Baby Texture Quilt

I actually made this about 2 years ago for my little Kai when he was just a wee little thing. . However, back when I made, I had no idea how to do binding. AND I didn't sew all the pieces together with enough of a seam, so some of them came apart. So, I pulled it out of storage, took off the binding and redid it and added some stitching to keep some squares together.

You just need a whole bunch of great touchy-feely fabrics. I just raided my mom's stash of home dec and costume fabrics. I found lots of silky, fuzzy, bumpy and colorful fabrics. Such a great way to use those small scraps! I backed it with a nice silky fabric. It's lovely.

This isn't the easiest little blanket to make simply because you have a lot of different types of fabrics that stretch really differently as well, so they end up a little bit wonky. You could, of course, be uber careful and probably make it closer to perfect, but quite honestly, I know that it just gets drooled on and chewed on and the recipient doesn't care all THAT much.

Regardless of how perfect or imperfect it is though, my little guy loved this thing. It was just the thing to help him stay happy when lounging on his tummy or just hanging out on the floor. It's not very big, only about 14" x 14", so it just gets stored in the basket with the other infant toys.

Can't wait to be able to use it again:) Come out little one!! We're ready for you!

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 

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.

Pink and Red Posies

A dear friend has a little girl and that little girl just just turned one, so I'm pretty sure she needs some new sweet clothes, right? I bought this print last year to make something fun for Goose, but it hasn't really spoken to me since. Until now. It is the perfect little print for wee little ladies. I can't wait to see it on her.

When I finished up the applique it still needed a little something, so I came up with this little ric rac flower. I just sewed it right down the middle of the ric rac, pulled the threads (very carefully!! ric rac is pretty stiff and you thread can easily break if you're not careful), and gathered it. I then formed it into a little flower, stitching the back of it together as I went. And to sew it on the the shirt I first ironed on a piece of interfacing to the inside of the shirt since knit is such a lightweight fabric and I didn't want it to tear a hole under the weight of the flower.

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Booties!!

Oh man, am I a sucker for booties or what? And there are so many fun patterns out there. With so many babies being born I am always sewing up a pair, and they are so sweet and oh so satisfying. Here are a few recent creations:

I giggle every time I look at these little cuties, which were made from the same curtain panel that I used for the lining of this box and lined with some scrap flannel.

These were made with a thrifted sheet and lined with some cozy fleece.

Both pair came from the genius design of Precious Patterns. They are so simple to put together and require no hand-stitching (I love that!)

You Little Drooly-Face You!!

Oh teething. How I loathe you for keeping me up at night and giving my child the runs and making his nose flood and getting his clothes SO WET. Please, can't you just come once and get it over with?

No.

And so, mama has to think of something. Bibs? Oh, please. That's so BABY! ;) We've got a young MAN on our hands. How 'bout a hanky?

 

And look at that. Proof that it works.It definitely gets soaked.

And pair it with a pair of upcylced, mama-made pants you've got quite the ensemble. 

My favorite thing about it? I made it out of the sleeves of the shirt that I made this dress out of. Trust me, there is nothing left of that shirt. And there are many more of these hankys in the works. And perhaps a tutorial??

Oh, and the Car Basket tute will be up in a couple of days.

Happy Hump Day Y'all!! (that's the Arkansas getting into me...HELP!)

The Cutest Booties

If you're looking for a sweet little gift that will likely take you no more than an hour to make, definitely go for these booties. I found the pattern here and they have a plethora of different patterns. This particular pair was made from the Precious Booties with Ribbon Tie pattern. These make such a lovely little gift, tied onto the top of your package would be so sweet.

I am not a fan of hand-sewing, so my first question to the lovely designers of these booties was how much hand-sewing they involved. Their answer? None. I love that. And the best part is that you can easily streamline the gift making by making several pairs at one time and it will hardly take any extra time at all. I lined these particular booties with fleece. But I have lined other pairs with wool felt. I would definitely go for a cotton lining though, if they would be used during summertime.

Carseat Tent Tutorial

Alright. I made this for a friend and now I am totally wishing I had a kid in bucket carseat so I could make one for myself. This was not hard at all and is easily a 1 1/2 hour project (or less!).

Here's what you need:
2- pieces of fabric 35" x 44" (I used cotton for the top and flannel for the underside. It's cold out there!)
4- strips of fabric 2"x 8" (I used the same pattern as the top cotton, but you could totally go for coordinating fabric)
2- 2" pieces of Velcro
coordinating thread
disappearing marker

1. Sew your two fabrics right sides together, leaving about a 7" gap


2. Clip your corners and turn you fabric right side out. Press.


3. Sew all around your blanket. I also typically sew an extra line closer to the edge to really secure that opening.


4. Figure out where those straps are going to go. To do this I placed the blanket on my carseat and felt around for where I wanted them to be. Mark this with with your marker. Mine ended being about 9" apart, but carseats vary so much.



5. Sew two strips right sides together, leaving one end open for turning. Repeat for the other strap. Clip your corners. Turn and press, making sure that you press the opening to the inside.



6. Sew all along the outside of your straps.


7. Sew your Velcro on each strap about a 1/2 inch from the ends. Be sure to sew the corresponding Velcro piece to the opposite side of the strap.


8. Mark your strap where you will be sewing. I drew two lines about 2" apart. Place your strap on your blanket. Pin and sew.


9. Attach to your carseat and admire. Apparently my friend's carseat is black, white and red, so this is going to look so fun with her carseat.


Please comment if you have any questions at all. I would be glad to clarify any of the details if necessary. Oh, and please let me know if this tutorial is useful to you. I look forward to doing more tutorials. I have a few in the works right now;)

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