The Ugly Christmas Sweater

It's the time of the year for Christmas parties. Many times those parties have a theme and sometimes it is "Ugly Christmas Sweater". Last year, was my first time experiencing an Ugly Christmas sweater party. I had no idea what to wear! All my sweaters were pretty (in my opinion anyway)!

As luck would have it, a friend gave me this beautiful sweater vest:

However, it was too plain. I got it the afternoon of the party. Boy, did I have work to do!

I have a lot of my sewing supplies at school, so I was sure I could find something to spruce up the sweater! I found green felt, ribbon, red felt and Christmassy fabric. I also found some bits of tinsel left over from decorating.

I only had a few hours before the party, so I got busy! First, I cut out a Christmas tree from the green felt and pinned it on to the sweater.

 

Sewing was next:

 

I added some red ribbon to the bottom.

 

It was too plain and needed more pizazz. A little tinsel and trim here, a little red felt there...much better!

 

 

Finally, a bow to top it all off.

 

Ta-da! The finished project!

 

Finally, here are a couple pictures from the party last year. We had a fashion show of everyone's ugly sweaters. I won the prize for "most creative".

It was a fun time had by all!

Have you ever been to an Ugly Christmas Sweater party? What did you wear?

~Elizabeth

St. Nicholas Day Surprise

Today, is the feast of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra in the third century. He was a very kind and wealthy man, giving much of what he had to the poor and needy. He is the real Santa Claus.

As one story goes, there was a man who had three daughters. In order to get married, they had to have money - a dowry. The man was very poor and did not have any money, so it seemed as though his daughters would be sold into slavery. However, one night a they found a bag of gold by their fireplace. The next night, a second bag of gold was found and then a third. The three daughters had their dowries and would not be sold into slavery. Nicholas was the one who had given the gold to the man and his daughters. That is how the tradition of putting your shoes out on the eve of St. Nicholas Day came about.

Over my Thanksgiving break, I made three zippered pouches for my roommates. I wanted it to be a Christmas gift for them because they are such wonderful roommates! We leave for break before Christmas, so I decided to surprise them with their gifts for St. Nicholas Day. I wrapped their gifts up in pretty paper and decorative gift bags.


Here they are, all packaged up!

Once they leave for school, I will put them in their rooms, and they will have a surprise waiting for them when they get home later today!

Roommate #1 will get this lovely Girlfriend Zipper Pouch. It is just the right size and it even has pockets inside! If you want to make one, you can find the tutorial at Blue Susan Makes. It was super easy and fun too! I love the ruffle detail on the front.

 

 

Roommate #2 will get this awesome pencil pouch! It is perfect for her since she wants to be a teacher. The numbers are perfect too, because she loves math! It is super easy to follow and you can find the tutorial at Gwenny Penny. I will be making several more of these!

 

 

Roommate #3 is from South Korea, and she loves anything I sew. She has watched me sew and wants me to teach her! I decided to make her this open wide zipper pouch from Noodlehead. The fun thing about this tutorial is you can choose from 3 different sizes to make. I was going to make a medium but I made a mistake when cutting, so I had to make a small. This is another great tutorial that I will be using again!

 

 

 

 My crafty and thoughtful sister wanted to make something for all of my roommates too. She made these felt Christmas tree ornaments. Aren't they so cute? She did a great job!

 

 

 

I know my roommates will love their surprises! Have you been sewing any Christmas gifts lately?

 

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

 

~Elizabeth