Christmas Stockings for Our Family

My mum started a tradition of making us all our own Christmas stocking for our first Christmas. As kids, we always thought our stocking were the most awesome Christmas stockings around and we still all love them! When I got married, I decided to continue the tradition and made my husband a stocking for our first married Christmas. I did the same for Max's first Christmas and today, I've just finished Sam's Christmas stocking just in time for his first Christmas. I'm so relieved I got it done in time. Life is a whole lot busier with 2 little boys to look after. :-)

They are lined with batting in between the fabric and lining and the names are embroidered in chain stitch. The edges of the cuffs are done in satin stitch and clipped close to the stitching. I never really intended it but they've all ended up in a shade of red!! I think they look really nice all together and our little stocking family is complete. :-)

Christmas stocking are something that you can make for anyone including those special boys in your life. I used an old McCall's pattern for these stockings so I can't post a pattern online but here's a few links to some great stocking tutorials if you'd like to make some yourself.

- Tip Junkie's list of stocking tutorials
- Fabric Worm's stocking tutorial
- Prudent Baby's stocking tutorial
- Sew Like My Mum's stocking tutorial

That should be enough to get you going and give you some great ideas. Happy stocking sewing!!

***UPDATE: Here is a pic of the pattern I used just in case anyone is interested in tracking it down. You can often find it available online second hand. :-)***

Ideas for Boy's Themes

If you're new to making things for boys, it can seem daunting and quite tricky coming up with themes or ideas of things to make. To help you out, I've brainstormed a heap of themes that boys love. You should find something there to get you started. :-) I've avoided anything branded as I think some of the best homemade stuff comes from our own imagination or at the very least, is based around a timeless theme, not the most popular TV show. Feel free to make any suggestions of extra themes that could be added to the list! I know I'll be adding more as I think of them. :-)


Submarines
Planes
Cars
Trucks
Motorbikes

Trains

Bikes & Scooters

Skateboards

Ships

Construction vehicles
Town & Roads

Jungle

Under the Sea
The Beach

Desert

Wild West, cowboys, indians

Arctic/Antarctic animals and landscape

Snow

The Zoo

Pirates
Castles
Knights
Dragons
Robots
Aliens
OuterSpace
Cave Men

Bugs
Farm Animals
African Animals
Birds
Fish
Reptiles
Mammals
Pets
Dinosaurs

Explorers
Detectives
Armed Forces - Army, Navy, Airforce
Firemen/Fire trucks
Policemen/Police Cars
Ambulance Officers/Ambulances
Doctor
Roman Soldiers
Inventors
Detectives
Secret Agent/Spies
Kings & Queens

Sports (football, soccer, hockey, basketball, cricket, athletics etc)
Cooking/Food

Music/Instruments

Building/Tools

Computers

Computer games & consoles

Fixing Up The Download Links...

I have just discovered that none of the links to my templates work at the moment. I am so sorry if you have come to my blog to look at my tutorials recently and have tried to download templates only to find they don't work! I have my husband on the job fixing up my website and getting everything working again so they should all be functional very soon!


***Update! Downloads for my own patterns are now fixed! :-) Lets hope they don't disappear again!***

Baby Samuel Has Arrived!!

Sorry I haven't been posting the last month or so. Was super tired those last few weeks of pregnancy and was desperately trying to finish off portable change mats, breast pads, nursing covers etc. before bubby arrived. I managed to just get a maternity apron that I designed finished (and photos taken thankfully!) before Samuel arrived on November 14th. Here's a few pics of me and my boys. :-)

Just a couple of hours old.

My 3 favourite people in the world.

Max cuddling his little brother for the first time. 

Sammy all ready to go home.

Once things settle down again here, I'll have to get back to posting some of the things I've been making and discovering. I'm about to get into Christmas presents for the boys and have found some awesome supplies for making baby toys that I'd love to share with you so stay tuned!

Free Monster Doll Tutorial & Pattern from Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores!

Here's another wonderful tutorial with pattern completely free! Seems I can go for weeks searching for something really good and then all of a sudden, tutorials pop out of the woodwork! Can't believe I've found 2 in 2 days! :-)

This is in a PDF format and has pattern pieces for the monster and 3 costumes for him. Although I don't celebrate Halloween, it would be perfect for anyone who does and I'm sure little boys would just love this at any time of the year. Unfortunately, I haven't made this yet and again it will be added to my list of projects but it certainly looks well written and worth a try.

Click on the link below to get your free PDF and enjoy!!

Free Halloween Project from Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores!

Free Car Pillow Tutorial from Noodlehead

I just had to share this gorgeous tutorial with you! I haven't tried it myself but it is well written and has plenty of photos...and is simply perfect for boys! Gorgeous tutorials like this NEED to be shared. :-)

It's from a fantastic blog called Noodlehead. Just click on the link below to view the tutorial.

Noodlehead: car pillow tutorial

Now get sewing and enjoy! I can't wait till my current list of projects are finished so I can get to this one. :-)

Make Your Own Wooden Toys for Boys with Toymaker Press!

2/11/12 UPDATE: Toymaker Press has changed to Toymaking Plans. They are exactly the same...just their name and url have changed. You can see their website here and check out my latest post for more info. I will also add that since I did this post, I have learnt that they change what plan they offer for free and sometimes don't have one so it's worth signing up to their newsletter and grabbing those free plans when you can!


If you're in to wooden toys and making things for your boys, then you might like this website. 

www.toymakerpress.com

It's on my dream list at the moment...as is my own scroll saw. :-) When I was a teenager, I made gifts for friends using my dad's scroll saw to cut out the wood. Then I'd put the pieces together and paint them up. I love cutting and preparing the wood but the construction and decoration is probably not my favourite crafty activity. It's worth it though when you give your gift and see the receiver's reaction. :-) I'll have to dig out my old photos, scan them in (we're talking film days here!) and post a few pics of the things I made.

Anyway, this website has some amazing books full of patterns and instructions for a whole range of wooden toys that would be just perfect for boys of any age. Individual PDF patterns can be bought for specific toys so you don't have to buy a whole book. You can buy the books in hard cover print format or PDF so if you don't live in the US, you don't have to spend a small fortune on postage. I looked into postage to Australia and it was ridiculous compared to the price of the actual book so as much as I'd love to have the real book, I'll probably buy the PDF when I get my scroll saw.

However, to get you started, they offer free PDF patterns that are easily downloadable from their website!!! Seeing this has given me great confidence in buying their other books. You get to try before you buy!! They seem to change what they offer from time to time so keep checking back for new patterns. Below are a couple of pics of patterns they have offered.

Astronauts Acrobats

The types of toys you can make from the books include:

• wooden boats
• planes
• cars and trucks
• trains
• fire engine play set
• cranes
• dragons, knights & fair maidens
• dinosaurs and cave men
• houses including furniture, people and scenery
• animals
• Noah's ark
• baby and toddler toys including pull along animals
• space rocket set
• dude ranch set
• ice hockey game
• zoo set
• and even a full size rocking horse!

It really is best to check out the website because they offer so much!! Have fun!