What to make for gifts?

One of my readers sent me an email yesterday saying that I didn't say WHAT gift items I was making. I will list them below. I've been doing this for several years now, so I have it down to a science. But first...

Mrs. Hunting Creek's Rules for Sane Holiday Sewing

1. Do not try something you have never tried before. Now is NOT the time to learn how to crochet your own thigh high silk stockings, (unless you are one of those rare people with tons of free time and a small gift list)
2. Make the projects small enough so that you can finish them in the short time alloted. Will you really be able to make 4 queen size quilts in 110 days? Keeping in mind that your sewing room is not a sweatshop (although at times it may feel like one)
3. Do a trial run - make a few and see if you really want to make 28 matching napkins. Mix it up so you don't get bored and do other stuff in between or you'll go crazy. Ask me how I know this
4. Start early - start planning NOW. Do you really want to be up til 3am on December 18th making gifties for your secret Santa? I didn't think so.

You can make fun presents for people and not end up wandering in the mall like an extra in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Here is what I am making this year. If you do the same thing consistently your recipients will start to ask you in November if you will PLEASE make those biscotti in a Christmas Tin like last time.

Cookies - you can make these in batches starting now and freeze until holiday time, then it won't be overwhelming. Long keeping cookies that freeze well include biscotti, Snickerdoodles, thumbprint cookies and bar cookies.

Crazy Quilted and otherwise fancy-looking Christmas Stockings (there are lots of patterns for these and after having made hundreds I can truly say that they are quick and easy to make)

Table runners - these are small quilts and go together quickly - plus they use use scraps and can be made to match people's decor or interests

Accessories: I have made wraps, shawls and scarves and they are super easy and cost a fortune if you buy them. I'll work with my photographer this week to make a tutorial for you.

Tote bags: these make a wonderful green gift and are super thoughtful.

I'll post recipes and pictures as I go along. This will keep me from falling behind, right? Right? Keep your fingers crossed.

Only 100 Plus days til Christmas

My brother in law, who is otherwise a very nice, kind and considerate person, sent me a ecard last week. There were butterflies, puppies, rainbows and leaping fish, all of them gaily proclaiming: only 115 days til Christmas! Isn't that Pure Evil? Like most working women, I look upon the holidays with all the cheerful optimism of Nell tied to the train tracks by Snidely Whiplash. All the work, all the gifts, cards, planning, cooking...I'll stop. I must think zenlike thoughts.
Adding to this normal Fall to Winter Marathon, this is the year that my son is in his senior year of high school and is applying for college this fall. He is my youngest child. Once he is at college, I'll be officially an empty nest mom. Mr. Hunting Creek is looking forward to this development. "We'll go camping!" he says. He points out the fun my dad had on a recent trip to Mammoth Lakes. (Hi Dad!)

What he doesn't know is, I am not going anywhere without my sewing machine. This may complicate his back to nature Simple Life fantasies. (We'll pare down to basics!, he says. "It will be great!") no stash? no machine? ah, no... I won't tell him yet. It will be our little secret.)
In the meantime, in between working, running a household and getting my son's applications in, plus all the holiday prep, I'll be attempting to do my pre-holiday gift sewing and cooking. I like to give some homemade gifts to my nearest and dearest.
If you see Dudley Do-Right, tell him I'm tied to the tracks.

The Almanac Knows

Our weather here in Northern Virgina has been amazingly pleasant the last few weeks - way too pleasant to sit inside and sew. My son and I were discussing this phenomenon and we both agreed, weather this pleasant MUST mean that we will get a horrible winter. We didn't get hardly any snow last winter and to a high school guy that's a big disappointment - no snow days! He saw that the almanac had also predicted a heavy snowfall for us this upcoming winter and advised me in his scientific tone of voice that of course it was impossible to predict the weather with any accuracy more than a week ahead. Which means that we'll get lots of snow, right?
I'll have to work on my coat muslin so I can finish my winter coat before it gets cold. Since our weather has been so wacky lately that could be any day now.
I'd better get started on my fall sewing before we are buried in snow!
What are you sewing for fall?

Only ONE month left of Summer

Hurry! only one month left of summer! If you hurry, you still have time to do the following:

Lie by the pool reading magazines
Sew a cute T shirt in your favorite color
Watch a blockbuster movie with your kids (if you don't have kids, you can borrow some.)
Eat outside
Squeeze in one more trip to the pool (ours closes on Labor Day)
Go to the Farmer's market and buy all the tomatoes and peaches and sweet corn they have
Make a Tomato Pie

Everyone loves this at our house. It's so delicious you won't believe how easy it is.

Make a batch of biscuit dough. I use the recipe in Fannie Farmer, which is almost the same as the recipe on the back of my flour bag. Two cups of flour, one stick of butter, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 4 teaspoons baking powder and about 2/3 cups milk.
Divide the dough in half and line an 8 inch pie pan with that half. Then cover the bottom with a handful of grated mild cheddar cheese, 2 sliced tomatoes, snipped chives, basil, more cheese (another handful) and then take 1/3 cup mayonnaise, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and spread that over tomatoes and cheese and herbs. Top with remaining biscuit dough and bake until brown - about 20 minutes at 350.
Wonderful with a cold iced tea - equally as good later this fall with Roma tomatoes.
Better make two if you have more than 3 people who like tomatoes.

Why I Love Patterns

Some people find out how many patterns I have and they are aghast. Why do you need so many? (non-sewists just don't get it) Patterns, like recipes and road maps, are the directions to get you where you want to go. How can you have too many directions in this world? Say that you are watching the Academy Awards and you see the fabulous Helen Mirren. She was wearing an amazing dress, right? The sewist knows that they could make a similar dress with the help of a good pattern. Or you are in a great restaurant and you have a wonderful dish, delicious and unusual (like the carrot and ginger soup I had once at Zola in DC). You know that if you can find a similar recipe, you can make that soup whenever you want. A good map gets you where you need to go. Mr. Hunting Creek, armed only with the Rand McNally Atlas, once drove us from LaGuardia to Tuxedo Park New York for a wedding weekend, with no wrong turns, in the dark! All you need is a good map and decent directions, he said.
I very seldom make a pattern exactly the way the designer intended. Either I have adult attention deficit disorder, or I am incapable of following directions. I like to experiment and also, sometimes I think I know better than the designer. For instance, don't you think that this pattern would make a great top? That's what I'm going to do with it. And this Butterick Tunic wants to be a dress (it told me).
With quilt patterns I mix stuff up too. I take a little of this and a little of that and make something different. I like to take all of my patterns and mix and match ingredients to come up with something better. The first time you do this it will feel funny, but if you play around with test fabric first , you'll get the hang of it. And pretty soon, you'll be swapping the skirt of one Vogue Pattern with the bodice of another to the benefit of both. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Pajamas and Bunny Slippers

I was on a conference call not too long ago, (at the Company-That-Can-Not-Be-Named) and the Vice President addressed those of us who were virtual workers, or as she said, "those of you in pajamas and bunny slippers". The IMs were flying back and forth like crazy between all of us after that statement. Were we all in pajamas and bunny slippers? (A good friend of mine feels that Business Casual has ruined the American workplace; people have been sighted wearing flip-flops at work! A sign of the End Times, he feels.) I did a quick poll of all of my fellow virtual workers. What did we all wear to work, since we worked at home?
The results: no pajamas, 2 sweats, 4 jeans and t shirts, 2 shorts and t shirts and no bunny slippers. While not a scientific poll, I'd like to speak in defense of my fellow virtual workers. While we don't wear business clothes at home, we don't wear pajamas all day either. After all, that hot UPS man comes to the door quite frequently and we don't want to give him the wrong ideas. What is this bunny slipper myth, and where did it come from? I don't even know anyone who HAS bunny slippers.
The image above is from Tesla Motors, and is shows their brilliant interpretation of the Bunny Slipper. Clearly they felt that all of the Hipsters at Burning Man would know what a bunny slipper meant. Is a bunny slipper just a slipper? Or does it mean Something More? There is even a BunnySlippers.com. , a jazz band called Fuzzy Bunny Slippers, and whole websites discussing their cultural relevance. They are the footwear of choice among Vampires. Clearly the person who wears them risks being seen as either ironic or a fool; such a lot of cultural baggage for something so small pink and fuzzy!
Dr. Freud said sometimes a cigar is just a cigar; but was that Vice President implying that those of us who worked at home were slackers? Wouldn't you insult a candidate's work ethic if you implied that they wore bunny slippers? Then he or she would have to escalate the rhetoric and show that, no, they were tough on relaxation; they wore the Killer Rabbit Slippers instead.

Dear NY Times Fashion Editor

Dear New York Times Fashion Editor,

What were you thinking? Oh, wait...you weren't thinking. (or thinking like a five year old girl who wears her ballet tutu even to bed, she loves it SO MUCH!)
What sane woman, what normal American gal wants to wear tight black sequined leather leggings? Or as one male member of the Little Hunting Creek Fashion Advice Team put it, "what gal wants sequins on her butt?"
Dear Editor, in future, please show some pants that non-pole dancers would wear.
These pants are shown with the model reclining. This is because she had to lie down and suck it in to get them on, even though she is a size negative zero, and also because she could not stand up in those shoes. Also, they are described as a "bargain" at $245.00. After we were all done laughing hysterically, we decided that perhaps there were places where one COULD theoretically wear them. For instance, if one were able to drive ones' silver DeLorean back in time to the 80's disco Studio 54. Or to Rat Pack concert at the Sands hotel in Vegas, baby. One MUST be careful to wear them in appropriate venues; however, one would not wish to be mistaken for a Pretty Woman kind of girl. We are pretty sure that designing these pants would result in elimination from Project Runway

Sincerely,
The Little Hunting Creek Fashion Advice Team