Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: Cross Body Trick or Treat Bag

 

The one thing about Halloween that makes me sad (hold on, you'll be able to pick your jaw up off the floor in a minute) is that trick or treating is a dying tradition.  Out of paranoia (which is only partially founded in fact, the rest in media hysteria)  parents no longer allow their kids to trick or treat in neighborhoods like when I was a kid (which was thee best part of Halloween), and instead take them to the mall during the day to trick or treat.  Ick! Where is the fun in that?  Just follow common sense safety rules and it's all good clean fun!

Fine I'll hop off the soap box. Back in the day my brother and I went beyond the little plastic pumpkin trick or treating buckets.  We straight up carried pillowcases....great for a huge haul of candy but it did get to be a pain to carry. This is a great trick or treating bag designed by Alicia Thommas and instruction provided by Debbie Guild that is carried cross body so the hands are free and it doesn't get cumbersome. I love the fabric they chose...I have several yards of that that needs to be used!

CLICK HERE for the tutorial. Thanks to Alicia and Debbie for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: Halloween Creature Wall Hanging

 

 This wall hanging is cute on it's own, but I think it's better as a jumping off point to something more. I found it over at Celebrating Halloween and unfortunately, this is another where no designer name was given so I can't give credit to whoever made it.  But how fun would it be to extrapolate the designs here, and make a table runner, or maybe a throw?  The appliques are just too fun!

CLICK HERE for the free pattern!

Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: Pumpkin Placemats

 

I have no idea who came up with this pattern, so unfortunately I can't give credit where credit is due.  However, it is really cute and it would be perfect for a kids Halloween party, since you can tuck the utensils and napkin right inside the pumpkin.  They opted here for bright colors, but I could see this being darling in a more primitive style colorway.

CLICK HERE for the free pattern!  

Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: Batty Felt Pillow

How cute! Amy at Ameroonie Designs has a tutorial up for this batty felt pillow.  The possibilities are pretty limitless!  You could use a fun print in the background, and then the black bats. Or, you could do a black background with multicolored halloween print bats.  You could change the bats to pumpkins, or ghosts, or whatever you want! I think this is pretty great, and hey....I need more pillows on the sofa (fine, I don't, but it sounds good).

CLICK HERE for the tutorial. Thanks Amy!

Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: Ghoulies and Ghosties Quilt

 

 Here is a really nice throw quilt by Kelly Corbridge over at McCall's Quilting. This is a more traditional style quilt, but of course, you could do it in any colorway you like.  The appliques lend themselves to really just about any colorway too, and really, you could replace them for any season.
CLICK HERE for the free pattern!

Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: By the Light of the Moon Quilt

 

I've never been a cat person (no, not even for Halloween) but I DID fall in love with the candy corn border. This quilt is brought to you by Elizabeth Cecchettini for Baby Lock. I like the quilt's retro flavor, and it's a manageable size, so that if you wanted it done and ready for the wall or table in time for Halloween, it's definitely doable!

CLICK HERE for the free pattern

Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: Witch Shoe Treat Bags

Sharon at Dances With Fabric has put out a tutorial for a really cute witch shoe shaped treat bag.  Sure, you could use it for a treat bag, but as she also points out it would make a great silverware holder too.  I think it would look great hanging on the fireplace like a Halloween stocking! 

CLICK HERE for the free pattern.  Thanks for sharing this with us Sharon!

Lovely Frankenstein's 31 Days of Halloween: Ghoul's Night Out Table Runner

 

This spooky table runner by Grace Wilson for Maywood Studios is fun and versatile.  How great would this look on your buffet for a Halloween potluck?  This is shown using Maywood fabrics (which look great) but you could take it into creepy territory or make it bright and whimsical.

If Halloween isn't quite your thing, this would convert beautifully to a fall or harvest themed table runner perfect for your Thanksgiving table.

CLICK HERE to get the free pattern

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Scrappy Stocking Christmas Ornament

Photo Courtesy of Stumbles & Stitches

Here is another quick, simple and adorable ornament pattern that takes no time at all to make and finishes up nicely. CLICK HERE for the tutorial and thank you to Angel & Jenny for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Custom Digital Camera Case

Photo Courtesy of Sophia's World

This is pretty cool! Make a custom camera case for your friends and the best part is, is that it fits most newer digital cameras. The pattern could easily be adjusted for the older digital cameras that aren't as compact. It also takes very little in the way of fabric, so you can use what you have on hand and it's done in a flash. CLICK HERE for the tutorial and thank you to Sofia for sharing!

Lovelyfrankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Shopping Cart Caddy

Photo Courtesy of Blue Cricket Design

This. Is. Brilliant. Major high fives to Becca for thinking this one up! My roomate and I fancy ourselves moderately apt couponers (as opposed to, you know, the EXTREME variety). But I have to admit, even couponing n00bs such as ourselves, it's hard to keep our coups in order when we're in the store getting sweet deals. So This is a brilliant, brilliant idea. We all know couponers, so this is fantastic as a gift for them. but this is oh-so-clever for other purposes too - keep your shopping lists in there, recipes you're shopping for, coupons you pick up from the fixtures in the aisles, a calculator if you're on a strict budget (hey, it happens...I have found myself whipping out the ol' cell phone calculator more than once); or if you are/know someone who is a mom of a child that still ride in the shopping cart, it's great to keep little toys or books for the little one to enjoy (and to keep them patient and well bahaved) while you're doing your shopping! I'm thinking I'll be making a few of these. How cute would it be to make/buy a neat reusable grocery bag, and pop one of these in there? Gift idea problem SOLVED! CLICK HERE to get the pattern and a big thank you to Becca for sharing this!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Eyeglasses Case

Photo Courtesy of Mommy's Nap Time

Here's an oldie but a goodie - the eyeglasses case. Let's be fair here, most of us have contacts, glasses or at the very least, readers - and just about everyone has a pair of sunglasses. This is a cute and simple gift for just abut everyone out there and would make a nice Secret Santa gift or stocking stuffer. I know when I had non prescription shades, I just threw them in my bag and sometimes the lenses would be fine and sometimes they scratched - these are a cute way to solve that issue! Don't worry, Mom, I don't do that anymore with my prescription shades! CLICK HERE to get to the tutorial, and thank you to "Emedoodle" for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Pear Sachet

Photo Courtesy of Dacia Ray

This is a variation of the lavender scented sachet that is relatively commonplace. Considering you don't HAVE to fill it with lavender (choose whichever herb or potpourri that suits you or the person you're making it for), these little guys make sweet gifts, especially for the people we all have to buy gifts for but don't know well enough to know exactly what to do for them. As I've been looking across the internet for gift ideas, generally I've just seen square or heart shapes, and generally they're flat. This one is neat because the pear shape is very different than a lot of the others, and it's more three dimensional. CLICK HERE for the tutorial, and thank you to Dacia for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Scrappy Mug Rug with Pocket

Photo Courtesy of SEW We Quilt!

I think it would be pretty cool if someone made one of these, popped a packet of coffee, tea or hot chocolate in the pocket, found a cute little spoon to put in there, rolled it all up and stuck it in a neat mug. Bam - awesome gift, especially for office parties or Secret Santa exchanges where you don't know the person particularly well. Or maybe you do know them well and you know they drink a lot of coffee/tea/hot chocolate! Either way :-) CLICK HERE for the tutorial and thank you to Jennifer for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Coffee Cup Cozy

Photo Courtesy of Hazelnuts

Here's another really quick gift idea with all of the Secret Santa parties cropping up. This is really simple to make and can be made to fit any size cup, even ones with handles. I think the best part about this one is not only the ease of the project, but the fact that it is nice homemade touch to a purchased gift, and with the elastics used to keep it all closed up, it can stretch to fit different mug sizes. Cool! CLICK HERE to get to the tutorial. Thank you to the archaeologist at Hazelnuts for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Quilt-As-You-Go Tablerunner

Photo Courtesy of V & Co.

Tablerunners always make great gifts, but sometimes when time is as limited as it is now, getting one pieced AND quilted AND bound can be a little, well, rushed and we're all saying, "...forGET that...how's about a gift card?" (which, by the way, gift cards to The Cotton Patch make awesome gifts! Hey, I'm not one to forego a chance at a shamless plug). Well, this is a darling quilt as you go table runner, so you're hitting 2 birds with one stone here, and all you need are strips - no blocks, no squares, no appliques - just strips. You could easily make this a season specific project or something to be used any time, and it goes together in an hour or two...probably the hardest pqart is just picking the colors! CLICK HERE for the tutorial, and thank you to Amy of Diary of a Quilter for sharing!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Sewing Machine Cover

Photo Courtesy of Sew Mama Sew

The idea of making someone a fitted, custom sewing machine cover is great and all, but how conspicious is it to go to a friend's house and take measurements on their machine? I can see it now: your friend walks out of the room for a minute, and while they're gone, you bust out the measuring tape and start taking the dimensions of the machine. They walk back in and you have that awkward moment when you're at their machine, tape measurer still in hand and all you can do is answer the "what the heck are you doing" question with, "...nothing...just....quality assurance..." Yeah, busted! So avoid that awkward moment take the winter gloves approach: one size fits most! This simple machine cover will fit most domestic machines, and adjustments can be made for longer machines (if you know what the machine is). I know you're getting so sick of me saying this, but uh, guess what? ...you can use scraps and stash for this one too. CLICK HERE for the pattern and tutorial. Thanks to Jessie at Tiny House for sharing this at Sew Mama Sew!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Checkbook/Checkbook Register Cover

Photo Courtesy of Attempting Creative

All right, all right, not too many of us carry around checkbooks, especially those of my generation. But even without checks, hopefully most of use keep our check registers with us while we shop and Debit our lives away. This is just so much cuter than the basic register holders that the bank gives you. This is just another little way to stick it to "The Man" and carry your checks/check register in something cute that doesn't have the Bank's name all over it. It's another great scrap and stash buster and it's a quick and easy gift for someone (even yourself! :D). CLICK HERE for the tutorial and pattern. Thank you to Kimberly for sharing! 

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Tie-On Slippers

Photo Courtesy of Tissue Papers

These are so flippin' cute! I have a pair of shoes that look like these and I love them, so what's not to love about these in slipper form? These are such a fabulous break away from the usual slipper style. They're easy to make, and so very versatile with fabric choice. I love I'd love a pair of these babies with some fluffy Minkee inside! This one is a little tricky in how to get to what (there are a few websites involved), but I think I've got it as simple as possible: CLICK HERE for the how-to, and CLICK HERE for the templates. Thank you to Lisa Ancarrow-Maltby for sharing your pattern with us!

Lovely Frankenstein's 24 Days of Christmas: Double Pot Holder

Photo Courtesy of A Little Gray

Some things in life are so good and so SIMPLE that they make you smack yourself on the forehead and say "Dang it! Why didn't I think of that?!" This is one of those things. It's a double potholder. It makes so much more sense than fumbling with two, and it's perfect for those awful "microwave safe" bowls that manage to get hotter than the surface of the sun. Plus, you can reuse one of those towels that's gotten ratty and you're about to throw away anyhow. CLICK HERE for the tutorial, and thanks to Jessica for sharing!