More Pink for Baby

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So much for getting my next project up in a timely matter.  I finished this one right on time, but it only took me about a week and a half to post it.  Grrr.

Anyway, some more friends are expecting a baby, this time it’s a little girl!  So more baby stuff.  And because I couldn’t resist, it’s all pink!

First up is the baby dress.  It’s a pillow case style dress.  I already knew how to make it because I’ve made similar tops (including this doll version with a tutorial), but I found this tutorial for baby dresses extremely useful.  It gives you measurements to use based on the age of the baby or toddler.  Useful when you don’t have a kid to measure.

It’s trimmed with eyelet lace at the bottom, and I used some cute pink grosgrain ribbon for the ties.  All I had to do was hang it on a cute pink hanger and it was ready to go.

Speaking of hangers, I bought a pack of pink children’s hangers for a dollar.  I thought that since this was a baby girl who will definitely receive lots of cute dresses from friends and family, the parents will need hangers.  They will need to store it all somehow.

And why not make them cute too?  Simply adding a nice ribbon bow to the top does the job.

And now we have a full set of cute girly hangers ready for use.  I think I might need to do this to my own hangers too.

To go along with the dress, and possibly all the other ones in her wardrobe, I made these cute baby head bands.  The one on the left has a eyelet lace rossette (tutorial!) accented with a pink bow made from the same ribbon as my baby dress and hangers.

The one on the right has a ribbon rose made with some ribbon left over from my Easter dress.

The unique part is what they are attached to, a loop cut from tights.  I got the idea from this tutorial for baby headbands.  It’s stretches enough to fit baby or even mommy’s head, but its soft and gentle.

The final piece is this stuff bunny, because toys are mandatory.  I call it the potato bunny because the shape of the body without legs reminds me of a potato.  Strange? Yes. Cute? Definitely.

The face is just a wee little nose made of felt and two faux pearls for eyes.  Don’t worry, I took extra measures to make them secure and baby safe.  It would take a strong force to pry these eyes off.

To finish it off, I tied on a ribbon bow.  Yep, it’s the same ribbon from the other pieces.  All the baby presents are finished.  And all that’s left is to wait for the baby to be born.

Here’s the updated list:

• Dress
• Accessories
• Jeans
• Baby
• Little dress

Three down, two more to go.  And they both will be almost as cute as the baby stuff.  Look forward to it!

Give it a try:

• Offray 3/8"x21' Grosgrain Solid Ribbon
• Girls' Nylon Tights Cat & Jack – Ivory
• Delta Baby Clothing Hangers

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Sewing for Baby

As I mentioned before, I have friends who are expecting their first child this month, so I made a boat load of things for their baby shower which I haven’t shown yet. :)

But first here’s something else I haven’t shown here much. My notebook sketches.

Before I do a lot of my sewing, I like to sketch out ideas in notebooks.  This one page is dedicated to all the baby things I wanted to make.  Some of the things I didn’t actually make, this time anyway.  Let’s save something for later.

First up is the diaper bag.  I designed it based on a tote bag I saw someone using at work.  Large and roomy with lots of pockets on the inside and a useful little one on the outside. The twist?

This is the fabric I picked out for it.  I found it at Wal-Mart, have I mentioned before how glad I am that they brought fabric back to their stores?  I just couldn’t resist the little turtles and elephants, plus it works for boy and girl babies.

Here’s the finished bag.  The straps go most of the way down the sides of the bag for security, plus it makes the pocket look good.

Here’s the inside.  There are six pockets all ready to shove stuff in and carry.  That’s exactly what I did.  I crammed it with all the other stuff I made plus some essentials I bought on sale.

Now the blankets.  Here’s the baby blanket…

…and receiving blankets.  The receiving blankets were just a single square cut from a knit fabric and hemmed. The baby blanket involved a layer of sweat shirt fabric sewn with the softer side facing outward.  I used this tutorial as a guide.

Here’s the fabric I used.  I got it at SAS. Dalmatians and fire trucks, perfect for a new little boy. :)

Here are the finished blankets.  In addition to blankets, I made some birth cloths and wash cloths.  The wash cloths are made like the receiving blankets but smaller and using plain white knit fabric.  The burp cloths are made like the blanket only smaller and rectangle shaped.

Now the best part, the teddy bear.  Because every kid needs a stuffed best friend.

Here’s the finished bear.  All ready for hugs

I made the patterns from scratch using newspaper.  It was easier than expected, I must be getting better at making patterns.

Here’s the fabric I used.  It’s fake fur from SAS.  It’s a perfect off-white and super soft.  I have plenty of leftovers so be prepared for more teddies in the future.

Some in progress photos just for fun.

Sewn and turned partially right side out.  The legs were a pain to sew.

And now the jacket.  Sad thing about it, I seem to have lost the finished photo.  I have search all over my computer and it seems to have totally disappeared.  It looked totally adorable and almost exactly like my sketch except I put a turtle applique and an elephant applique on the front.  Obviously I cut the appliques from the bag fabric.

Here’s the patterns I made, they are based on a dress pattern but were perfect for a jacket. 

And of course this the fabric I used, I used it for the blanket as well.  I got it a Goodwill.  It’s always nice to find good fabric at thrift stores.  I have plenty of it leftover so I will probably make another one soon.  Look forward to it.

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A Little Late on the Fleece

Oh dear, the month is almost over and I only just now finished any of the projects on my list.  Let’s just say I’ve had a lot on my plate this month.  School, commitments, not to mention a certain personal problem.  Anyway, I manage to get these two done.

The first thing that comes to my mind when dealing with fleece is bears, like teddy bears.  That’s where these come in.  The top ones I did first, they have little hearts stitched on the front and magnets glued on the back.  I decided that all my fleece projects this month are going to be done completely by hand.  Absolutely no sewing machine.  No I am not crazy, there is a practical reason.  Hand sewing is more portable, perfect for when the only time you can squeeze some sewing in is the few minutes before class.  Plus, blanket stitches look so adorable on fleece.  Anyway, the bottom teddy is a pin.  I was going to make him a magnet too, but my disc magnets seem to have disappeared on me.  He is just a head on purpose because it was easy, plus it looks so cute.

Speaking of cute heads, I made a bunch more.  There are bunnies and cats in addition to the bears.  I added ribbon and split-rings to them to make key chains.  I will either give them away or stick them in my shoppe.  Hard to decide which or how many.
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair accessories
• Tiny teddies
• Tiny birds
• Bags
• Tiny sweaters
• Tiny hats
• Yoyo’s
• Cases
• Key chains
• Cuffs

Two down,  eight more to go.  And only a little over a week to do them.

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Story Time: Of Boys and Stuff Toys

This is a story about a little boy who loves stuff animals.  Really loves them.  He has a special shelf in his room built by his grandpa where his entire collection lives.  All except his favorite, a stuff bunny his grandma made for him when he was two years old.  This bunny has long floppy ears and a soft huggable body, perfect to cuddle with when the boy goes to bed.  When he sleeps, the boy dreams wonderful dreams of going on adventures with his bunny.  He had one where he was the captain on a ship and his bunny was his first mate.  They sailed all around the world together.  In another dream, the boy was a brave knight and his bunny was his faithful squire.  The little boy liked to take his bunny along with him during the daytime too.  Grocery shopping with his parents, the swings at the park, the doctor’s office, his bunny went everywhere with him.  Everywhere except one place, to school.  It wasn’t that he wasn’t allowed to bring his bunny to school, other kids brought toys to school all the time.  It was because the boy next door once told him that boys aren’t supposed to play with stuffed animals, they’re for girls and babies.  The boy next door is 4 months older so he knows better, at least that’s what the little boy thought.  So the little boy was afraid that the kids would laugh at him and call him a baby if he brought the bunny to school.  And so, everyday before he left for school he would sadly wave bye-bye to his bunny, wishing he could take him with him. 

There was another boy who recently moved in across the street.  He was much older than the boy next store, and went to a bigger school too.  One day, the little boy’s mother asked the older boy to walk him to school since she had something important to do that morning.  This made the little boy very happy, the older boy was so cool.  The little boy did still feel sad though when he waved to his bunny, still wishing he could take him with him.  “Well, why don’t you?” said the older boy.  The little boy was surprised to hear that.  He told the older boy everything he had been told about stuffed animals.  Then the older boy surprised him again.  “I have a stuffed bear,” he said.  He pulled it out of his backpack and showed it to the little boy.  It was light brown with a blue ribbon around its neck and was small enough to fit in the older boy’s hand, such a cute little bear.  He told the little boy that he took it to school everyday because it was good luck, especially during practice (he is on the basketball team).  “Do you think that makes me a baby?” asked the older boy.  The little boy shook his head, and immediately ran to grab his bunny.  So when they got to the little boy’s classroom, he and his bunny waved bye-bye to the older boy and his bear.  That day only one kid laugh at the little boy, but he didn’t mind.  He was too busy playing with his bunny and the other kids to even notice.

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Teddies in Jammies

This is my nephew’s teddy bear, “Teddy”.  He loves this little guy.  One evening I thought it would be cute to put a pair of pajama pants on Teddy.  My nephew loved this idea.  The problem was that the pair I put on him were too long.  It was one of those doll ones I made (see Tiny Jim-Jams).  We just rolled up the legs and they worked okay temporarily. 
Fast forward, I whipped up this nice pair using the same pattern except cut about an inch shorter.  I used some blue fleece I had because my nephew loves blue.  He seems to think it is a perfect color for boys for some reason.  Anyway, he thought the pants were perfect for Teddy.  I’d say they are very roomy, but maybe that’s Teddy’s thing.  Whatever.
Here’s the updated list:

• Sunflower skirt
• Present
• Video
• Little t-shirt redo
• Pincushions
• Pants redo
• Bear pants
• Hair accessories
• Red skirt
• Wristbands

Six down, four more to go  The next one will be up either Friday or Saturday...

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Good Day for Crafting

Don’t you just love Mondays.  Well today I do, I finished the rest of my projects today.  I said I would didn’t I?  Just don’t ask how much progress I’ve made on my studies.

First up, this is a Barbie doll that used to belong to my niece.  She didn’t want it anymore and I seem to be a sucker for forlorn looking dolls.  Well, there’s nothing more fun than fixing them up right?  

So, here’s the before…

…And after.  

She was easy to clean up except for that hair.  It took a ton of conditioner to smooth out that rat’s nest.  I decided not to give her a hair cut, though it was tempting.  

Looking at her long flowing hair, I envisioned flowers.  So I whipped up the wreath using tiny fake ones leftover from another project along with some wire.  Then I whipped up a dress that I thought would look good with the flowers.  I used the same fabric as I did for that doll dress in my last post, I did have tons of it leftover.  I made a strapless dress because it seems more light and airy, like spring.  

So now I have a “Spring Princess” doll.  You think my niece will want it back now?

Next, remember those simple $1 gloves I tweaked (see More Pretty Stuff)?  Well after about two winter seasons, they weren’t looking too good.  Trust me, they look way worse than in this photo.  I wanted to find a way to recycle them into something that is cute and could possibly be used in the spring weather too.

The solution?  These fingerless gloves, as modeled by my niece.  The fingers are the first things to wear out I any of my gloves, so why not just chop them off?  Beyond that, all it took was some lace and a lot of zig-zag stitching to transform them.  Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with them when their wear out again. 

Last but not least, these tiny plushies.  I got the idea somewhere to make tinny-tiny little plushies.  I think from a book, but I don’t remember.  

Anyway, I used some of my stash of fleece scraps and some googly eyes to make them.  They are basically two pieces cut in simple shapes, zig-zag stitched around, then stuff and stitched shut.  Finish up by gluing on the eyes, then quickly make some more.  They are after all really fun to make. 

The larger ones are about 2 inches tall and the smaller baby ones are about an inch.  They kind of remind me of the those ghost things from Pac man.  Maybe that’s why they seem so adorable to me.  

Anyway, I still need to think of what else to do with them.  I was thinking of making some key chains with them, or maybe some pencil toppers.  Decisions, decisions.

Here’s the updated list:

• Floral bag
• Wreath
• Doll
• Top
• Doll dress
• Gloves
• Black purse
• Tiny plushies
• Tiny “men” clothes

Nine down and out.  Now nothing to worry about but those pesky tests and school work.

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Now You See Me, Now You…

So I disappeared for like a week for finals, returned only to disappear again.  The reasons?  Holiday traditions, mainly that one about getting sick amidst all the good cheer along with other obligations. 

Anyway, the good news is that I finished my project list, without staying up all night sewing.



I have a certain little niece who’s under a year old, so I had to make something as cute as she is without anything she could choke on.  So I made this cute baby bear out of off-white fleece.  The eyes are embroidered and the diaper is sewn securely on, so hopefully this little guy won’t be hazardous to her health.



I somehow got the idea to decorate plain paper lunch bags to make gift bags.  I used a glue gun to glue on lace for handles.  Then glued two rows of lace along the edge of the bags to reinforce the handles and make the bags cute.  Simple, sweet and costs less than $2 to make about 40 of them.  Considering that even at a dollar store $2 would buy only about 4 gift bags, that is a bargain.



My brother tends to run errands a lot for himself and other people, and when he does he makes use of some old reusable shopping bags we have lying around the house.  These bags are starting to wear out on him, so I thought he might like a nice new one of his very own.  It’s a very simple, roomy bag with an outside pocket for convenience.  The color is a reddish brown color which I was hoping wouldn’t look too feminine.  Actually my brother couldn’t care less about that sort of thing, so no worries. 



My niece has mentioned a few times that she doesn't have enough clothes for her Barbie dolls.  I thought why not whip up a couple of pretty skirts to stuff in her stocking this year.  These are similar to the skirts I make for myself only doll-size and the waist bands and bottom hems are different. 

For the hems, I used that one stitch on my sewing machine that’s intended for button holes.  Sorry I don’t know what it’s called.  It leaves an edge that’s not as bulky as a regular hem and easier to do on such a small sized skirt.  Then I just added lace on top.  Voila, two finished skirts and hopefully a happy little girl. 



Now we need a happy little boy.  My nephew’s Cabbage Patch doll has be laying around his room with no clothes.  Me and my sister used to make clothes for our Cabbage Patch dolls out of our outgrown clothes.  Time to revive the tradition.  This was an old t-shirt from one of my nieces,  I thought it would be perfect to make a cute doll dress.



With a few cuts and stitches here and there, here is the new dress.  It looks cute and is easy for a small child to pull on and off.  You can’t tell very well, but I made a stretchy headband with some of the scraps. 

Want to know how I did it?  Don’t worry, I’m going to show how later.  Possibly after Christmas.  Look forward to that.

Update: I made the tutorial and you can find it here. enjoy!



Now the last ones.  I had plenty of scraps of fleece cut into squares lying around the place and I finally came up with an idea to use them all up.  Patchwork plush toys. 

From right to left there’s a dog, a cat, a bunny, and a lizard.  The lizard is for my nephew, the one that doesn’t like dolls and such.  What could possibly be more perfect than soft and cuddly fleece animals?



Animals with sleeping bags.  I had enough fleece squares to make a simple little sleep pouch for each of them. 

Here’s the updated list:

• Mittens
• Wildlife
• Baby bear
• Ornaments
• Gift bags
• Bows
• Doll makeover
• Bags
• Collars
• Barbie clothes
• Doll clothes
• Animals
• Sleeping bags

Twelve down and out.  All that’s left to do now is to finish wrapping, as in cramming stuff into the gift bags.

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Mittens and Camping

Well yesterday I had a report due first thing in the morning.  And of course, I got right to work on it as soon as I heard about it (not!) which is why I managed to finish it early.  Early being 4:00 am the day it was due.  Basically what I am saying is that it was because of this and other issues that I didn’t blog yesterday.  Oops.

Anyway,  I had plenty of fleece leftover from the coat I made (see Fluffy Fleece) and I think I mentioned that it would be good to make mittens and stuff.  They aren’t the most complicated mittens in the world.  I traced my hand to make the pattern, cut two and sew.  Nothing hard about that.  Of course I just had to add a small amount of lace along the edge, the same lace as the coat to match.  Now my hands will be nice and warm.

Next project.  Some time ago I went to Goodwill and got among other things this Little People camper (see Finally Remembered).  I thought it would be perfect for my nephew who loves Little People and virtually anything with wheels.  I thought that a camping trip is never complete without animals though, so I made these.  They were suppose to be little bears.  My nephew saw me making one (he doesn’t know it’s for him) and asked what it was, so I asked him what he thought.  He insisted that it was a cat, no doubt about it.  So now I’ve got a brown and white “cat” and a purple and white bear.  It works.
Here’s the updated list:

• Mittens
• Wildlife
• Baby bear
• Ornaments
• Gift bags
• Bows
• Doll makeover
• Bags
• Collars
• Barbie clothes
• Doll clothes
• Animals
• Sleeping bags

Three down, ten to go.  Just a heads up, I have a quiz tomorrow, multiple projects for work and school, and finals next week.  That probably means I might be scarce for a few days.  Or it means I will procrastinate the heck out of them and actually spend more time here.  Which is more likely?

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Birdy Birdy Birdy

I was sitting on a bench on campus working on the computer and noticed a bunch of little birds around me.  These birds definitely weren’t shy, too use to messy students leaving food scraps.  I thought how cute they looked and it gave me the intense urge to make cute plush birds. 

I use pink felt for the bodies and white felt for the wings.  The eyes are small faux pearls.  I’m not sure what to do with them yet.  I might possibly sew some ribbons on them and make ornaments.  I also thought I could stick combs on them and wear them in my hair, but maybe that might be too much.

Here’s the updated list:

• fabric car
• hankie holder
• birdies
• cat bed
• tiny mittens
• tiny stockings
• doll makeover
• blue dress
• knitted bag
• jacket

Three down, seven to go.  The next project will be up by Wednesday, or should I say projects, there should be two.

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Friendly Onigiri

I love living in Arizona, not.  I had to brave the hazards of a high heat advisory and an air quality advisory in order to get this up for you today.  Makes me wish I had a Wi-Fi connection at home.  Anyway, my brother’s birthday is next week.  Every year it’s a major challenge of what to give him.  What do you give the guy who has everything?

Well, if he’s into anime/manga and Japanese culture you give him these.  Onigiri friends.  Aren’t they adorable.  I made them with scraps of fleece and googly eyes.  I truly believe that everything looks cuter with googly eyes adhered to them, and that includes plush food items.  I am tempted to keep one for myself, but I already have enough cute stuff cluttering my drawers and shelves and such.  Time to spread it all around.

Here’s the updated list:

• Needle case
• Mug cozy
• Pants
• Hair accessories
• Brooches
• Necklace
• Other jewelry
• Food
• Top
• Skirt

Eight down, two to go.  Nothing left to do but some clothing projects for class.  Yay!

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