Bow Tie Neck Pillow for Birthday Gift

It was my mother-in-law's birthday today. I wanted to make something for her and I found this tutorial for a bow tie neck pillow at sew4home and thought it would make a great gift. I used some fabric from the Pretty Bird line by Michael Miller found here. I think it turned out really cute. Instead of using ribbon straps suggested in the tutorial, I made some 1" double-fold bias tape from a coordinating fabric. The straps are supposed to help you reposition the pillow. The instructions said it should take less than an hour to make, but between chasing Boo around and my slow sewing skills, it took me more like two hours.

My husband also picked up a gift card for her. I wanted to dress it up so I made a cute gift card holder using the tutorial here from Make it and Love it.

Ruffled Newborn Skirt from Men's T-Shirt Sleeves

I bought a t-shirt on sale at Wal-Mart a while ago for $1. I used most of it to make a fitted cloth diaper. I saw this tutorial at kojodesigns and just had to make the skirt. Since my baby is now 17 months old, I'll have to either give this skirt as a gift or save it for another baby. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I ended up using the hems from both sleeves with one as the casing for the drawstring and the other as the hem at the bottom of the skirt. I love re-purposing clothing. Now I keep an eye out for the great sales on clothing so I can cut it up and make it into something new.