Fabric, Fabric, and More Fabric....

...but very little sewing. I am completely behind in my holiday gift-making. Only 6 days until Christmas!

I've never been very stressed out about holiday gifts before, because I'm generally done with my Christmas shopping by this time.  But this year is different.  When I took the Handmade Pledge months ago I really meant for the majority of the gifts I give this year, and also in the future, to be handmade by me or by another crafter.  So as you know I've been busily crocheting, and I'm almost done with those projects.  I've haven't yet had some free time to start sewing, although I do have the patterns picked out and my fabric washed, ironed, and ready-to-go.  I wish I could tell you about some works-in-progress, but a few of the intended recipients read my blog and FaceBook posts, so I have to keep these things a secret until after Christmas! 

I can share some of the fabulous holiday fabric that I purchased over the Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.  I took a couple of pictures before these hit the washing machine. Here are my favorites:

 Michael Miller's Joyful Damask

Retro Ornaments by Sheri Berry

I've got a bit of a story to tell you about my purchases.  Although I do shop at the big-box craft stores I am always on the lookout for small, independent local businesses to support.  I try to do the same when I order online.  So I spent a lot of time reading recommendations about shops where other sewists like to purchase their fabric.  In the end, I bought fabric from a couple of Etsy shops, some former Etsyians, and one independent big-box type of store online.  Service was pretty good from most places, but there were a couple of stinkers.  I'm not going to name names, but I kid you not, one fabric store sent several yards of the fabric I ordered wadded up in a big ball.  My items were literally thrown into a box and shipped!  Can you believe it?

I did find one store that stood head and shoulders above the rest, and that was Runner Girl Fabric, owned by Jennifer Willoughby.   Her prices are very affordable and she shipped my fabric fast.  If that was not impressive enough, her packaging made me ecstatic!  Jen takes the same time and care that I do in packaging my sewing patterns when packing her fabric in order to be certain that it will arrive in perfect condition:

Just so you know, Jen did not pay me to tell you this, nor is Runner Girl Fabric an official sponsor of this blog.  When my packaged arrived I emailed her straight away to tell her how impressed I was with her service, and in doing so, we agreed to offer Serendipity Handmade readers and Serendipity Vintage customers a standard 10% discount on all fabric purchases at Runner Girl Fabric!  (And Runner Girl Fabric customers get the same standard discount at Serendipity Vintage too!).  Just use the discount code VINTAGE when you place your order.  I've placed a button that links to Jen's shop in the sidebar, because I am a new loyal customer!


In other unrelated news, the vintage Christmas tree window decoration tutorial is in One Pretty Thing's Christmas Roundup!  How exciting! 

I'd love to hear about your holiday crafting and handmade gift-giving, if you have the time to tell me!  What are you making this year?  By all means, leave a comment!