baby crafting: viv's blessing dress

I had so much fun making Vivian's blessing dress. Okay, I'll admit I was totally freaked out about it because I don't sew with fancy fabrics very often. I dragged my feet for weeks and weeks. I even cut it out and then let it sit again. But I love how it turned out and it ended up coming together very easily because I had practiced the pattern a couple of times beforehand.

I found the beautiful sheer ivory fabric with gold dots at Joann Fabrics in Arizona. I didn't buy it--of course!--but kept thinking about it. So luckily I found it online and it was mine. I found some white satin in the sale area of Joanns and used that as the lining and her diaper cover-not pictured. For the pattern I just used a dress pattern that I had but made it longer, I think I added about 12 inches. The gold trim I found on etsy and the buttons are vintage from a stash my aunt sent me.

I love how simple the design of the dress is but the fabric and gold trim really make it special. Top it off with a tiny white bow and you have the perfect ensemble for the star of the show.

Geranium Dress Pattern from made by rae
Tiny bow tutorial from the creative muster
Ivory fabric with Gold Nailheads from Joann Fabrics
Gold Trim from etsy shop annielov

oh baby baby: crib bedding

 Finally got around to setting up the crib and taking pictures of the bedding I made. I don't have tutorials on each thing I made but I am going to link to inspirations, techniques and stores I resourced.

Making a crib sheet was SUPER easy and actually quite affordable. I found this tutorial from danamadeit and lucked out being able to order more of this sweet cherry print online. I already have white sheets from Henry but wanted something fun and since I fell in love with this soft cherry fabric while making the quilt, I just had to have it. 

Plus I couldn't find a lot of crib sheet options in red that weren't thick chevron stripes or really bold. Nothing struck my fancy. 

 For the bumper I just covered Henry's old bumper but I found this tutorial useful for how to do the ties. I felt like last time the ribbons I used were just barely able to hold the bumper up. For the outer panels, I just used a red fabric from my quilt and for the inner panels, I made extra squares to match the quilt. I kind of just patched the whole things together, no really great sewing skills required just a little fudging here and there. I also don't plan on having this in the crib for months as I know they are a safety concern but eventually it will be helpful to keep little legs and arms inside.

The crib skirt I bought at Target last time and love that I chose something neutral because I can use it again.

 Here is the finished quilt! I used the same pattern as Henry's that I purchased off etsy through Kelly McCaleb's shop. Her shop is closed but I bet if you messaged her you could get the pattern too. I love how this turned out.

 A medley of red and white patterns. This time I kept it simple by just folding over the backing to make the binding instead of using bias tape. So much easier.

The back is not one solid piece of fabric but all the scraps from the front. I love that it is chunky pieces and that you can see the white stitching contrasting on the red. Its like two quilts in one.

oh baby baby: be cool baby art

 So her little sliver of Henry's room is really coming along. Mostly we have just been throwing things into her crib for storage but I finally got some things cleaned out and some piles resolved and some laundry done. Last night I finished this wall hanging--in your face, bed rest!--and I love how it turned out.

Also note that curtain. That is actually a door. It leads to the bathroom but since we never use it or allow Henry to use it, we placed the crib in front of it. It looked weird, just a door chilling behind the crib so I rigged up this basic curtain to give the illusion of a window and to soften the wall.

Inspired by this art by Jimmy Marble, I pinned this picture to my baby board. I was originally just going to paint something similar but when faced with hours of resting, I rethought my plan. Steve thinks it looks like a 4th grader made it but I was intrigued by the simplicity of the cut outs. I also like the wording. Its perfect above a crib. Just relax baby, stop crying. Or I really want my daughter to be cool and awesome. Either way works.

 So instead of painting it or doing cut outs, I embroidered the design. By hand. Holy Cow this took forever but luckily time is what I have these days.

 I looked through my fabric stash and settled on this vintage swiss dot fabric. Four skeins of red embroidery floss, some free handed basic letters and brushing up on hand stitching completed the job. I don't really know anything about embroidery and only learned a few basic stitches but I had fun playing with texture and techniques.

 I stretched the fabric over an old canvas I had lying around. So this literally only cost me $1 for the thread. I guess it pays to be burdened by a huge stash of art supplies.

I particularly love how the B's turned out.

Next up, bedding...

baby crafting: recovered swing and boppy

 When we had Henry we bought a used swing for a couple of dollars off of craigslist. It was ugly but I wasn't interested in spending a lot in case Henry didn't like it. I also needed something small and compact as our old apartment was tiny.

 This time around I thought I would spruce it up a bit. I forgot to take a before picture and couldn't find one when Henry was a baby. So I lucked out at Walmart and got all the fabric for $3. As usual with Walmart customer service, I was left standing at the cutting counter for 30 minutes. I think the lady felt bad for me because she gave me the fabric at clearance pricing even after I pointed out her mistake.

I love how it turned out and with fresh batteries, we're all set. I did not make a tutorial as it was relatively simple yet there are so many steps I wouldn't have felt like I could/would do a good job.

 Big Mickey likes it too.

 Next up was to recover the boppy. If you are going to buy one baby thing, I would highly recommend a boppy. I bought the basic pillow form from Joann Fabrics and it came with a pattern for making a cover. Last time I used a combination of green minky fabric and vintage plaid. Well the plaid ended up ripping after the first time I washed it and I never made a new cover.

 This time we're brightening things up with floral and aqua. Luckily I had saved my boppy cover pattern but it would be pretty easy to draft a pattern from an existing pillow.

 Love the combination of the super soft minky and the punchy floral.

 Still loving this pillow

years later.

baby crafting: zebra wall hanging

When we got Henry's new dresser, I knew I would be moving his old dresser out into the living room to be the baby's new dresser and changing table. It fits perfectly squeezed in between the kid's room on the left and the bathroom on the right. All her 0-3 month clothes fill the drawers and the cabinet has the next size all ready to go. I wanted something to hang above it to tie the whole space together. I found this awesome wall hanging from a french children's blog and fell in love with the charming banner carrying zebra. 

 Here is the inspiration photo. 

So now looking at them side by side, my zebra is a little squatter and not as graceful looking. Ha ha. Oh well. Once you forget what the original looks like it looks pretty cute and enough like a zebra that it is not such a big deal. 

I vow to never compare them again in the future. 

 I didn't put together a tutorial on this as I was just copying someone else's design for personal use. But here is the gist of what I did. The size is large, one yard of fabric (36X44"), I bought two yards of fabric so I could have a nice finished back . I just bought a natural cotton muslin as I wanted the banner to be white. I used black wool felt for the zebra and heat n bonded it in place. I tried hard to match the design of the original by just eyeballing it. I also laid everything out before ironing into place. The banner is just white cotton with colorful wool felt squares and other fabric scraps. 

The only sewing I did was sewing the back to the front and then sewing the casing for the dowels. I also sewed on the pom poms but it was all very basic and minimal. 

To make it a wall hanging, I bought two 36" dowels and inserted them into the panel so the hanging would hang straight. Adding the pink pom poms really helps the design pop especially against our cream walls. Steve even mentioned that it would look better against a colorful wall but I definitely don't want to paint and I didn't think his enthusiasm would translate into a solo painting project. 

I have another art project in the works for above the crib and it is "rest" friendly. Meaning I can do it while sitting in my favorite chair watching Parenthood. 

oh baby baby: square maternity top

I actually really like buying maternity clothes. Why not celebrate your changing body with awesome new clothes? Sadly, they don't offer a lot in way of variety. If you like prints, which I do, you are limited to stripes. And of course there are lots of solids. Why is everything so bland? Probably because they assume you will just buy basics to get you through your ten months. And since it is only ten months, I don't want to spend a ton of money but I still want to look cute and have fun things to wear.

Naturally I would turn to sewing my own clothes.

So I remembered this simple square top tutorial from over at Cotton and Curls that I had success with and decided to make some maternity versions. I was also inspired by her use of florals in this maternity top and thought I could definitely whip up something cute and different.

I started by using her tutorial with a few changes. I wanted to combine knit and cotton fabric to make a tee that was both flattering and fun. I stripped down to a tank and measured my body (scary, huh?) Just kidding, I have no concept of largeness anymore so I am actually going to share my measurements with you. Gasp.
I wanted the front to be the knit so it would cling in all the right places and the back to be the cotton. Remember, knit has stretch and cotton doesn't. I didn't want the cotton in the front being too blousy as I like to emphasize my shape instead of hide it. Who am I kidding? There is no hiding anything these days.

For her square tops, she has you measure yourself at your widest part--hips--and then measure your length from your shoulder to however long you want it to be. I took the basic concept but adjusted for a belly. I measured my widest part (belly/hip area) and got 43". Then I measured my back (17") and my front (26") separately at my widest part. I measured from my shoulder to under my belly and got 28". So using this info I cut out my rectangles adding a few inches for seams and to make the back a little fuller but the front a little snugger since I wanted the knit to cling instead of drape. I actually ended up using the following measurements for each shirt: knit front 28" L X 25"W and cotton back 28" L X 27" W. Then proceed to follow her directions except make sure you line up the sides, your front will be smaller than your back.

I love how this turned out. The blue knit front is actually the back of one of Steve's old t-shirts rescued from the goodwill pile. The back is a delicious floral I spied at a thrift store. Its so kitschy. I was going to make it into a dress for baby girl but got selfish. (There is some leftover for her.) I also love how this looks with a belt to snug things up around my waist.

Then I made another one because I just couldn't help myself. A white polka dot knit from the clearance bin at Walmart and a cotton floral I have been hanging onto for years make quite the unexpected combination. And since I had spent all that time sizing the first one just right, I had a pattern for this one and it went way faster.

This one has a much better length sleeve. I think I am going to have to add a cuffed sleeve to the blue one as it is a little short and I don't want to worry about layering in the heat.

I'm ready for summer.
Well almost.
I am afraid it is going to get so hot.
I should make a stack of these.
Pronto.

Since the original post and wearing both of these shirts I have made a few changes. I did add a cuffed sleeve to the blue one. I also realized that I don't love loose pregnancy clothing. There is comfy and then there is frumpy. So I added darts to the front of them which took them in a bit, see how it better hugs my belly? I copied the darts from my favorite H&M Mama tees. I also took the white one in a bit as it was a little bigger to begin with.

baby crafting: Up in the Air Mobile

 I never made a mobile for Henry's room when he was a baby. I just never got around to it. Well this time I was determined to make one as they can be so cute and I am all about cuteness these days.

I found a lot of inspiration on Pinterest. Just searching "baby mobile" gave me hundreds of ideas. I originally fell in love with the hot air balloons and then from there decided to go with an "Up in the Air" theme.

After I had my theme I brainstormed all the things you could find in the sky: hot air balloons, sun, clouds, rain clouds, birds, airplane, rainbow, kite. I narrowed it down a bit based on ability, wouldn't it be amazing to be able to make a felt airplane? And I am kind of sick of birds so I ditched that too.

For the sun I used this tutorial on making a sunburst out of tissue paper. Instead of using tissue paper I bought 1/8 yard yellow tulle. It was like 19 cents. I cut it into two pieces and then made the pom poms and hand stitched them onto wool felt sunbursts. It was easier to stitch the pom poms onto the bursts and then stitch the bursts together. My pom poms had to be trimmed once they were sewed into place too.

For the hot air balloons, I used this tutorial. I used the medium and small patterns. I also just sewed them on my sewing machine so I would recommend adding a seam allowance to the pattern if you opt not to hand stitch them. I did hand stitch the bunting on the blue one after I chain stitched the triangles through my machine. Instead of using corks for the baskets, I just cut narrow strips of brown wool felt and rolled them until I got the right size. Kind of like rolling a cinnamon roll except I used hot glue to keep them in place instead of frosting. A couple of lengths of brown embroidery floss had them hanging and ready for flight.

I made two clouds, one without rain drops and one with rain. Clouds are super easy. I just freehanded the shape and then sewed them on the sewing machine. Don't forget to leave a hole for stuffing. I hand sewed them closed and also attached the rain with thread by hand. The best way to make rain drops would be to sandwich two pieces of wool felt and sew the outlines of all the drops before cutting them out. Trying to sew around those tiny drops on your machine would be a nightmare. I opted for aqua on one side and blue on the other.

For the kite I just free handed a diamond shape in mint felt. The tale is actually ribbon hot glued to cover a twist tie. I wanted something with wire so it would retain it's shape and a twist tie was the perfect length. White yarn bows complete the look. I actually hot glued the ribbon into the kite and then stitched around the edge using a zigzag stitch.

For the rainbow I chose three colors of pink wool felt but you could use any colors. I traced a circle from a cereal bowl and cut out one of each. I kept the darkest pink the whole circle and made each one a little smaller. I hand sewed them all together around each circle using a blanket stitch. Then I folded the circle in half and cut out the arch. I hand sewed the arch shut and then sewed the top rounded edge shut too, stuffing it as I went. That was a terrible description but as I didn't take how-to pictures that is the best I can do.

For the mobile hanging structure I just used an old embroidery hoop. I found the scalloped edge inspiration here. Putting it all together I tried to vary the lengths of each hanging item so you could see them staggered. I just used light blue thread to hang them from the hoop. Then I hot glued thin strips of scalloped, light blue felt around the edge and inside the hoop too. I used clear fishing wire to hang it from the ceiling. This was total trial and error and I had to retie the strands a few times to get them to be even when hanging. I guess I could have measured them for more accuracy but then that would have been too easy, right?

I am super pleased with how this turned out. And since I already had all the supplies except the tulle it only cost me 19 cents and a few hours work.

baby crafting: tumble tee and dress

Tumbe Tee, 3 months

I am loving this simple tee pattern I am reviewing today. I have mentioned how much I love separates for a baby. So easy to mix and match. I also don't really love how in the stores everything comes in sets. The pants match the shirt and you kind of feel stuck always keeping it as an outfit. So when I stumbled across this basic tee pattern I knew not only would it be easy to make but it would make for easier mixing and matching.
If you've put off sewing with knits out of fear, now is the time to be brave as they are so simple to work with if you follow a few easy tips. Simply print the free pattern from her site and there is a whole page of instructions on how to work with knit whether using a sewing machine or a serger.
What originally drew me to this pattern was that it has a small cap sleeve but you don't have to set in a sleeve. Sleeves can be a pain and intimidating. This is just like a tiny little shade shirt! And with such a basic pattern, the variation possibilities are endless.

The free pattern and tutorial from imagine gnats is for a 3 month size Tumble Tee or Dress.

I didn't really make a lot of changes. The pattern is the full length dress so I just folded it shorter to make the tees. I used an existing baby shirt as a guide for the length. Also the pattern would be pretty easy to make bigger for other sizes but she does offer a pattern in a full range of sizes for sale on her site.

Tumble Tee, 3 months

Sewing knits is easy with a little practice. A couple of things to keep in mind:

• Make sure you sew with the stretch running the correct way. having your knit stretch from neck to seam isn't going to help you get your t-shirt on, stretch should run width wise. Just check the t-shirt you are wearing now, see? Make sure you cut out your pattern accordingly. 
• Also don't tug the fabric when feeding through your machine, it could cause bunching on your seams.

Tumble Dress, 3 months

Finding knits is sometimes harder than sewing with them. But luckily we wear a lot of knit in our normal lives so refashioning old shirts is a great place to start. The black tee above was one of Steve's old shirts that I rescued from the goodwill pile. Using an old garment too saves time as you can use the existing hem for your new hem. I embellished it by stamping gold hearts on it. Originally I wanted the hearts to be more filled in but I ended up loving the faded look. It looks like an old worn in t shirt that has been washed a million times.

The purple tee above is from an old maternity dress that I just didn't like this time around. The balloon dress is a bit of knit I found at a yard sale years ago and have hung on to because I just loved the vintage cuteness of it. Yard sales and thrift stores are a great resource for fabrics especially if you like funkier patterns.