Handmade Nursery: Crib Sheets

Yesterday I set up a tab on my blog for the Handmade Nursery. When we sell this house and start decorating new rooms there will be lots more posts of putting an actual nursery together but for now it's more a list of all the parts and pieces I've been working on. When I was putting the list together I realized that I never posted about the crib sheets I made. So here are the three I made using THIS tutorial and the Fox Trails line of fabric from Doohikey Designs.

Handmade Nursery: Bath Time!

I was in a sewing mood yesterday and my crazy pregnant brain thought it would be a good idea to make an Easter dress for L. I had fabric and a pattern ready until I remembered this skirt that I made her back in February! How could I have completely forgotten I had something sewn and ready hanging in her closet already for Easter? I'm blaming it on the crazy pregnant brain! Since I was already in the sewing mood I went back to my baby sewing to-do list and whipped up this hooded bath towel.

Since baby is still growing(thank goodness!) Bearemy decided to be my model.

I used a tutorial found HERE that I have had pinned onto my baby board. I've been trying to make Pinterest a little more practical than my bookmarks in the web browser. They usually end up a mess of things I never end up trying and I lose the ones I've actually made and liked. On Pinterest, once I've sewn a tutorial or pattern I liked, I move it over to my Successful Sewing board where I make a comment on how it went, if I changed anything, etc. The one other thing I did do differently on the towel other than rounding the corners was how I top-stitched the towel. I started and stopped (see photo below) where I had top-stitched the triangle piece. The flannel and terry cloth is very thick together and going through 4 layers would have been tough. I also think that the triangle will stay more rounded for the top of a bitty head to dry under. Because of the thickness of the fabrics again I thought if I had been able to top-stitch it that it would have flattened the hood part too much.

I'm not sure if this is too girly if the baby is a boy? I've made a receiving blanket out of the same fabric and have enough left to make some more burp cloths and wash cloths. What do you think? I have some obvious boy or girl fabrics I've sewn up that I figure I'll just donate or give to someone I know whichever gender isn't appropriate but I'm not sure about this fabric. I asked Nick but he wasn't much help!

Today I'm linking to:

Handmade Nursery: Giant Ric Rac Baby Blanket

I've gotten a little relief from the spring allergies thanks to some cooler, more appropriate March weather. I pulled out another baby project that has been cut waiting for me to sew and finished it up. I used THIS tutorial with some Snoopy flannel that I've leftover from when L was a baby and paired it with a solid yellow flannel from JoAnn's and some super cute giant ric rac that I found at Hobby Lobby.

Canning Jar Pin Cushion

So, I have no idea where my pin cushion went. Really, I have searched high and low and it might just be my scattered pregnant mind but I can't find it anywhere! And a good portion of my pins were laying out next to my sewing machine and serger. I have looked at so many different pin cushion tutorials thinking, oh I'll definitely make one of those. But have I? Nope, not a single one. When I saw the tutorial for a pin cushion jar on Make It and Love It, I knew this was one I could finally tackle. Nick had just finished one of my jars of homemade strawberry jam and it was still sitting in the kitchen waiting for someone to remember to take it back to the basement. I filled this one with all of my spare buttons but I think I'm going to make another one of them and put my seam ripper and tape measure in it so I hopefully stop misplacing them as well!

Completing a set!

I am loving sewing with some organization instead of completely random! I finished up a white peasant shirt that was in my unfinished pile to go with the bunny skirt I made the other day. The skirt and shirt are all ironed and hanging in Miss L's closet just waiting for warmer weather. I did intend this for an Easter skirt for her so she will probably need a little jacket or sweater to go over the shirt but I am thrilled to have a matching shirt and skirt. Although this fabric was in the Easter section, she will probably wear this after Easter too when it gets warm since it's not over the top bunnies, chicks and Easter eggs. Just the bunnies and butterflies is more general spring to me.
I really do need to wait until the next morning to take a picture in the daylight but I get so excited to show you something finished that I hate to wait.

 And a modeled shot. At first she said she didn't like the elastic on the sleeves but then she was okay with it. If it ends up she really doesn't like them I'll put some looser elastic in them.

Paying attention to details

I was finally able to get out of the house over the weekend (Yay! I was really going crazy if you hadn't noticed.) and pick up the supplies that had derailed everything and frustrated me to no end so I'm back on a roll again! As I'm working through summer sewing this year I am really trying to sew more consciously. Working ahead before the season is already a big step for me. I am also trying to bring more of a "handmade" look to my sewing and maybe not so "homemade". Really paying attention to and adding more details I think will help. For this skirt I used the tutorial from MADE. As simple as they are, following Dana's suggestions of details really made a difference for me on this skirt. I particularly like her idea for when you're sewing the waistband casing, of top-stitching about 1/8" from the top. I'm sure it doesn't make a difference in how it looks in this picture but it really gives the waistband a more finished look and feel. L loves the little butterfly tag that I added to the side but it's one of those things I'd like to rip out and move to a different spot. I wish I had put it on the under layer or closer to the hem of the top layer.

Onto the next thing in the pile of unfinished projects.

Working Ahead: MORE summer sewing!

Next up on my completed summer sewing is the Popover Sundress from Oliver+S. Yes, this is another free downloadable pattern from Oliver+S. Yay for free patterns that turn out so cute! Using the chest measurement, I made L a size 4 knowing that it would probably be too short for her long legs since she wears a size 5 in RTW(ready-to-wear store bought clothes). While it is technically long enough to be a dress, it doesn't even reach her knees and will definitely be paired up with short leggings by the time summer comes around and be the most adorable summer tunic. Hmmm.... now what color leggings? So many choices with this fabric.

Working Ahead: Summer Sewing

Working ahead? I don't think I've ever said those words before! Since staying off my feet and relaxing are two of the best things for me right now I've been doing a lot of sewing. Over the weekend I switched to the summer season and started working ahead on skirts and dresses for Miss L. Of course her daddy asked, "How many skirts and dresses does she really need?" One for every day(or more) of course! And it's even better when it's all made from materials that have been collecting dust in my stash.

First up, I used the Oliver+S Lazy Days Skirt Pattern. Download the pattern for free HERE from Oliver+S! The Lazy Days pattern is a very basic beginner friendly pattern but no matter your sewing level it can be dressed up however you skill allows. The first one I made just like the instructions and hemmed it with pink polka dot grosgrain ribbon. The length is spot on to not need leggings and be nice and cool on a hot summer day.

The second skirt is also made from the Lazy Days pattern. I have been hoarding this farm animal fabric since L was little and I tried to make her a dress out of it paired with the pink camo and it turned into an epic fail. Only having a small piece of it left, I made the body of the skirt as long as I could using up the whole piece of fabric.

Instead of the ribbon hem on this skirt, I used my favorite hemming technique. You just cut a long strip of fabric the same width as your skirt then iron in half, length wise, wrong sides together. Sew the skirt body and the narrow strip together, raw edges together and rights sides facing. Just flip the narrow strip down, iron and top stitch in place. Now even if the hem flips up during the day, as it probably will with a jumping a twirling almost 5 year old, you still see the right side of the fabric instead of seeing the hem and lots of the wrong side of the fabric. This skirt hits L right at the knee right now in January but it will probably end up being paired with some short leggings by the time warm weather comes in 4-5 months. That's a lot of time for an almost 5 year old to do a lot of growing!

These photos are reminding me how much I desperately need to buy a new iron instead of limping along with my current one that I can't use the steam setting on anymore. Spritzing the fabric with water just doesn't get the same results as steam straight from the iron.

Burp Cloths for Boy or Girl

Since we had our "big ultrasound" that normally would have told the gender of the baby, I've been sewing for either a boy or a girl. Nick didn't want to know still and I was on the fence but they couldn't tell with the way the baby was positioned! That was enough of an answer for me to know that we weren't suppose to know until it's born. Only problem with not knowing is we have all these pink girly things so I'm sewing while keeping both in mind. If we have a girl, I have 16 fluffy terry cloth backed burp cloths. If we have a boy, I have 9 and I'll find someone with a new little girl to give the other 7 to!

Self-Binding Flannel Blanket

Remember that big stack of fabric I showed you Friday that I was planning on sewing up? Things didn't quite work as planned and my Friday night of sewing turned into a quiet Friday night of cutting out projects and wandering Pinterest looking for sewing ideas for baby. Last night I finished sewing up one of the projects I cut on Friday night, a self-binding flannel baby blanket. I've had this pattern bookmarked from a baby shower last year. But Cluck Cluck Sew posted a link to this tutorial that gave me the ah-ha moment of how to sew the mitered corners! The first and only other one of these blankets I made, I sewed the corners wrong the first time but thankfully checked them first before I cut the excess fabric off so I was able to fix them.

The flannel pattern was part of our Black Friday shopping that L picked out specifically for a blanket for the new baby. I was going to go back to the store for a solid color flannel to match but found this red in my stash that matches the elephants. 

Sewing Friday Night

I completely wasted away the first afternoon of school back in session after the holidays by falling asleep on the couch. The soothing voices of PBS cooking and gardening shows kept me there and I just couldn't get up! I still have a quiet evening ahead of me and I'm completely recharged after that nap so off I go to work on the pile of fabric sitting on my cutting mat in the living room! Can't wait to show you what all of this is!

Christmas Dress from my stash!

Despite it being almost 10pm and it's so dark in the house now I had to snap a couple pictures to show what I just finished! I made a Christmas dress for L completely from my stash down to the buttons and little velvet flower that's sewn on one of the pockets! The only thing I bought was the shirt and leggings to go with it from Old Navy. I'll get some better shots of L in it on Christmas. She absolutely loves it and told me it's the dress she's always wanted!

Rolie Polie

I just bought my first Rolie Polie! Although I'm still confused about the quilting fabric pack terms I thought this was actually a Jelly Roll but a Rolie Polie seems to just be a smaller pack of fabric, same size pieces as a Jelly Roll. Isn't it cute? 

 I almost didn't want to open it up... almost.

This is the ADORABLE Fox Trails line from Doohikey Designs.

My plan is to leave out the blue colorway and just use the brown and green colorways and make a gender neutral baby quilt.

Sewing and Snow

I've been busy sewing on the flannel again. With L's help, who does a great job taking pins out of pattern pieces, I made her a flannel robe yesterday. Originally I was going to modify this robe pattern to be sewed up in front and have a couple snaps at the top for a nightgown but when I tried it on her in the process of sewing, she loved that it was a robe.

I let her pick out the buttons (with help) and she picked these 25+ year old flower buttons that were in my mom's button jar for as long as I can remember until she passed some of her buttons to me.

On another note, it snowed last night! FINALLY!! It's hard to believe this is our first snow of the season and it's still currently snowing! I have a VERY happy 4 year old who has been dancing around the house singing about snow and a very happy dog. I always say Crystal (our beagle-mutt) is really a Husky is disguise. She goes nuts when it snows! She can't wait to get outside and run and play in it. She can hunt down her favorite outside toy no matter how deep the snow is. After 7 years of having her it's still hilarious to watch her in the snow.

Warm and Cozy

Do you remember all of that flannel L and I bought on Black Friday? Well, I'm starting the big job of cutting into all of it! I started flannel pj pants for L again but wondered why in the world I wasn't making my dress loving girly-girl a nightgown so the first thing off the sewing machine that was immediately put on for bed was a long flannel nightgown. This is one of the fabrics L picked out for herself. The hearts are made of little paw prints.

Pattern is Miss Madeline by The Handmade Dress. Instructions to modify the pattern to long sleeve is found in her free downloads. I opted for the puffier sleeve on this one but I think I'd made it a little less puffy next time. And I left off the elastic waist to make it more comfy for bed.

Black Friday Shopping

I took L on our first ever girls Black Friday outing yesterday. Last year was the first year I ever wanted to go anywhere and I just ran out by myself and only went to JoAnn's. I knew this year L would be a big help and it would be a lot of fun and boy was I right. There was just one problem... she's worse about wanting every fabric than I am!! I did have to cut her off but I let her pick out a lot of them. 28 yards of fabric later this is what we came home with.

These are all specifically for L. The purple one with the deer is her favorite. She corrected the lady cutting fabric that it was a fawn! Can you tell she LOVES Bambi?

We picked these out for me but I think there will be enough left for some dots for her too.

L picked out the camo for her dad (after I convinced her he would like camo better than dinosaurs) and she picked out the last one for the new baby.

Crystal approves of our fabric purchases too.

Stars and Stripes... er Polka Dots?!

It's been awhile since I checked out a blog hop and I already found some great projects that were made this week! I linked up my Pledge of Allegiance sign but I wanted to show you something else I made this week.

As soon as I saw this star block tutorial over at Cluck Cluck Sew I had to try it right away... then I had to make 3 more! 4 of the blocks is the perfect size for a 20x20 pillow for that I happened to have sitting around here! Even though I didn't get the pillow finished up for the 4th, I'll still get it finished up this week. I'm making it as a sham cover so I can make other covers and change them out.

Fall is in the air!

Can you tell I have fall on my mind? First the fall crafts with L, then I sewed up the first part of Halloween outfit for her yesterday. Not her costume, but an outfit from this cute fabric I bought a few years ago. I had the intention to make her an outfit then but I was disorganized and pressed for time, so it never got done.

Good thing I kept this fabric around! I'm finally getting a chance to sew it! Here is the first part, the skirt made from the Miss Claire skirt pattern by The Handmade Dress. Love love love her patterns!!

What is a mother to do?

The weather turned cooler and L needed to wear pants instead of shorts and dresses so I went to the top of her closet where I usually have clothes for the next season. I looked. And looked some more.

PANIC!! L has very few clothes for the fall!

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

Whew, okay thanks for letting me get that out.

Usually I try to buy a few staple pieces - jeans, plain shirts, etc. the year before when they are on clearance. In all of our pinching pennies and watching what we spend I completely looked over this small detail that she doesn't have anything to wear. A friend of mine passed down some outfits from her daughter to L but the problem with most of them is they are too big in the waist and fall off of her skinny bottom. Even the ones that have the adjustment tabs, I pulled them in to the smallest button hole and they are still too small. But her legs are so long that they will be high water pants by the time they fit her in the waist!

What is a mother to do with 6 sewing machines, piles of patterns and fabric at her fingertips?

What I better do it get busy sewing her up a fall/winter wardrobe!

Do you have any favorite patterns for skinny little girls clothes? L is a 4 in height but about a 2 in the waist!

Oh what lovely fabric goodness!

This photo makes me so happy! All of my fabric together in one place.

L was with her Grandma yesterday so I spent the entire evening after work going through every single piece of fabric I own. This old bookcase wasn't being put to good use in the basement so I moved my grid shelves out of the way and moved the bookcase in.

Mostly knits with a little flannel and fleece on these 2 shelves.

All of my pattern wovens on the top shelf. The next shelf is corduroy, denim, coordinating cotton wovens and a few satiny pieces.

I can't wait to get the rest of the space organized so I can some in pick up a pattern, pick out the perfect fabric and start sewing!