Are you itching to do some holiday sewing? This advent calendar is a quick-ish sew if you want to whip up a fun Christmas item now! Get some stash busting done too.

Tools needed:

• rotary cutter or scissors
• ruler
• 1/4 yard of a few different fabrics or scraps
• 1/2-3/4 yard of sturdy solid fabric for the front and back. (duckcloth, canvas, denim, etc.)
• Matching thread
• Iron on numbers, cutting machine with HTV vinyl, or template for sewing them on, if you don't embroider them. 
• All the sewing notions and a machine
• A piece of 1/2" wooden dowling and twine for hanging. 

I chose Christmas fabrics similar in color, grabbed them and started cutting. I liked the size of my phone, so I used it as a pattern. Find something around the house that is the size you want, and use that as a pattern template.

​My phone measures 6.5" by 3". I added 1 inch to the width and length for seam allowances to make rectangles. Fold them in half RTT (right sides together) and stitch with a 1/2" seam. Sew the sides only. Leave the bottom open, clip corners, turn out, and press flat. 

**If you decide to sew or embroider the numbers on, do this before sewing the pocket together. If you use vinyl or iron-on numbers, you can add the numbers after the pockets are sewn and turned.

Who's ready for the new year? Not me. Not yet, anyway. I still need to eat turkey and put up the tree. But, I'm enjoying the calm before the holiday storm right now.
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I subscribe to a sewing magazine, Sew News and at the end of December's issue, they included a sewing goal chart to fill out. It gave me an idea to ask you if your sewing dreams were fulfilled for 2019. Did you complete projects, use up some stash fabric, or maybe you learned something new? Did you have a sewing fail or two? 

I have a silly question for you. Do you ever buy fabric without knowing what you'll make with it? 

Quietly raises a hand, I'm uber guilty of this. #fabrichoarder

Well, boredom set in on a Friday night and I didn't have to taxi kids around.
So, I opted for the ole "cereal for dinner" mantra. 
And I took a whole afternoon-turned to night, for me. And did some selfish sewing.

I looked in my stash and had Halloween fabric I bought years...and years ago. I also had some fun Jetson's fabric. I'm a  child of the 80's after all. It was a stash busting selfish sewing kind of night.

I always buy at least 2 yards of fabric, especially If I'm unsure what it'll get used for. You can usually get a skirt, a top, or a blanket and matching items for a baby gift, etc. out of 2 yards.

All I needed was 2 yards of fabric, an invisible zipper, and coffee. 

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Fall is in the air, but that won't stop me from wearing this jumper. No way! The days are warm and the nights are chilly. Jumpers are a great seasonal transition piece. Add a sweater and some chucks, and you're set. 

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This is half sew along and half review. It's not a complete step by step. Hopefully you'll get some useful info out of it though.

​Most of the summer was spent enjoying beautiful weather, great friends, resort pools, and camping.
My friend stayed with us for a week and we squeezed in some sewing time. And, the jumper was finished at another friends house while I visited her. Ha!! Yes, having sewing friends in real life is amazing. #findyourtribe
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Grab the New Look Pattern 6446. You won't regret it! There are tons of tutorials on this pattern online and You Tube. 

I chose to use this fabric that I've had since 2015. Yikes!
I bought 3 yards at Joann fabrics in the clearance section. It's an extremely soft, thick knit. I used a 16" invisible zipper and coordinating white thread. 

My mama gave me a small bag of vintage sewing things she found while rummaging through the garage. She thought I might like them, and she was right! So, I had to share.