baby crafting: circle skirt

Oh hi there!

I have a few more baby clothing reviews I never finished from way back when I was pregnant. And guess what? I have a baby to put in these clothes now so I can update with cute pictures. 

Today we're reviewing the Circle Skirt tutorial over from Danamadeit.

This skirt was everywhere years ago but since I didn't think it appropriate for Henry to flounce around in a skirt, I saved it for my future daughter. 

These are super easy to make and take such a small amount of fabric, I had to hold myself back from making dozens of them. Now that Vivian is wearing them too I love how you don't have to remove the skirt to change her diaper, just flip up with the onesie. So convenient. 

Circle Skirt: 0-3 months

I found this colored elastic on sale at Joann fabrics and bought it in every color. They were on sale and I haven't been able to find it since. And speaking of elastic, her tutorial on making the band is really helpful and I am happy with how the band lays against Viv's tummy. 

Circle Skirt:3-6 mons

If you are a novice sewer, this is the perfect project to start on. 

And with summer in full swing, a simple skirt really dresses up onesies. 

Circle Skirt: 0-3 mons

Circle Skirt: 0-3 mons

This is my favorite one!

Circle Skirt: 3-6 mons

This one is made of an applique on white cotton. I just loved this floral and was happy I had saved a bit. 

oh baby baby: gold sequined pencil skirt

So you know I lead the music at church. Its one of my many growing talents. Well anyway I totally tripped when I got up to lead a song on Sunday. Luckily I caught myself but it was embarrassing and I immediately started sweating and smiling to cover it up. Only a couple more Sundays of that left.

When you are pregnant and love skirts and dresses and have to wear one almost every day either to teach seminary or go to church, you suddenly realize that maternity skirt options are limited. This time I really lucked out with dresses but sometimes separates are easier and give you more options. I had one fantastic knit pencil skirt from the Gap last time and figured I could use it as a pattern to make another one.

Over Christmas I made a special trip to Joann Fabrics with the intent of finding a unique knit to make into a skirt. If you have experience shopping for knit yardage you know it can be tricky. Well I fell hard for this gold sequined sweater knit. You can actually still buy it here.

 I bought a yard of it and whipped it into the most comfy skirt ever. Okay lets be honest, sequins totally itch but I am willing to suffer for style. I love how it looks with simple fitted tees and I like it paired with flowier tops like this olive green tunic. This top is another great find from H&M. Its non maternity but since it is stretchy and voluminous, it works.

And I think it is going to work as a non maternity skirt too which is awesome because I would hate to pack it away. Thank heavens for knit!

 And whether paired with ankle boots, sandals or bright orange and gold heels, its a win win. I scored these heels at Last Chance also in Arizona and fell in love with the super soft leather and fun gold strap. I think I scared my mother in law a little when I showed up with them in line. I am definitely not afraid of color!

I used a combination of these easy maternity skirt tutorials (pencil skirt here...comfy elastic band skirt here) and I used an old skirt as a basic pattern. Happy Belly Sewing!

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.

bexcaliber: Rainbow Pillow Cover Tutorial

And the giveaway winner is my sister in law Emily. Just think of it as an early birthday present :) Thanks everyone for entering the giveaway and your kind words of encouragement. 

 Well I finally got the tutorial put together. Man, was I dragging my feet on this one. To get it done, it was the only thing on my list for the day--no excuses, right? Luckily, its done in time for you to make it before the holiday is here. Click through to my website for the full tutorial and pattern.

Tutorial includes instructions for both the thick and thin striped options and you of course could choose your own fabrics too like this fun patterned one.

bexcaliber: Lucky St. Patrick's Day Banner Tutorial

We're keeping the St. Paddy's Day festivities going over here today with an easy luck of the Irish banner. Lucky gold at the end of the rainbow? I'll take that. 

For directions and patterns check out my website.

And this is the last day for the giveaway, your chances are still pretty good... 

bexcaliber: shamrock pillow cover tutorial

Did you know that March is National Craft Month? Well I don't know how legit that is, it could just be a thing Joann Fabrics made up, but it sounds good to me.

March is also home to St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of the Irish, I will be doing a couple of tutorials and sharing some ideas on how to deck out your home with a little more green. 

For tutorial on making these pillow covers and to download free shamrock patterns go to my website. 

Also don't forget to enter the giveaway for the rainbow pillow cover, only two people have commented so far so I think your chances are pretty good. :)

baby crafting: hey there onesies

3-6 months, hello tank

 hello.

hey there.

bonjour.

aloha.

 When Henry was a baby I had great fun dyeing white onesies and then stenciling designs on them. As much as I love simple clothing for babies, I also love a little bit of cheeky humor too. The best way to achieve this is to make it yourself. Luckily I am determined and skilled with an exacto knife.

For all of these I used a freezer paper stencil which is a one time use stencil and relatively error free. My words of advice would be to keep your design simple (no script lettering!) and to make sure you use several thinner coats of paint instead of one thick one. Also if the paint is too watery, it might bleed under the paper, you can see that a little on the green onesie.

I made the pink tank above and also the purple tee below. Pattern reviews coming soon. This was also a great project to use old onesies of Henry's. The green one was a faded Henry hand me down and the pink onesie was actually a stained cream one that I cut the snaps off and then dyed pink. I used my serger to roll the bottom hem of the cut off onesie to make it a shirt. Hooray for recycling!

3 month, bonjour tumble tee

 My original inspiration came from this top now sold out on etsy. I just loved the idea of the word bubble with the bonjour. So I decided to mix it up and do multiple word bubble tees with different languages. I brainstormed out a bunch of different words and chose these four.

I printed out the lettering on white paper and then traced them on freezer paper. Once each letter was cut out, I arranged them on the freezer paper to cut out the word bubble shape. Each word needed a different sized bubble. Also don't be afraid to vary word placement, I love how the "hola" one turned out with the letters off centered.

Once the word bubble and the letters were ironed onto the shirts, I painted the empty space using a sponge brush leaving the words as the shirt color.

0-3 month, hola shortened onesie

 I also lucked out because I have lots of screen printing inks from failed fabric design projects. I am obsessed with this gold paint and you will see it again. But I have also found great success using acrylic paint mixed with a fabric medium. Just follow the directions for ratio mixing and heat setting.

0-3 month, ciao onesie

For a great tutorial on using freezer paper to make a stencil, go here.

baby crafting: baby sun suit

Romper, 0-3 months

 Next up: rompers! When I was thinking about projects for baby girl I realized that since she will be born in May, the first few months of her life will be spent in the sweltering southern heat. So lightweight basics and separates will be key. And even though we have air conditioning, we will also be in sweltering car seats and hanging out on the beach too. She'll be ready to romp in these adorable sun suits.

This pattern had me kind of scared. Lots of new and what seemed like really challenging techniques. The first one took me a while to make and now I can whip them out in no time.

So here is my review of Made By Rae's baby sunsuit tutorial. 

Overall her pattern and tutorial are really good. She includes details on how to measure your baby for the sizing and also a general number for a 6-12 month pattern. I took her instructions and drafted the numbers for smaller sizes. Since I don't have a baby on hand to measure, I just used clothing as a guide.

Another thing to remember is that the length is going to be the longer side because there will be extra inches added to make the overlapping snap area.

Here are the numbers I came up with:

Romper, 3-6 months

Here are some tips and variations I added to the design:

• Instead of turning over the hems on the neckline and the leg holes, why not use a bias tape? I love how this navy and red one turned out. I simply made bias tape in a contrasting color and sewed it in place. You could buy bias tape too. On this one I also used the same fabric to make the straps and used red contrasting thread for the shirring. 
• For her straps she suggests making tubes out of fabric, I made it a little simpler by just stitching around the fabric with a rolled hem on my serger. You can see the exposed stitching but I hate making fabric tubes. 

Romper 0-3 months

• A couple of these aren't completed yet as I still need to add the snaps. She gives a great alternative to stitching on snaps by hand: simply cut off the snaps from an old onesie and stitch to your romper. She shows you how and it is such a great time saver. Or you could invest in a snap tool that punches them through the fabric like a grommet. 
• On most of these I used contrasting thread and I love how it highlights the shirring. I also had fun mixing and matching button colors. A thought on buttons: since these are for a baby and the buttons can be on the back or front, consider using a flat button. I originally fell in love with a pair of rounded, red ball buttons for the navy one but realized how uncomfortable that might be to lie on in a carseat. 

Romper, 0-3 months

• The thinner the fabric, the better is will ruche with the elastic thread. The two lighter blue rompers have a nice shirring because they are super lightweight fabric. The yellow one below is a little thicker so I added a couple of extra rows of elastic. The pink floral is actually a sheet!

Romper, 3-6 months

Snowflakes on Canvas

This December I tried to do some festive projects with Henry. Just like his mom, he loves doing crafts. One thing I saw on pinterest was a snowflake on canvas. I had some old canvasses stored away and thought Henry would like doing the project. I saw that they made simple snowflakes using painter's tape but we used freezer paper instead. It was easy to cut out intricate flakes using the paper and we only had a small bit of trouble ironing it to the canvas. I would say that a larger/thicker design works better. 

We painted the canvasses white first, ironed the paper on next and then Henry painted over the paper with a medley of blues. 

They turned out okay. We added glue and glitter to the finished project to make them shiny. 

Not bad for costing zero dollars and filling an afternoon. 

I just loved this series of photos as I tried to get a picture of Henry with the art in his room. This is what life is like with a four year old. 

Oh Henry!