Baby Gifts

I had a baby shower to go to last Friday,

so of course I waited until the day of to start sewing a gift.

As luck would have it, just as I got everything cut out, a migraine set in. 

Oy. 

After resting for a few hours I was able to function again- 

with only an hour until I had to leave!

I am so glad I was able to cut the pieces out earlier,

because I got everything sewn just in time.

And I didn't have to fix anything or start over. Whew.

I traced the blanket, burp rag, and bib from items I already have as a pattern. 

The booties I actually made a while ago, here.

(sorry about the terrible photos- I was in a hurry to get to the party!)

Room Fix

"I don't like my room, Mommy"

is how it began. 

The three year old suddenly realized

that her room wasn't pink,

so she doesn't like it.

At all.

She crawls in our bed at night,

because her room isn't pink.

I didn't feel like painting,

so we made a new bunting together instead:

I let her pick out her own fabrics...

I think she did a really great job!

...and now she stays in her own room to sleep.

Usually.

Chevron Baby Quilt

Babies, babies, babies

They are everywhere these days...

Sweet little newborn angels.

I currently have about seven baby gifts to get done!

Well, now six I guess if this one is marked off

the 'to do' list.

I know I haven't posted for a while...

but I've been making a quilt for crying out loud!

This is my first official quilt I have done

all by my self- start to finish. Woo!

My thoughts on the process?

- I need a rotary cutter and cutting mat. fo' sho.

- I don't sew very straight... something to work on.

- sewing a finger doesn't feel very good

(stay tuned for that story...)

- I absolutely love this pattern. It was easy!

I've been wanting to make a zigzag quilt for quite a while now, I am so happy that I found this tutorial on Pinterest! It's from the Bee Square Blog by Amanda Jean. I didn't want to make a really big quilt, so trying out the pattern on a baby quilt was perfect. I was able to get it done in just a few days.

Jammie-jams

New pajamas!

I think we are getting better at posing for pics.

All of these pictures are amazing(ly cute!).

The wet tubbie hair really helps.

The story of the Yellow Piece:

One day I cut out all the pieces I needed, and of course had just enough fabric to make the pajamas. The next day I sat down to sew, and one of the front panels was missing. "Oh no!" I said. "What's wong, mommy?" she said. I ran out to the big trash can to open the bag of garbage that we had tossed out the night before to try to find the missing piece. And, of course! It was garbage day. The big can was empty. Somehow I did end up having this yellow flannel in my fabric stash that matches the yellow in the bird fabric perfectly. It's one of two extra flannel pieces that I own... so it really is quite a miracle that it matched! Hence the yellow panel, that I actually really like. I think I like it better than if all the fabric had ended up being the same!

Pillow Covering

I designed and made this pillow covering for one of our

sad sad sad pillows that lives on the sofa. 

I wanted something with color

(now that I say that, just so you know,

two of the white looking petals are actually sky blue,

and the other two are light grey. 

They aren't white.)

and I also wanted something that was

different from what I've seen every where else.

Oh ya, I also didn't want to spend any moolah either.

I used old shirts for the petals,

and just some cotton I had in my fabric stash

for the rest of the cover.

It's about an 18" square pillow.

I love how it turned out!

And I actually really enjoyed stitching

all the petals with the different colors of thread.

I think the next cover I make will have to be out of 

upholstery fabric though.

After making this one and then watching 

the three year old throw it and jump on it

and wipe her nose on it

(I was smart enough to put a zipper on it so it could be washed!)

I just don't think it's going to last as long as I had hoped...

Mama to Daughter: Sweater Refashion

My friend gave me this purple sweater that she didn't use anymore,

so I saved it for some future project down the road--

It matches this cute owl fabric

(that I was also saving for some future project)

Perfect!

I used a shirt for my guide that miss G currently wears

and cut out the front pieces from the existing sweater:

Then copied the front piece to cut out the back piece

for the new sweater:

I also used the shirt as a guide for the new smaller sleeve:

But I kept the original sweater sleeve edge 

so I wouldn't have to refinish the edge.

Then I sewed the sweater together;

shoulder seams first, added the sleeves,

and then did the side seams.

All the edges were already finished

because I used the previous sweaters edges.

miss G likes this picture the best 

because her hair "goes to the side like a princess":

Owl Dress Tutorial

I know you love my tutorials.

I'm amazing at them.... right. Right?

For top of this dress I followed a tutorial I have shared before,

(it's not mine) but I love it and use it all the time.

It's by Jess, at Craftiness is not Optional

Followed a shirt that currently fits the little lady,

leaving seam allowance all around

Followed Jess's tutorial for the neck and sleeves

Measured miss G to get the right length for the bodice

Followed the tutorial for the keyhole back,

and then gathered the top of the skirt piece that I measure out.

Sewed top to the bottom, hemmed the skirt, 

and used biased tape to finish the neck and sleeves

And added the ruffle detail last.

I love this girl. 

She's going to be three in a few weeks!

Baby Skirt

This teeny little skirt turned out so adorable.

I think I'll have to make another one for my miss G.

It was a Christmas gift for the sweet baby girl

that I watch during the week

The waist is just elastic all the way around,

I measured the baby's waist and then added an inch 

to get the measurement for the waist.

The strips of fabric are about 3 inches wide.

I gathered the tops of the two bottom tiers

before stitching them all together to form the skirt.

The flower is just a really lazy yoyo

that I twisted a bit and then hand stitched to the skirt.

I also added another little pink piece of fabric

to make it look more like a flower.

I didn't follow a pattern,

I just made it up as I went. 

But I think that this would be easy

to adapt to any size for the little ladies.

Here Fishy Fishy!

I made this fish for a baby gift

for my sweet new little nephew

I used an old sweater,

Cut out an animal shape pattern on paper

and cut out the shape from the sweater

Stitched together with the sewing machine

And then hand stitched the details.

Linking up to Life Made Lovely

Quiet Toy

For those moment when you wish your toddler would tone it down a bit.

Materials needed:

Fabric (my two squares are about 6"x6")

Thread/ Sewing Machine

Leftover sparkly tulle from a sisters wedding (optional)

A Marble

I made the window with the tulle first,

in the corner of one of my squares.

Then I sewed the squares together, right sides together

leaving a space to turn it right side out.

After turning the square right side out, but

before stitching the square shut, I popped in the marble.

Then I stitched a simple maze pattern.

My maze pattern is square, 

it starts the marble in the middle of the square

and has to be worked out to the edge 

to get the marble to the window.