Merry Christmas (So I am Late)

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I had the 24th and 25th off and had plans to sew - NOT.  All I did was relax and do a little cooking.  I didn't even visit with family and friends on Christmas day - I was enjoying my time relaxing and celebrating my Savior's birth.

The real plan was to finish (start and finish) the jacket that has to be done by the 31st for a contest I entered - never touched it.  I did get a little sewing done.  At the 99th hour I decided to make one Christmas gift for a girlfriend.  I normally don't buy Christmas presents except for myself.

I knew I want to make something but I dare not make another purse.  She has gotten a number of purses that I made for her and she has always appreciated them but I wanted to give her something different and something that was quick and fun to make.  I went to my project folder and found mug rugs.  I also decided to embroider a dish towel.

How I Did It

I found the Mug Rug project at one of my favorite sewing sites Sew4Home.  I used this project as a base.  I made mine about 2 inches smaller in width and length and made a slight change to the top piece.

For the mug rugs I used cotton fabrics.  I did want the fabrics to reflect some Christmas colors but I also knew I had to be practical about potential stains.  I compromised and chose black for the main base and a dark rich red hoping these colors would somewhat hid the stains in between washing's.

I used Sulky's 12wt cotton thread in both the top and bobbin for decorative top stitching (I love this thread).  My Janome 8900 did not miss a beat - no tension adjustments at all, however, I did use the blue dot bobbin.

For the dish towel I purchased it at either JoAnn's or Hancock's and embellished it with embroidery and applique. I found the design Appliqued Meowy Christmas Cats at Sulky Embroidery Club.  The funny thing is I don't even like cats but I this design was absolutely adorable.  I used cotton fabrics for the applique and Sulky 40wt rayon, metallic, and holoshimmer threads.  I stood the thread up vertically with a 14 metallic embroidery needle as suggested and had no issues.

The Dish Towel

The Mug Rugs









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