Sunsuit and Baby Bag

Okay, I say it all the time, and I'll say it again, my sewing group Crafty Sewing Mamas on BabyCenter.com is full of inspiration. So many of the ladies on there are extremely talented. I especially love the "Sew and Tell" posts where everyone posts pics of their recent creations (and sometimes we can vent about our epic fails, either way, it's tons of fun). Someone had posted a sun suit and the link for the tutorial, which gave me the push I needed to finally try my hand at shirring with elastic thread. Now I'm hooked:

Here is the back of the sunsuit.  I cut the straps so they'd look the same and also modified the bottom of the sunsuit so it didn't have snaps.  Scarlett's getting a bit old for the snaps and it was a super easy change to make.  The shirred top has a ton of give and sliding her into it isn't a problem at all. 

OMG, this picture just cracked me up!

     The tutorial for the sunsuit can be found at Made by Rae.  It's very clearly written and easy to follow.  There was also a link posted that teaches you how to shirr using your Brother machine.  Shirring with your Brother Machine.  I followed this and steamed it at the end, with fabulous results... especially for my first time!  Super easy to do. 

     Also, my friend had her baby!  Yay!  I've been working on baby goodies for the past few months and can finally post pics (didn't post before b/c I didn't want to ruin any surprise). 

     The tutorials for the tutu, booties, and diaper changing pad can be found in my "tutorials" section.  The denim bibs were made using this tutorial.   And everything else was made up, except for the elf hat, which I found the pattern for at the Etsy shop, JT Easy Crochet.  She is super nice and was a pleasure to do business with.  Pattern was e-mailed extremely fast... which is always appreciated! 

Play Apron and Kimono Dress

Today, I finally finished the project I've been thinking about for a few weeks now.  Scarlett's kimono dress!

The pattern is from Mod Kid Boutique and came with a full-color instruction booklet, which is great for a beginner like me!  (I've been sewing for about 2 1/2 months now... I have yet to sew a zipper, they scare me.)  PLUS, they didn't waste any time shipping it out.  I get impatient when I have a project in mind, so speedy shipping is always a "must" in my book.

     I will also say that this was my first time making bias tape with the method that they had in the booklet.  Every other time, I just guesstimated.  Didn't realize it, but by the time I was done following their instructions, I had made 8 YARDS... YARDS not "feet"... of bias tape!  I had this idea in mind of using the same ivory fabric to bind it instead of using pre-made bias tape and it came out exactly the way I wanted it to, which doesn't happen often. (I wanted the small vine/leaf design instead of solid cream, my husband calls it "OCD", I call it "attention to detail".)

Scarlett had a blast with it too.

Okay, on to the other project...

     After making the apron for my cousin's daughter, I ended up liking it so much that I wanted to make one for Scarlett as well.  I'm loving that "Girl's World" book.  The aprons are fun to make and she had a blast with hers.



In her play kitchen



She insisted on wearing it the next day too.

     Other than that, our family has been getting ready for the move.  We're packing up and moving off-post into a rental home.  Can't wait to finally have a craft room again!  



Wooden Peg Dolls and Alphabet Rocks

You've got to love toys that are made with stuff from nature!  I'm all about the wooden toys, so when I saw a post on my sewing forum that had cute little wooden peg dolls, I fell madly in love with the idea and had to give it a shot.  Here is my end result:

   The blog that inspired me was Crafts4Lily, who got the idea from this blog, who I think got it from someone else.  Hey, good ideas have a way of getting around, and this one, I LOVE!  Mine are a little different because I liked them faceless, I just liked the look... and I wanted one with a kimono oufit (the red)... however, everything else was pretty darned spot on.

     The wooden dolls and pots were from Joann's, painted with non-toxic acrylic paint, sealed with beeswax and olive oil polish.

     After the peg dolls, I was still in a painting mood, so I dug through the scary craft closet (risking life and limb in a possible craft avalanche), and found some bags of river rock that I had set aside for a rainy day.  Digging through them, I found some flat-looking ones that I thought would work perfectly for alphabet and number rocks...

I am super in love with Pinterest and had seen a photo of rocks with a painted alphabet.  My son, Kai, is just at the right age for something like that, so I wanted to make some painted rocks, but turn them into fridge magnets.

  I used pretty much the same process that I did with the wooden dolls as far as painting, sealing and finishing.  I added the magnets to the back using E-6000 glue.

     While I was on the whole rock kick, I made some number rocks as well:

I painted the front of the rocks with dots and put the corresponding numbers on the back.  Sealed and finished both sides.  (The alphabet rocks only had the front sealed.)  I also had a leftover drawstring bag from some game that bit the dust years ago, which made the perfect carrying bag for the number rocks.




Cam helping Kai with numbers and letters.

     With all of that, I still wanted to get Scarlett's 4th of July dress made. I used a pattern from a tutorial I had used before from Lil Blue Boo.  Added rick rack to the bottom and an embroidered "S" to the chest band (for "Scarlett").  Managed to get it done in time for the Fort Benning 4th of July celebration.  Also made some hairbows to go with it.

     I've got a few more things that I've made, but don't want to post them until my friend has her baby.  Don't want to ruin the surprise! 

Various projects...

In addition to the changing pad, I've also been working on a few other projects.  Nothing seemed to warrant it's own post, so here's a mish-mash of goodies...

First up is a teeny little felt hairclip that I made using the basic technique in this tutorial:

Felt cupcake hair clip

Next up is the play apron I made using the Girl's World book.  It was a ton of fun and I'm definitely going to make another soon.

Also made a little felt chihuahua to go in the pocket as a play buddy.  The pattern for this little guy was in my Felties book.  That book has so many adorable patterns!  I can't wait to bust out a few more.

While I was on a crafting spree, I whipped out another play tutu:

And also finished the two other floor cushions for my other guys.  The floor cushions were made a few weeks ago, but I forgot to put them up here:

Scarlett's Floor Cushion

Kai's Floor Cushion

Everyone enjoying their cushions.

Oh, and I almost forgot the crinkly tag blanket. 

Changing Pad with Pocket Tutorial

My friend is having her first baby girl after three boys and I've been working on a gift bag of homemade goodies for the past few weeks.  Ideas keep coming and the bag keeps getting bigger and bigger.  *laughs*  I sometimes have a tendency to go overboard, but it's fun to have an excuse to whip out something new... and girly.

     The past week or so, I've wanted to make a changing pad, but couldn't find a good tutorial for one with a pocket that fit all of my requirements.  I wanted it to roll up neatly with the pocket tucked inside, and I wanted it to close with a tie.  In the end, I came up with this:

Unrolled, it looks like this:

     Once again, I took pictures along the way, prepared to make a tutorial if it worked.  So glad it did because I only had so much of this fabric...  ;)

Supplies:
1/2 yard of outside fabric
1/2 yard inside fabric
2 packages (3 yds ea.) of extra wide double fold bias tape for binding and ties
2 packages (14" x 18") Heavy weight double-sided fusible interfacing
Thin quilt batting (I used Warm & Natural)
Extra strong thread (I like Gutermann, but whatever you use, it's going to have to be tough.)
Needle for hand-sewing the binding and finishing the pocket
Rotary cutter and mat
Acrylic ruler
Disappearing Fabric marker and/or dressmaker's pencil (depending on fabric color)
Iron and ironing board

Step One- Cut your inner and outer fabric, batting, and interfacing into 12" x 35 1/2" pieces (your interfacing won't be long enough as a single piece, so cut two of them to fit this size.

Step Two-  Lay your batting on the ironing board and then place your interfacing on top of that.  On the very top, lay your fabric, right side up... so you've made a "sandwich".  Follow the instructions on your interfacing to fuse all pieces together.

Step Three- Place the fused pieces fabric side down (quilt batting on top) and use your ruler and disappearing marker to mark the piece 5.75" from the bottom, then 5.75" from that line, mark again, then 6" from that line, then another 6", and a final 6" from that one.  Stitch down each of the lines drawn.  Mark the bottom part (5.75") with a pin... this tells you which side will be your pocket.



Sew along lines (white arrows)

Step Four- Next, use your ruler again to mark 1/4" about the 2nd line from bottom, and 1" above the 3 lines above that one.  Sew.


Step Five- One last time, use your ruler to mark 1" above the very top line.  Sew.

Tired of sewing lines?  I was!  Good news is that's the last "outer fold" line you'll have to sew.  Yay!

Step Six- Cut two 12" pieces of bias tape for your ties.  Open them up on the ironing board and press each end down 1/2", then fold closed and sew all the way around.



Open up bias tape and press ends down about 1/2".  Fold closed and press again.



Sew all the way around to make ties.



Step Seven- Starting at the bottom (pocket area marked with pin), roll your pad up.  With your ruler and dressmaker's pencil or disappearing pen, mark 1" above the edge of the top flap and smack in the middle.  This is where you'll put your top tie.

Step Eight- Move ruler down and line it up with the bottom edge.  1" above bottom edge and smack in the middle, mark where you'll put your lower tie.



Step Nine-  Sew on ties.  I put them to the back edge of each mark, leaving room for the binding.

Step Ten-  Lay inner lining on top of quilt batting and make sure that it's positioned the way you want it to be.  (Print or pattern however you want it to end up). On the side that is opposite of the pocket, use a glass or other rounded object to round off corners... being careful not to cut off ties, trim.  Remove pin that marks pocket.

Step Eleven- Be cautious not to sew or cut ties in this step!  Make sure inner fabric is still lined up then pin in place and sew around.  Trim excess away from seam, being careful not to cut through your stitches or your ties.

Step Twelve- This one's a doozy, so be prepared for a photo bomb that breaks down the binding process.  If you know how to bind, start binding at the pocket side and bind all th way around.  Then skip down to the next step.  If you're new to binding, hopefully these pics will help.... in either case, be careful not to sew your ties to your binding. 
 
       Start pinning bias at the middle of the pocket side (I opened my other pack to use on this step to avoid having to add length).  Start sewing a few inches away from where you started pinning it to leave room for connecting bias later.  In this step, you will bind all the way around, mitering the square corners and wrapping around the curves.  Connect at the end (I did a straight line b/c no matter what I do, I can never do the angle connect right), trim excess bias, and steam seam open.

Start sewing seam around where the second pin is (I started sewing where my finger was and didn't have enough room, so move down a couple of inches so it's a little easier for you than it was for me).



To miter your square corners, sew until you're ALMOST at the edge (but not quite), backtack.

Flip up bias so it lines up with the next edge you'll be binding.

Flip edge down, pin in place, and sew.

Curve around edges.  Pin in place and sew.

When you get back to the beginning of your binding, line up the edges on both, mark where they meet, and sew them together, right sides together. 

Trim off excess, being careful not to cut through seam.

Steam seam open.

Step Thirteen- Finish sewing the edge you left open. so you could bind the bias together.

Step Fourteen- Flip bias over and handstitch all the way around (using an invisible stitch) to the top of the changing pad.  Get ready for slightly sore fingers, that interfacing is not fun.

Step Fifteen-  Flip up pocket and sew in place along the inside edge of binding.  I handstitched this too, because the double layer is no joke.  I didn't even attempt it with the machine.  When you've finished one side, sew the bindings of that side together as well using a ladder stitch.

Holding pocket in place.  You'll want to stitch along the top and bottom inside edges of the binding, going through all layers to secure pocket in place.

Once you've sewn up one edge, insert the needle at an angle along your miter to begin sewing the binding together.

Oh, yucky lighting, but you can see how the bindings are now together and "neat".

Now, your baby can look snazzy even during a diaper change.  Enjoy!