Some gifts from my Christmas Challenge!

Well, I had Christmas last Saturday with my side of the family, so I can share what I made for my mom and sister now.
I LOVE the pattern I used, in fact, I have used it about 6 times now. It is Amy Butler's Birdie Sling.

I used home-dec weight fabric and omitted the interfacing (yay, saves a step and supplies!) If you use regular cotton, or silk, I would definitely do the interfacing.

For my mom, I chose a blue dot pattern with a tweed-ish contrast fabric. I really liked how this was modern looking without being too trendy for my mom's style.

She really liked the size of the bag, and plans to use it to carry around her crochet stuff. The big pockets are great for keeping her organized.

For my sister, I wasn't sure what to use since i Had a lot of good options so I texted her a picture of a few fabrics without telling her what it was for. I was tempted to go with an awesome laminated cotton I have, but she really surprised me and chose a rich dark green fabric that looked very traditional. I loved the sheen, and happened to have some silk in a tan color that looked great with it and also of course had a sheen. I think it looks great together!

She immediately started using hers as a purse, because she likes to carry around a ton of stuff (like most of us moms!)

I really liked how these two turned out. They are definitely more wintery than the others I have made. My friend Kristin got one for her birthday out of a heavy linen fabric, then I appliqued a vintage embroidered doily on the front which looked awesome. Why didn't I take a picture??? I do that so often- give something away before I take good pictures. Maybe I will learn one of these days :)

This is a great EASY pattern, and now that I've made a few I can say it takes me about 3 hours total (depending on how many times I have to start and stop!) Amy Butler always has great instructions including illustrations, so her patterns are great. She even features some free patterns on her site for quilts and accessories!