23. Fob off your Christmas List

I recently was lucky enough to test another "You Sew Girl" pattern, the USB Key Fob. I am currently using mine to house my USB stick for my Embroidery Machine. I don't even have to take the stick out of the fob to be able to use it, with the neat little hole in it, I can plug it straight in!



This key fob is great for keeping your USB stick safe and sound as well as being easily identifiable. It would make a great addition to christmas stockings if you choose your fabrics and embellishments wisely. If you choose more masculine fabric, it would even make a suitable hand-made gift for a man. Because we all know how tricky it is to find suitable hand-made gifts for men and teenage boys.



Pop a USB stick in there and your teens might like it to store their MP3s on or for schoolwork. Maybe you could pair it with an iTunes gift card? It would also make a great teacher gift if you do that sort of thing. You could pop some photos on the USB stick and give it as a gift for the grandparents for Christmas. It could even be personalised with the child's name. Or you could get them to draw a picture for Nanna using some fabric textas or crayons.... (mind going into over-drive here).



Nikki gives you all the nifty tips and tricks you need to make this USB-key fob, and I am sure that you will use some of these tricks when making other things too. The best part is that you can down-load it right now and get cracking on your hand-made Christmas gift-list.



How would you "giftify" a USB stick? Who would you give it to and how would you embellish it? Would you put stuff on the stick, or leave it empty for the recipient to do what they wish?

8. Kids Clothes Week Day 1

It's day one of Kids Clothes Week and I've started with the skirt from the Oliver + S Sunday Brunch pattern. I have an idea for a skirt, and wanted an A-line pattern to base it on. I purchased the digital version of this last night from the Oliver + S website and now I'm about to make a toile using this cute embroidered fabric before I get stuck into the real deal. Of course, I have discovered I have no matching thread so I'm off to the local fabric shop with three kids, just as soon as Amélie wakes from her nap.



How is this for a happy mail day? No bills (always a good start) and a trifecta of little goodies for me! Some snow pea seeds from Yates, a New Look pattern from Patternplus (thanks Lara for sharing this store - my pattern was only $4.80 inc postage) and a copy of the Homespun magazine in which my snakes & ladders project is featured.

Leggings for Amélie

I have been hunting through my Ottobre magazines, and my Top Kids magazines on the hunt for a leggings pattern. Everything I found either had a seam down the outside leg, or wasn't in a small enough size, or was too baggy. I did try adapting one of my Kwik Sew patterns, but there was a LOT of adjustment going on, and I realised that I would have to do the same thing over again when I made it in a bigger size.



Anyway, last night on Facebook, Lisa from Crafty Mamas posted a picture of a new pattern she is selling in her shop and I was unable to resist. It's the Knit Leggings pattern, by Whimsy Couture, and it's an e-pattern, so you can buy it online and it is emailed to you in pdf format. There was a little bit of cutting and taping required to assemble the pattern, but it isn't too bad when it is for little clothes.



Since there was no waiting around for the postie to arrive, I managed to whip these up last night. Talk about instant gratification!