I am afraid that I have been very ill indeed this week and am still not capable of very much except coughing and spluttering. So, like a long running TV show I am going to fill the gap by reviewing some scenes you've seen before. Here are some great links from last year's Christmas free pattern round-ups:
One of the traditions in my family is to fill stockings for everybody - even the adults. My Grandma Joan used to do stockings for each person in our family (which was quite a few!) and my brother would put on his Santa beard and hand them out on Christmas Eve. Now my mum does them and my dad (aka The Christmas Elf) and I handle Mum's. Sometimes though, it's hard to find tiny things to put in those little stockings.
Here is something that will fit just perfectly - Cloth Doll Pencil Toppers, a Colleen Babcock original design I might add, a cloth doll pattern that is now available for free at Dollmaker's Journey here.
I also think these make great little birthday presents, thank gifts, or mementos for those moments when you need a cloth doll head mounted on a pencil (and you know, those moments are hard to shop for).
Plus these pencil toppers are a great way to practice your face drawing technique.
The free pattern has lots of great diagrams for help with drawing cloth doll faces.
Right, you've got some stuffers, now let's have some free stocking patterns:
OK, so these mini felt stockings from Martha Stewart won't hold much but they are wee and therefore cute.
These stockings on the other hand are swarthy and manly (you should read that in a deep voice for maximum effect). They look like they belong to lumberjacks.
Here is a very detailed set of instructions for a stocking from McCall's.
Here's big list of knitting, crochet and cross-stitch stocking patterns free on the internet. I think the John Deere crochet stocking is a stitch - forgive the pun.
And I know this is totally off topic, but I find myself helpless in the face of the adorableness. Isn't this little advent elf the cutest?
I still haven't gotten around to making a wreath for my door. I may just use one of these free Christmas wreath patterns and tutorials when I do.
This little Gingerbread Man Wreath looks good enough to eat.
Talk about good enough to eat, check out this Gumdrop Wreath.
If you are liking the idea of edible wreaths, check out these recipes from Better Homes Gardens.
If only it were cold enough in England to make this ice wreath. How cool is that? Forgive the pun.
Thiswoolen felt wreath from Betz White gives me a major case of the textile shivers. I love it!
I linked to this one last year, I think, but it's so cute it is worth repeating. Check out this Hung up on Christmas Santa wreath.
Ok, so thiswreath is adorned with spring fairies, but do it in Christmas colours and replace the flowers with sprigs of holly and bingo, it's a Christmas wreath.
This paper wreath looks great, but wouldn't it be fabulous if you made the leaves out of fabric?
And if the holidays are already getting you stressed, watch this video on how to make a Christmas wreath out of fabric softener sheets. Yup, you read that right. I defy you not to giggle.
This completely reminds me of making very similar wreaths out of strips of green garbage bags as a kid. They were so, so....waterproof. Mind you I was also great at making toys out of paper toilet rolls, not to mention delicate flowers crafted out of Kleenex and a twist tie. What can I say, I'm the MacGyver of the craft world. I could probably make a wreath out of pocket lint, spit, and a gum wrapper.
I'm working on a new doll that I'm very excited about, but ran out of the material I was planning on using. I ordered some more, but when it arrived it was a completely different colour than the last batch I ordered. So, first I got mad - at myself for ordering the wrong stuff, then the people who dyed it a different colour and then myself again. Then I broke out an alternative project, so as not to go a whole weekend without my sewing machine.
I already had a pair of Christmas oven mitts, but let's just say there was an unfortunate incident with an oven element. Hem hem.
So I whipped up these oven mitts based (loosely, I might add) on this free pattern from Skip to my Lou. I used thermal fleece to protect against any further oven element incidents. Hem hem. And those berries are just decorative for the photos sake, by the way. I'm sure that the berries would not survive an element incident. Hem hem. I seem unable to speak of "the incident" without the hem hem bit. Hem hem.
When it comes to Christmas I like things a bit rustic and old fashioned. I've never gotten on with mega-modern Christmases, so I've collected some great free rustic Christmas patterns for you to enjoy.
I love these prim, rustic Victorian ornaments from Dirty Crow Inn.
Check out this Americana free rag doll pattern free from Bettes Tomorrow Treasures.
There are quite a few rustic Christmas ornaments and dolls at Prim Mart here.
For a quick and simple ornaments try sewing up this Folkbird ornament from Tender Arts.
This little country angel is so cute, I love the gloves used as wings.
This rustic wreath decorated with snowmen made out of batting is gorgeous.
How cool are these Christmas trees made from recylced sweaters? I'm so in love with these.
These vintage inspired snowmen ornaments are simple to make out of papier-mache but are oozing with rustic charm.
And whose idea was it to make Christmas trees in colours like black and pink? Purlease. Just say no to that silly modern stuff. For Christmas it's old fashioned all the way!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....I've been watching all my favourite old Christmas films on DVD. It's a Wonderful Life is one of my favourites and reminds us of a very important point: No man is a failure who has friends.
Treat your friends to a little part of yourself by making them a bit of handmade goodness. Here's a round-up of some great links to free patterns that would make great Christmas gifts. Some of these are doll pattens and some are just general sewing projects.
I adore the fabulous diva-ness of this pin cushion doll, free from Glitter Town Dolly's, the perfect gift for the sewer in your life.
I am hoping to have the time to make these oven mitts from Skip to My Lou, as a present for a keen cook.
U-handbag has got a slew of free handbag tutorials and patterns (look down the side bar) that you can go nuts with for mothers, sisters and friends.
Deanna Hogan has some gorgeous free patterns here, including a brand new snowman pattern that makes a great small gift.
Another small but perfectly formed gift is this cute mouse ornament with a bell for a nose from Pimp Stitch.
I have a bit of a thing for pomanders, they make great tree ornaments. Check out this floral, felted pomander from Betz White.
If you want to make a fabulous smelling pomander that lasts just stud a Styrofoam ball with whole cloves and wrap ribbon around it. Every year when we unpack them, our Christmas pomanders need some minor repairs, but they survive year to year really well. And my hubby sees fit to point out each year that he is faster at making pomanders than I am. Curse his evil genius at pomander-making!
If you plan on giving very practical gift cards you can still sneak in a bit of handmade, by making these gift card boxes, designed by Heather Bailey.
I plan on featuring alot more free ideas for Christmas, so keep popping back to see what other free patterns the internet provides and The Magic Bean manages to dig up!
Hark the Herald Angels for free! For my last Christmas inspired Freebie Friday I thought I'd round up a host of halo-toting, harp playing beauties for my weekly free doll pattern round-up.
Web of Angels is a whole page of free angel patterns that will keep you busy for hours. Click here to see this amazing collection of free patterns.
Click here for a sweet country inspired wall angel pattern by Samantha Ann Grout.
Click here to see Ruby the Christmas angel pin doll by Linda Misa.
I love this sophisticated wall angel pattern by Marilyn Nicholson, click here to see what I'm talking about.
If you got tiny scraps of beautiful fabrics and trims, use them up with these great origami style angels. Click here to see the pattern.
This simple angel would look great with a push mould face. Click here to see the pattern from Better Homes and Gardens.
Click here to see instructions for making a beautiful angel doll. Unfortunately, there is no pattern, but the instructions give you a good idea of what the shapes should be.
Click here to see Deanna Hogan's Fairy Faye pin doll which looks to me like a great pattern for an angel pin doll. Don't you love Deanna's faces?
If you want to make your doll feather angel wings, here is a fantastic tutorial from Deb Wood on exactly how to do it. Genius.
I thought I'd leave you this week with a funny angel story. When my mum was little, my grandfather was driving a load of kids to church on Christmas Eve. He pulled into the angle parking along the side of the church and my mum's cousin Neil protested 'Uncle Ed, you can't park here! It says angel parking only!'. I wonder what angels are driving these days?
I can't believe that this time next week Christmas will all be over. Actually, for me it's never over. I listen to Bing singing White Christmas all year round. And as soon as the gifts are unwrapped I'm thinking about next year.
This year I've really been enjoying the Christmas spirit of my fellow doll makers and bloggers on the web. These past couple of weeks I've been really loving Angry Chicken, a blog written by Amy Karol. She has been doing some fantastic baking in jars and has great little Christmas gift ideas. I especially love these hilarious free printable gift tags that she has posted to download. These tags say 'all those things that probably should be left as an inner monologue'. If you've got family and friends with a good sense of humour then go for it. I think my in-laws find my tags and gift wrapping style lovely and they certainly appreciate their gifts (especially if they're hand made), but these tags would really confuse my father-in-law. The first year that he saw my cinnamon stick and raffia gift-wrapping style he got the funniest crease in his forehead and asked what it was for. My 'just decoration' explanation did not smooth out the forehead crease. If you like my little gift bag and tags, I downloaded them for free from Prim Doodles.
Another blogger and friend Romona also had some cute free printable gift tags linked on her blog, plus some other fun Christmas stuff. So check it out.
I also found a great bonus Santa Claus freebie from Jan Horrox's newsletter. Here is a great shelf sitting Santa pattern, but hurry as it is only available as a free pattern until Christmas this year!
It's all Santa's fault. That I'm into dolls, I mean. Or maybe it's my dad's fault. Basically, I started making polymer clay Santas to give to my dad for Christmas. Here is one of my first dolls.
Then after meeting Patti Culea, Barbara Willis and Betts Vidal I dropped polymer clay and I've been a complete cloth doll addict ever since. So in tribute to the man who started it all, this Freebie Friday is all free Santa patterns (not free Dad patterns, silly). Bring on the big guy!
Click here for a very cute Santa with a Christmas ball for a body.
Click here for a Santa with a mesh body that can be filled with candy. mmmm...candy
Click here for a Santa that is just hanging around.
Click here for a beautiful Santa pattern from Runo Dollmaker.
If you fancy a more traditional Father Christmas doll, click here to see another pattern by Runo Dollmaker.
Make this sweet but simple country style Santa, click here.
Fancy making Santa and his eight tiny reindeer? Click here to see a wee felt pattern from Runo Dollmaker.
Click here and scroll through the page to see several Santa inspired doll bits - a sitting Santa bust, a Santa tag, a Santa ornie (actually a couple). These are primitives and cute as a button.
Phew! Aren't you exhausted from looking at all those free patterns? Might need some rejuvenating biscuits. Why not click here for a sweet Santa recipe? Just don't eat too many or you'll end up with a round little belly that will shake when you laugh like a bowl full of jelly. Tee Hee - or should I say ho, ho.
When I was growing up we were not allowed to be bored. Just that simple. If we said the b-word then we would be given a task to keep us from being bored. Mum said that there is no such thing as anything boring, there are only boring people. So I won't say that this next project bored me. I'll say it didn't challenge me (how was that Mum?).
The funny thing is, I'll look at patterns like this very adorable yet simple snowman pattern and think how much I'd love to make him. Isn't he a cutie, I'll tell myself. But if I do start making these short finish-it-in-an-afternoon projects I get b-word. Very quickly.
All I could think about while making my little snowman ornie was the much more complicated and exciting, partially completed design of my new doll that is sitting on my sewing table beckoning me with her challenging-ness (OK, so it's not a word, but roll with it, eh?).
So now I've got the cute snowman thing out of my system. I got to use that sweet book I look at all the time and wonder why I don't make more of it's cute little projects. I used the fun candy cane stripe fabric I bought at the Marsh Store in Canada. Yup, it's out of my system. Bring on the Boredom Buster! No, not the toilet brush, Mum - the new doll design, oh yeah!
