Sweet and Easy Baby Gifts

Between fulfilling orders and babies being born every time I turn around, it was high time I got to business making some baby gifts. Here's a sample of what I've been up to.

Both booties patterns came from Precious Patterns on Etsy. They seriously have some of the sweetest patterns on the block and at very reasonable prices too! The raggy burp cloth idea came Homemade by Jill. I just drew half a basic burpcloth shape, cut all my fabric on the fold, sewed them wrong sides together (including a cross in the center to keep the pieces from shifting in the wash), cut the fringe and washed them. Super easy. You can seriously whip so many of these out in such little time. And honestly, I do love making practical things for new moms.

I am currently trying to sew my way through my WIP pile...what a job. But it always feels so good to get another thing out of that pile. Not to mention, all those projects are taking up so much room in my craft room right now that I have moved downstairs onto the kitchen table....much to my husband's dismay....muah hah hah! I should make him a deal: He finishes my kitchen backsplash and floor and I'll move back into my own space. Hmn. Wonder if he'll go for it.

Colors Book for Baby

 My husband convinced me that it would be fun to not know what we're having. Boy?? Girl?? We'll know in May I suppose. It is a bit fun waiting for the surprise, but my hands have been itching to make something for baby. That's when I found the crazy quilted colors book tutorial. EmmmyLizzy sent me there a week or so ago and I immediately got started. It feels so good to prepare something for baby....not to mention, it was a nice break from the quilts I have been working tirelessly on.

A few notes about how I made mine:

...First, I added a page so I could include a few more colors...however, this also added to the bulk. If I were to make it again I would not sew batting onto every page. Instead, I would sew onto batting for one side of the page and then sew onto something like muslin for the other side. I think that would give the book the perfect weight.

...Second, the size of my individual pages were 8.5", 8.25", and 8". So basically, I had 4 individual 8" pages, 4 8.25" pages and then 2 8.5" pages, plus the front and back, which were also 8.5". Make sense?? So I would sew 2 8" pages together, side by side, then I would sew the other 2 8" pages together. Then I slapped those two 8" x  15.5" pages right sides together, sew them (leaving a small hole), turn them and edgestitch them. Once I had all three sizes sewn together, I stacked them and hand-sewed them together down the center (which was right down the middle of the yellow and white pages).

...Third, I use a nice heavy embroidery thread to sew the three pages together. I also had to use my thimble and needle-nose pliers because of the bulk, but it worked and I can't imagine it ever coming undone.

It was a fun little project and I was so glad to use up so of the scraps that I love dearly and hoard for such a project as this.

Back to those quilts I suppose. Can't wait to share them with you!! Just waiting on another shipment my cotton/linen blend from SewMamaSew...




Sharing the love at some of the following:
Monday:
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Keeping it Simple-- Motivate Me Mondays
Skip to my Lou-- Made by You Mondays
Sew Can Do-- Craftastic Monday 
C.R.A.F.T-- Making Monday Marvelous
Tuesday:
Sugar Bee-- Take a Look Tuesday
Today's Creative Blog-- Get Your Craft On!
Creative Itch-- Sew Cute Tuesday
Tip Junkie-- Tip Me Tuesday
Wednesday:
Sew Much Ado-- We Did It Wednesday!
Blue Cricket Designs-- Show and Tell
Someday Crafts -- Whatever Goes Wednesday
Show off Your Stuff -- Fireflies and Jellybeans
Friday: 
Simply Designing
Kojo Friday Fun Finds 
Fingerprints on the Fridge-- Feature Yourself Friday 
Tatertots and Jello-- Weekend Wrap-up
Weekend:
The Girl Creative-- Just Something I Whipped Up
Under the Table and Dreaming-- Sunday Showcase 

Train Caddy {Tutorial}

I promised a fun tutorial in celebration of Boy Month over at Made by Rae and Made, and here it is! I know there are lots of CAR caddy's out there, but my boy is particularly fond of trains, so I adjusted the pocket measurements a bit and here's what we've got:

It;'s a huge hit for my son and we take it everywhere. So let's get started!! Hooray for boys!! 

Here's what you'll need:

Felt: 10" x 19"
        2- 19" x 1/2" strips
        8- 3" x 1/2" strips
Cotton fabric: 10" x 19"
           19" x 3.5"
           8" x 1.5"
1.5" vecro

**Note: I made two of these at the same time, using two different colors of felt...don't be confused by theblue and the green:) **

1. First, you need to position and sew the train track to the felt. You'll be placing it on the top half of your felt piece. but not too close to the edge, you need room for a seam allowance!

2. Okay, now we need to make the train pockets. You'll need your 3.5" x 19" piece of fabric. Fold one of the long edges down 1/4" and press. Then fold it down again about a 1/2" and press. Then top stitch it. Then you'll align the long, raw edge of the 3.5" x 19" piece with the bottom of your large felt piece and sew it down along the sides and bottom. To make the pockets, find the center of your pocket panel and pin it. now measure out 3.5" pockets from the center and pin each one. (The two outer pockets will be slightly larger than 3.5" which allows for the seam.) Sew down these pockets.

3. Now take the 10" x 19" piece of fabric and place the soft side of the velcro right in the center and about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. Sew.

4. To make the tab that will keep the caddy together you'll need your 8" x 1.5" piece of fabric. Fold in one of the short ends about a 1/2" and press. Then fold it in half lengthwise and press. Open it and then fold it lengthwise again, but only to the center fold, and press, like in the picture below. Do this to both long sides and then fold once more on your original fold and press. This will give you a strip with no raw edges along the long sides and one of the short ends as well. Now edgestitch around all sides.

5. Now sew the rough side of the velcro to the strip, on the opposite end of the raw edge. It should look something like this:

6. Pin the velcro enclosure tab onto the felt panel, velcro side down, about a 1/3 of the way up from the bottom (so that it will align will the soft side of the velcro, which is on the fabric panel) being sure to leave 7" of the tab. the rest will hang over. See the picture below to get exactly what I'm talking about :)

7. Now, place and pin the fabric panel and felt panel right sides together.

8. Sew all the way around, making sure you catch the enclosure tab and leave a 4" hole in the middle of one of the sides (either the top or the side opposite of the enclosure tab). Trim any excess fabric and clip the corners.


9. Turn the fabric right side out, press and edgestitch all the way around
 
You're Done!! Now fill that sweet little thing with trains and make a little man very happy!

If you're wanting to Celebrate the Boy, be sure to head over to Made  and Made by Rae!

Sharing the love at some of the following:
Monday:
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Keeping it Simple-- Motivate Me Mondays
Skip to my Lou-- Made by You Mondays
Sew Can Do-- Craftastic Monday 
C.R.A.F.T-- Making Monday Marvelous
Tuesday:
Sugar Bee-- Take a Look Tuesday
Today's Creative Blog-- Get Your Craft On!
Creative Itch-- Sew Cute Tuesday
Tip Junkie-- Tip Me Tuesday
Wednesday:
Sew Much Ado-- We Did It Wednesday!
Blue Cricket Designs-- Show and Tell
Someday Crafts -- Whatever Goes Wednesday
Show off Your Stuff -- Fireflies and Jellybeans
Friday: 
Simply Designing
Kojo Friday Fun Finds 
Fingerprints on the Fridge-- Feature Yourself Friday 
Tatertots and Jello-- Weekend Wrap-up
Weekend:
The Girl Creative-- Just Something I Whipped Up
Under the Table and Dreaming-- Sunday Showcase 

Sweet and Soft Boy Blanket

A couple of weeks ago I threw a baby shower (details on that soon!) for a friend who is having her first boy after three little girls (!), but instead of doing any traditional games we decided to tie a blanket for her. This blanket is cozy with flannel, cotton batting and super soft minky. We tied it with some crochet thread and then I figured out how to sew that giant silky binding onto it.

Here are some of the guests, hard at work. We got the whole thing tied and mostly cut before the night was through, leaving only a quick binding project for m to finish it off. It was an excellent activity, in place of any cheesy games (sorry to anyone who likes those games! But having my belly measured in toilet paper wasn't one of my favorite memories from my first shower...).

ANyway, I did follow a tutorial on how to do the binding. It was totally different than doing traditional narrow, cotton binding. I also reinforced the mitered corners a bit because I have seen how her girls have LOVED their baby blankets, so I wanted to try and make this to where it could stand the test of time and love.

Felt Crown Tutorial {with template}

Today I am going to share with you my number one go-to gift for little girls.

The Felt Crown

It is so easy and is so quick to whip up several at a time.

Here's what you'll need:

2-  9.5"x 4" pieces of felt
12 in elastic (this fits my 4 year old's head perfectly, so adjust accordingly)
optional:
10 in ribbon
felt scraps
buttons

First, using the template below, cut out two crown pieces and whichever other pieces you wish to use.
Felt Crown Template

Then take your decorative pieces and lay them on top until you get it the way you want it.

Now, pin the ribbon down and sew it. Then sew each of the felt pieces down. You may want to use steam-a-seam for this if you consider yourself a novice sewer, that way they won't move around or bunch up on you.

Cut the ends of the ribbon to match the edge of the crown.

(You can easily make this a reversible crown by decorating the other crown piece as well!)

Now put the two crown pieces wrong sides together, sewing the elastic into one end first. I inserted the elastic about 3/4". Sew along the bottom of the crown and then when you reach the other end, insert the other of the elastic about 3/4", being sure that it is not twisted and sew it in. **Note: You will want to sew over the elastic 2 or 3 times to be sure it is secure.

Then finish sewing around top of the crown. In some places your pieces may have slipped a bit and aren't perfect. Have no fear!! That's why we love felt, just trim it up to where everything looks just right from the front. Although, if the front and the back are the same color, this really won't be much of a problem.

 I know....poor little guy. I guess I need to make him one of his own.

Please let me know if you have any questions at all!! Have fun!

Sharing this tutorial over at * a little lovely

Sharing the love at some of the following:
Monday:
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Keeping it Simple-- Motivate Me Mondays
Skip to my Lou-- Made by You Mondays
Sew Can Do-- Craftastic Monday 
C.R.A.F.T-- Making Monday Marvelous
Tuesday:
Sugar Bee-- Take a Look Tuesday
Today's Creative Blog-- Get Your Craft On!
Creative Itch-- Sew Cute Tuesday
Tip Junkie-- Tip Me Tuesday
Wednesday:
Sew Much Ado-- We Did It Wednesday!
Blue Cricket Designs-- Show and Tell
Friday: 
Simply Designing
Kojo Friday Fun Finds 
Fingerprints on the Fridge-- Feature Yourself Friday 
Tatertots and Jello-- Weekend Wrap-up
Weekend:
The Girl Creative-- Just Something I Whipped Up
Under the Table and Dreaming-- Sunday Showcase 

 

Ruffles!!

I love ruffles.And I have been blessed with a little girl who does also. With as much as she loves clothes I thought it would be fun to get her something different for Christmas, and something the matches her personality perfectly, but alas, everything I found in the stores was either not quite right or just plain expensive.

So I made her a little something.

With simple matching bows and sweet little flowers sewn to the shirt

I am just thrilled with how all of that ruffly goodness turned out. Since I didn't have any pattern to follow, I was a bit nervous about it.

I'm especially glad that she's thrilled about it also.