Festive Fever

I have to tell you what a pleasure it was to get these boxes ready this month.

As SewHayleyJane has expanded it started to completely take over my house every month, with piles of fabric, fat quarters and haberdashery items stacked high on sofas, coffee tables, windowsills – basically any spare surface. I’m not complaining of course, I am so so so happy to see it grow every month but it was getting a little stressful trying to make it work in the house.

Once we moved into our new office unit (tour to come) I got cracking with getting the fabric prepared and having space and dedicated shelving units to stack everything up on made the whole process easier, faster and a lot less stressful. Hooray!

I am so excited to be in and all set up now and am looking forward to the future of SewHayleyJane.

But time to tell you all about the November boxes. It’s happening you guys, Christmas is here. The adverts have been on the television, the shops are stocked full with festive treats and your SewHayleyJane boxes give a little nod to this magical time of year.

I decided not to go full on novelty Christmas with the prints on the main fabric, but instead chose colours and prints that made me feel festive but can be worn at other times of the year and I cannot wait to see what you make with them.

Luxury Box

In the Luxury box this month there is up to 3.5 meters of this gorgeous Dashwood Studios ‘Copenhagen Blue Leaf’ cotton fabric. The colour and print together made me think of a frosty December walk in the countryside and would look great made into pencil or full skirt paired with a long sleeve jersey top and boots.

Of course the pattern that went into the Luxury box, the Sophia skirt from Simple Sew Patterns would be perfect. To make a really festive outfit make the co-ordinating top in something with a little sparkle. Bare in mind that the fabric is 110cm (44inch) wide when choosing a pattern to use.

Classic and Mini Box

As always the Mini box comes with 1 meter and the Classic comes with 2.5 meters of fabric and this month they feature this beautiful red on white, or white on red, cotton poplin which will make a perfect party outfit. Smaller lengths could be made into a tank top and worn with a glitzy tube skirt or, with a bit more fabric to use this would look great as a sleeveless shift dress with a blazer style jacket worn on top.

So I went a little more novelty with the fat quarters, but really that’s what they are there for, right?! This ‘Nordic Trend’ collection is perfect for making a few decorations or gifts – I’m thinking about some hot water bottle covers – perfect for those cold nights.

Back in February I included some pattern weights from Oh Sew Quaint and obviously you loved them! So when I saw that she had expanded her product range to include magnetic pin cushions I knew they would be a perfect addition to the November box. When I got in contact with Danni she even kindly agreed to give them a little festive touch with the sprinkles, don’t they look fantastic? So pretty! These pin cushions have gone into the Luxury and Classic boxes.

In every box there is also a selection of haberdashery goodies, including a 100m reel of matching Gutermann thread, 6 sweet little buttons and 2 meters of gorgeous lace trim, perfect for adding an extra little touch to your garments, like Harriet’s sleeves.

Of course, no box would be complete without a little sweet treat, and this month is one of my favourite things to find at the bottom of my stocking, chocolate coins! Yum!

I hope you enjoy delving into your box of goodies, and don’t forget to send me pictures of your makes – you can email them to me, post them to Facebook or on Instagram using the hashtag #sewhayleyjanemakes.