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Forgotten projects

 Last week was intended to be my last blog of the year, with a roundup of my crafting projects, but I was reminded of some that I had missed, so I went back over my photos and found more than 20 that I had overlooked! Many of them were in the middle of the year, hidden in WhatsApp messages.

Starting with the jerseys, I made a pullover in a rich terracotta for my daughter, followed later in the year with a green cardigan. My mom has the ultimate pattern which I have copied - every size from a four-year-old to a men's XXL, and all the variations of sleeve and neckline options.


I took a short break from adult knitting to make a jersey for a small child using yarn left over from one of my mother's projects.
I had some of the green yarn left over from the cardigan, so I thought it would be fun to make a pullover for my daughter's favourite small boy. 
I thought I would have just enough, but I ran out half-way up the second sleeve. Unfortunately, I could only get matching yarn in packets of 600g, so I was commissioned to make a pullover for my daughter (yes, green is "her colour" for almost everything!)
And then there were all the shirts! In August, I made one from my absolutely favourite William Morris design, and used the printed selvage to make a "Morris and Co" label for it as proof of authenticity!
Still in August, I made one with the Liberty snowdrop design in blue - the pattern I often use for shirts can be made within a weekend including all the finishing. It is a timeless design, so perfect for the long-lasting Liberty cotton fabrics.
I then made a very simple project - a waterproof tablecloth to protect a beautiful solid-wood table. Fortunately I still have my old wooden T-squares - very handy for marking out such a large piece of fabric.
I was then back to making shirts, the next one for myself with another of my favourite William Morris designs. For this one, I chose out mother-of-pearl buttons that I had been saving for something special, and the greys and pinks of the fabric were just perfect.
In my last blog, I mentioned making a couple of dresses for my Nephew's young daughter, up-cycling the remnants from other projects for the skirts.
Another quick and easy project was a very simple skirt in quite a heavy tweed - perfect for UK late autumn.
Then came the flurry of gifts for my daughter to take with her for all the UK relatives. I showed some of these in last week's blog, but forgot to include a shirt for my brother-in-law.

I then made a pyjama set for my mom for her birthday.
While I had the pattern for her pants handy, I started on the Christmas gift marathon, with two pairs of trousers. I keep my patterns in a wooden box, so it can be quite a treasure hunt to find one I haven't used for a while. The patterns date back to one I bought in my 20s - a Vogue that is still very much in use for making waistcoats.

I then made some oven gloves and an oven mitt for my soon to be son-in-law - he is a passionate cook, especially on the braai, so the black shwe-shwe fabric was perfect. I managed to get some very heavy felt as heat protection - as ever, thanks to Arthur Bales.

I had been planning to make a dress for my younger daughter all year, and finally got around to it for a Christmas gift - from a very versatile pattern that I have now used many times, here with some flamboyant detailing in gold piping on the back.
To finish the year, I made four pairs of matching pyjama shorts with some remnants of Christmas fabric. We found some T-shirts in a perfectly matching red, and the finishing touch was some Christmas elves that we appliquéd.
And finally, the last bit of Christmas madness was a couple of hand-stitched felt mice as "secret Santa" gifts for two of our family of eight cats. 











 




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