Spreading the love

My good friend Melissa is having a craft sale next weekend to raise funds for their upcoming adoption.  How could I not contribute!  I dug through my fabric and came up with 8 burp clothes, 3 taggie blankets and 1 baby blanket.

All of these were made out of fabric scraps!  Also, while I love the feel of the green chenille fabric, I really don’t like sewing with it.  Maybe my NEW SERGER THAT I FOUND ON CRAIGSLIST FOR AN AMAZING PRICE will help with that.

Here is a real live baby modeling the blanket:

I’ve never made anything to sell before– I hope people like them and that they are able to raise funds for our friends’ adoption!  I can’t wait for their new baby to come home!

I hope my nieces don’t read this (or their parents)

My 2 nieces have spring birthdays.  One is in May, the other June.  Actually one is tomorrow.  (Sorry A, your gift will be a little late coming.)  Last year, my mad skills weren’t quite as developed, so I made them little monogrammed hand bags. This year, I am contributing to their already adorable wardrobes (I know this because my little honey wears a lot of her cousins’ hand me downs).

A little halter dress.  Who can resist some orange?!  (I LOVE the skirt fabric too.  So much so, she might end up matching the upstairs bathroom in our new house…)

And sweet little polka dots.  Actually this dress will match Little Honey’s new bed spread.  I just fell in love with these fabrics and had to use them somewhere myself!

Both these dresses are simple shirred elastic tops (like LH’s 4th of July dress from last year).  Super easy to make and turn out really cute and comfy!  LH has one to wear too (no pictures yet).

Christmas for Little Honey

Bean bags, with a(n) (almost) 2 year old:

Bean bags!

fun to play with…

Stack them up…

knock em down!

Gather them up…

Mine!

These were super easy to make and are fun to throw around.  I also made a little draw string bag to keep them in.  They are made out of scrap fabrics, which is also fun because each bean bag is “connected” to another project, and are filled with dried beans.  Cute!!

Welcome New Baby

Friends of ours had a baby boy a few weeks ago, so of course I wanted to put together a baby gift.  I also got to use Wunder Under for the very first time and do some applique!  It was super easy and I think this set turned out really cute.  I used light blue and green flannel with white terry cloth on the back, and I think flannel might be my favorite baby-stuff fabric!

2 burp clothes and a bib.  Welcome baby!

Christmas crafting

I managed to whip up a couple of Christmas gifts for a few family members.

These basket liners were for my mom:

I love the fabric on this one– it’s a toile Nativity scene!

And also this more year round fabric in purple and green.

I have a basket (for my remote controls) that I’ve been wanting to change the liner in for about a year– this was super easy so I don’t know why I haven’t done it yet.  The one thing I did learn was that I didn’t need to add any extra for seam allowences, since I traced the sides of the basket on the fabric to use as a pattern.  Since the liner was going on the inside, which is naturally just a little bit smaller, the first one I made was way too big!  It went much better the second time around.

My other Handmade Christmas gift that I made was for my brother and sister in law.  They are the proud (I’m sure) recipients of my very first quilt!

I was inspired by the tutorial from Sew Mama Sew– but it looks the tutorial isn’t there anymore!  Anyways, it was fun to put together.  I love the flowered fabric.  The back side of the quilt is a queen sized sheet in a dark gray from Ikea.  The blue and green are flannel.  I also added a row of embroidery along the blue end to give it a little texture and intrest (and also as a nod to the above sister, who taught me how to embroider in the first place!).  (oh and sorry about the red eye in the picture, k.  I couldn’t get it to go away.)

They live in the frozen north, so I do hope they keep warm.

I made one Christmas present for Little Honey, but I haven’t taken any pictures of it yet.  I will soon.

Birthday Creation

My sister had a birthday just before Christmas.  I experiemented a little bit and came up with:

A color-block ruffle scarf!  And it’s made out of, um, some of those old T shirts she gave me!  haha.

And in action.  Both sisters approve.

I made 2 for myself while trying to figure out the best way to create this.  Because I only have white elastic thread (and I think they only make elastic thread in white??) I used thread on the back of hers, so it’s not stretchy.  The 2 I made for myself are white and very light blue, so I used elastic on those.  I think I prefer it with elastic but the white would stand out too much on a darker color.

Anyways, I think scarves are a great accessory to go with everything, so how can you go wrong??

Baby Gear

Recently we had a baby shower for my coworker who is expecting a baby girl.  I made these:

I feel that with a newborn, you can never have too many burp clothes.

I found the most adorable flannel.  Isn’t it so cute?!

I did a straight stitch with embroidery thread along the edges.

To keep Baby Girl bundled, I also made this:

The binding went much better this time

I just love the fabric– so cute, and also nice and soft.  It’s almost enough to make me wish I had a newborn to wrap up in this blanket!

Almost. Heh.

Happy 30th birthday

One of my good friends turned 30 last weekend.  Of course she needed a new bag… and it happened to match the dress she was wearing out to dinner that night!

It is, of course, another Buttercup Bag!  Again, I did an enlarged version.  I liked the blue and green floral fabric (again from the Home Decor section at JoAnns– I like using a heavier / thicker fabric for bags).  You might not be able to tell, but it’s again lined with the green with white polka dot fabric!

Happy 30th birthday friend!!

Showers

Last weekend, I hosted a small surprise baby shower for a friend at my house.  She’s expecting her second girl.  So what does every nursing mom need?

It’s a nursing cover up!  So the old man at the mall food court doesn’t get up and leave (or stare).

This one ties behind Mommy’s neck.  The front has some boning in it, so you can keep an eye on your babe. I think I like this one better than the one I have!  I wondered afterwards if perhaps I should have made it in a less conspicuous print, but whatev.  I love the purple and green combo!

Also, these need a name.  In stores they are either Bebe Au Lait, or Hooter Hiders.  I thought of one:

Booby Traps!

I’m so clever.  But I won’t actually call them that.  Maybe something a little more sophisticated?

How about some party decorations:

Tissue paper pom poms!

I dressed up the door with some tulle and strips of pink linen from my scrap pile.  I had gotten the tulle at JoAnn’s a while ago for 25 cents a roll.

Then, this past weekend, we had a bridal shower for my sister who is getting married in September.  I made her the same shower gift as for the cousin who got married a few weeks ago.  Hers was an 8 place setting of placemats and cloth napkins.  Guess who forgot to take pictures both times of the gifts before they were wrapped?  (Me)  Don’t worry though, I see her all the time and will eventually get a picture.  Instead, here is a picture of the tissue paper pom poms in her wedding colors:

I also switched from pink linen to more green with small white polka dot fabric on the doorway with the tulle.  I swear, we’ll be seeing that green and white fabric for a long time!

Happy Birthday L and A!

My 2 nieces recently had birthdays.  A turned one in May, and her sister L turned 3 about 3 weeks later in June.  What little girl doesn’t need her own handbag to carry her sippy cup or crayons or doll?  Bonus that it is monogrammed with her first initial!

L likes purple.

Bright polka dots remind me of A.  I think she has a shirt that almost matches.

Happy birthday L and A!

I used heavier weight home decor fabric for these bags.  They’re just a basic tote unlined with French seams.  I need one for myself!