the "next couple of months." Obviously you can see exactly how many months it took me to get it to her. Fortunately she still loved the fabric and seemed happy to have her apron.

To make up for the lateness of the apron, I decided to make her one more thing. Well, actually three of the same things...

{flower clip for SIL}

When I saw these flower clips on design mom, I immediately thought of my SIL. I even used the same colors as design mom because I knew they would be perfect for her. The picture above is of a purse that my SIL made for me with the largest of the flower clips attached to it.

{smaller flower clips for SIL}

My original plan was to have the two smaller flowers be identical so that she could clip them on to her flats if she wanted to. But you know, sometimes things just don't turn out the way you want them to. That's when it is best to just be a grown up about it and accept the results. Alternatively you can throw some stuff across the room and stomp around while you're "accepting the results." Either way works in the end.

My SIL immediately put one of the smaller flower clips in her hair and it looked beautiful.

For my brother-in-law:

This is my BIL. He's crafty.

He also may or may not be a wood-shop teacher from the 1970s.

I made him the denim apron pictured way up at the top. Why did I make an apron for a boy? Well, when Kevan came to visit us in August he was constantly on the lookout for projects. One afternoon I came down to the basement where my sewing machine lives (and where Kevan was living) to sew a denim apron. Kevan became so intrigued by the whole idea that he usurped (unknowingly of course) my machine and started sewing an apron of his own. He gave that apron to a friend and had to leave before he could make another one. Also, he likes to cook. When the time came to make a gift for Kevan, a denim apron was really the only appropriate choice.

I did a little bit of guessing and made everything a little bigger for him. I didn't get a picture of him in it but I was quite pleased with the outcome.

One more post and I'm all done sharing my handmade holiday! I hope you're enjoying this little blog series. Coming up: tutorials! So far I'm planning the felted soap and freezer paper stenciling. Please do let me know if you're interested in anything else.