A Backpack For Anton

 

In 2018 and in 2019 I sewed backpacks as Christmas gift for the daughter of my friend Monika. It was nothing complicated, very easy jeans backpacks, embellished with appliqué of Halloween motifs created by my favourite artist J. Wecker Frisch (I have a weakness for all the skulls, bats and ravens she designs every year!).  

Once, the father of the family borrowed one of the backpacks from his daughter and found it a very useful and fine thing. That´s why Monika asked me, this time  to sew a backpack for her husband. As I didn´t want to use skulls and ravens, I had to create something else, a bit more serious. 

I used torn strips from old jeans and some prints from my stash. Originally, I wanted to quilt by hand. But the time before Christmas is always extra short, so I had to quilt by machine. The result is quite sufficient, I think. 

 

The back part is made very simple, just in case Anton would not like the front part. 

Happy stitching!

Michaela

 

Small Christmas Presents

 

During the advent time I like  meeting friends and colleagues to wish Merry Christmas. I try to create small presents for everyone, just for fun.  As you can imagine, it cannot be anything big or expensive, because one don´t want to embarrass people with big presents. Also, it shouldn´t be laborious, because the day has only 24 hours and the time before Christmas is always somehow shorter than usual.  That are reasons why I love sewing  small key fobs.

This time my eye fell on a big piece of fabric, which belongs to my stash since some time. 

 

I liked the animals and their size, just small enough to embellish a small something. I tried some combinations with different fabrics but a) as I have mostly smaller pieces or scraps, there was never fabric enough, b) a patchwork fabric is for a key fob not sturdy enough. Finally, I chose for jeans, like so many times before. 

As I had already written, I need many of them, so the sewing method had to be as easy as possible. I chose for fusible appliqué, zigzag stitch and raw edges. 

I filled the small cushions with cotton batting and ground winter spices – cloves, cinnamon and star anise.  It brings a really Christmas atmosphere, this beautiful smell! 

During a week or so in the evenings about one hundred key fobs were sewn. What a great smell in my workplace! They are almost gone, only a few of them are waiting for friends who I couldn´t meet yet. 

Happy stitching!

Michaela