Last Christmas, Joshua was just 11 months old. I got away with a few things... like he didn't have his own santa sack or his own advent calendar. Fast forward 12 months and there is no way I'd get away with it again - he's very aware of what the girls have and is determined not to be treated different (makes for some interesting tantrums to be honest).
I did start an advent calendar for him last year, but I didn't make any real progress. I put it on my Finish Along list in Q1 and Q2 last year thinking how good it would be to get it finished nice and early in the year and not be in a rush come November. But that's just not how we roll... and once Christmas is over, I really don't want to be doing Christmas sewing anymore, so inevitably it was a November rush! No the rushiest rush... I think I had three or four days to spare, but certainly not leisurely,
The starting point for the advent calendar was a picture I pinned on Pinterest when I first used Pinterest, well and truly pre-children. It was a triptych of reindeers. The link is now well and truly dead, so I don't actually know the original source (I have a vague memory that it was a set of rubber stamps...). I looked at it as a design when I was planning Mia's advent calendar, but I wanted something I could make a bit girlier. I looked at it again when I made Jess's advent calendar, but again, it wasn't quite right. But as soon as I knew I was expecting a boy, I knew this would be his advent calendar!
The three pictures are hand embroidered over a background which has been colour tinted. It's a technique I learned when I made this sampler and I really love the way it gives some extra colour without having to do solid embroidery.
The pockets are assorted prints and then I use rubber stamps to add the numbers. I also added a small amount of hand quilting. Rather than binding the quilt, I've bagged it out and top-stitched the edge. This is how I did Mia's as well, but Jessica's is bound, You can see all three advent calendars together here.
I think Josh liked it!
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