Skirting the Issue 2014

I made this t-shirt skirt as part of Skirting the Issue at Simple Simon and Co. I meant to make more, but only finished this one in time. 

30 Minute Shorts Baby Gift

I made another of the Create H.O.P.E. Designs patterns. You can find out more about them from my last post here. This time I used the 30 Minute Shorts pattern. I decided to make them part of a baby shower gift for a friend's shower next week. Since I was combining the shorts with a heart onesie, I kept them simple with solid colors. I think they turned out pretty cute. The pattern was easy to follow. I ended up using 3/8" elastic instead of 1/2" since it fit better in the waistband.

The headband was made using the tutorial here by Oxford Family guest posting on Craftaholics Anonymous and the flower on it from the tutorial here at Action Hero.

The flower embellishment on the onesie was made using the tutorial for the last onesie here at 2 Little Hooligans.

I love making baby gifts. I'm expecting my second child any day now.

There's still time to enter the giveaway this month at Hopeful Threads. Just buy and sew a pattern from the Create H.O.P.E. Designs pattern shop and link up a blog post about it.

Huggable Slug

I made this cute little slug using a pattern created by 7 Layer Studio for Create H.O.P.E Designs. The money received from pattern sales is used towards different organizations helping children around the world. Several designers have donated patterns. You can find their shop here.

The slug turned out okay for my first try. I couldn't seem to get all the points of the tale to match up and the antennae aren't quite parallel. I think with more practice I could perfect it. I also made the mistake of cutting the 2 side pieces for the slug facing the same direction and had to cut another piece facing the opposite direction to make it work. You'll see what I mean if you decide to purchase the pattern. I haven't decided what I'll do with the slug yet. It'll either be a birthday gift for Boo's friend or a Christmas gift for Boo.

There's a giveaway at Hopeful Threads this month for those that purchase and sew patterns from Create H.O.P.E. Designs. You should check it out.

Gift for a Baby Niece

My sister-in-law had a baby girl back in July. This is what I gave her before the baby was born.

This dress is the Itty Bitty Dress from Made by Rae. I really learned a lot making it. I rarely make clothing. I'd never sewn on piping or bias tape before. I think it turned out really cute. I'll definitely be making it again.

The matching headband is crocheted using the tutorial here. I think I made the flower from that same tutorial, but I can't remember for sure.

The booties are from a pattern by Little Birdie Secrets. There were a couple of mistakes in the pattern, but I was able to make them work anyway. I ended up making 2 sets of booties since the first set didn't end up the same size.

I always enjoy making baby gifts. It's especially fun to make them for girls.

June 2011 Handmade Gift Exchange: Gift Received

Last week I received my gift from the Handmade Gift Exchange at Craftaholics Anonymous. I got some awesome things. Since I'm expecting a baby in November, my partner even included some baby things. I'm not finding out the gender, so she made them gender neutral.

For the baby, she made a bear hat with ribbon ties, an embroidered guitar onesie that says "My Mom Rocks" on it, and a striped bib. Aren't they cute?

She also gave me a zippered pouch, a tissue pouch, and a bird necklace. The pouches will be perfect for the diaper bag. I've been wanting a tissue pouch for a while, but have never gotten around to making one.


Here's a close-up of the bird necklace. Very pretty.

I love all my gifts! I plan to participate in the exchange again. There's one coming up in November, but I think I'll have to skip it since the baby is due then.

Diaper, Taggie, and Bib Baby Shower Gift

I attended a baby shower back in May. The mom-to-be was expecting a girl, so I made some cute pink gifts.
I decided to make her a fitted cloth diaper since she had registered for some cloth diapers and I'm in love with them. I used the pattern from La-Di-Da Diapers. The fabric is flannel from my stash along with one layer of jeans in the soaker pad for extra absorbency. I like how it turned out.

Next, I made a star taggie blanket using the tutorial from Sew a Straight Line. I had some problems getting the point in the middle to match up. I re-did it a few times. I'm not perfectly happy with the end result, but I wasn't sure what else to do in order to have the points match up in the middle. I used flannel, fleece, ribbon, and ric rac from my stash.

Lastly, I made a bib using the tutorial from Made by Marzipan.

I wrapped the gift up in kraft paper and stamped lavender hippos and ducks on it. You can't really see the stamps in the picture since they are so light.

Lisa's 22nd Birthday Gift

My younger sister Lisa had a birthday back in May. I made her this sweater sling purse using the tutorial from Make it and Love it. I found the sweater for the outer fabric of the purse at Walmart on the clearance rack. It only cost $1 and was a size 3X. I love the clearance rack! I only used about half the sweater for this purse and I already have pieces cut out for another one. The lining and fabric strip are from Michael Miller Pretty Bird Ground Cover in Aqua, which I already had in my fabric stash. The fabric strip was added to hide a seam where I attached more of the sweater after deciding the purse wasn't long enough. I think it adds a nice touch. I love when mistakes end up making something better. For the crocheted flower, I used the tutorial here at The Pumpkin Patch.