A Whole New Wardrobe

So I went a little overboard on making stuff for the new baby.  I originally intended to make one or two onesies/burp cloth sets but once I got started, I guess I could not stop.  Part of the problem is that I won a set of fat quarters over the holidays from one of my favorite blog's giveaways and since it was mainly blue fabric, I just had to use it for my own son.  And I couldn't just pick one!

I ended up making 6 sets (onesie, burp cloth & pee pee teepee) and 2 other onesies.  Hard to tell from the photo but I made 2 whale onesies, a "r' one, a robot one, a small fry on, a zebra one, an elephant one and a bulldog onesie.

Close up shot of the pee pee teepees...Ava always thinks these are party hats for dolls.  They do look like it! Think she will be surprised to see how these are actually used.

And a shot of my nice burp cloths...I used leftover chenille and minky dot for the back and they are random sizes as a result. I love the way these look -- it will be a shame when they get all dirty. :)

I am really slow at posting my projects these days...I made these about 2 weeks ago.  I have a list of things to make before I have this baby in 4 weeks and for some reason I keep adding in random projects before finishing my list.  For instance, I just painted a Hello Kitty picture for Ava's room this weekend (photo to come) as well as made another tank dress for her.  And the other week I made a tank dress for myself that can be worn now and should work post-pregnancy due to the empire elastic waistband.  We'll see if I get around to posting all these photos...so little time and so much to do!!

Nursery/Guest Room

Finally kind of got our nursery/guest room together.  Yes, we are not getting rid of our guest room which really only is used for 1 set of guests - my hubby's parents.  Baby boy does not need his own room for awhile as he can easily stay in our room when necessary.

It's not completely done (still one naked wall and a pink pillow that needs to be recovered) but it looks so much better.  I really stink at before photos...I would blame it on the pregnancy but I know that is not why I don't take them.  I just forget and get excited and jump right in without thinking about the fact that people like before/after photos.  I know I do.

Anyways, here is the crib shot with the letter paintings I made (all paintings in this room were previous paintings I had done -  after them hanging in our house for 5+ years, it was time for a change so I did not mind painting over them).

Bedding is Dwellstudio for Target (I love DS stuff..too cute) and crib is our old one we used for Ava 4 yrs ago.

Close up (or closer) of the paintings before they were hung.  I did each letter in a different font using the colors in the baby bedding.  Although the pictures make it hard to see, each one is distressed a bit and has cracks/stain on it.  I covered each canvas in newspaper strips and mod podge, then painted, sanded, applied crackle paint, and applied stain for the look.  I kind of like that they are not perfect.  The photos really don't do these justice. 

 Shot of the guest bed and new curtains (darn wrinkles won't come out...anyone know how to get wrinkles out of twill/acrylic backed curtains?  can't wash them and the iron did nothing).  The painting above the bed used to be of 2 girls dancing on a red background but I whipped out a quick color block painting to tie the bedding colors of the guest bed to the new baby bedding.

 Close up of painting.  Seriously this thing took like 30 minutes for me to make and I actually really like how it turned out.

 And a shot of the room looking from guest bed out.  This painting was inspired by one I saw on the blog How About Orange.  She had painted this for her living room (in different colors and in a more professional way) and I thought it was so cool that I made my own version.  Again I distressed it a bit so the colors would be a bit more muted and match better with everything in the room.

Other than these changes, we just bought a cubicle system for inside the closet (you know the kind with canvas bins...we got ours in light green, khaki and chocolate) and put some baskets on the shelves in there to hold all the baby essentials (diapers, wipes, blankets & burp cloths).

Appliques!

So I did another order for a friend of a friend.  I took a break from sewing stuff for my own kids (who are we kidding, I have been procrastinatin anyways) to make these onesie/burp cloth sets.  Sometimes it's just easier to make stuff for other people in a timely manner.

Just took photos of the appliques, they are all ones I have done before except the excavator which had to be resized for an infant onesie.

Giraffes (always a hit!)

 Doves

 Construction equipment (bulldozers and an excavator)

For My Boy

Well the nesting period has definitely begun and I have been busy working on some projects for my soon-to-be born son.

First up, a onesie made from an old shirt of my husbands (wish I had taken a before photo but since I cut this shirt up a few months back, it was out of the question - basically this was a men's polo shirt with collar).  I used an old gerber onesie that I cut up for pattern pieces and then just cut out my pieces and sewed it up!  I think it is pretty cute and super cool that it used to be Darren's.   And then I made a pee pee teepee to match (no photo of that though).

 Then, I decided to make a nursing cover since I gave my old one away to my friend who had her baby in January. I was thinking I would not need one this time around but then realized it would be nice to have one around just in case.  I didn't want to ask for mine back (that would be rude!) so I used this super easy tutorial from Freshly Picked's blog.  Easy peasy and a good excuse to use a yard of fabric from my overly full sewing drawer.

2 items down and a few more to go!

A Little Upcycling

I've probably mentioned it before but Ava has been outgrowing a lot of shirts lately.  They basically still fit except that they are too short.  So instead of throwing them out, I have been upcycling them in various ways. 

This time, I used a tank top that I had appliqued for her last year and added some fabric I shirred and voila!  A new tank dress.  Thankfully I still had the matching fabric to make the skirt.  (Quick side note: If you have not shirred fabric before, it is pretty easy once you figure out how your machine needs to handle the elastic thread.  There are various tutorials online about it if you want to google it, but like I said you have to play around on your sewing machine to see what the correct tension, etc. is.  I highly recommend it.  Btw, I plan on making myself a few tank dresses this way once I'm not in maternity clothes and have the time).

 She was pretty excited about her new dress and insisted on going outside in the 55 degree weather to take a few photos for me.  She asked me "Is this for Spring?"  Guess she'll be excited when I make her a few more of these (which I plan to do...I have 10 weeks before baby gets here to do it).

 And speaking of the baby, I took one of Ava's old tshirts (it actually was a boy shirt but since Darren is in construction I sometimes buy her things with dozers and other equipment on them) and cut it up to applique a onesie for our little boy to be.  The onesie was kind of a grey color (hard to tell in the photos below but you get the idea) and for some reason I thought it would be cute/funny to applique the word dirt on my baby boy's bottom.  I like it...but maybe I'm weird.

More Kindle Sleeves

So I  just finished making some more Kindle sleeves.  This time I made one for myself and 2 of my friends.  Both ladies have watched my house, checked my mail and taken care of my cat when we have been out of town this past year and since both of them got Kindles for Christmas, I thought this would be the perfect way to say thanks.

Front of the sleeves

 My Kindle sleeve (front & back with pocket for power cord)

 Jen's sleeve (front & back)

 Dara's sleeve (front & back)

I will say that this time I had more of a problem sewing these as I used fleece that I had leftover from other projects for the lining instead of flannel.  As a result, the final layers were very thick and made it harder to keep everything lined up.  Lesson learned (let's just say I had to break out the trusty seam ripper a few times)!  Although the finished product is super cushy, I think I will stick to flannel for the lining next time.

Up next, some baby projects for my new little one (11 more weeks to go!) including the standard burp cloths but also a new nursing cover too (since I gave me other one to a friend).  Also, I am in the process of converting a few of Ava's old tank tops that are too short into cute tank dresses for Spring...can't wait to finish them and share!

Christmas Gifts

I can finally post all the Christmas gifts I made this year.  At the time it seemed like more, but really it only ended up being a few things.

First up, are the 2 Kindle sleeves I made for my mom and my mother-in-law.  If I only knew at the time that I was getting a Kindle, I could have made my own!  Guess that is my next project.

Front, closed view.  (I used fabric scraps I had to piece these together and I love the final funky result).

 Back view with pocket (diagonal line part is the pocket for the charging cord)

 Front, open view (I used plaid flannel and houndstooth flannel for the lining plus some fusible fleece for extra padding)

 Another view with Kindle inside

And finally, I made a big pile of baby stuff for my new nephew (who will be born in January sometime).  I made a few knit infant hats (from my husband's old shirts), 2 pairs of comfy baby pants (flannel & fleece) using this free pattern, and 2 onesies with matching burp cloths.  I also made 5 pee pee teepee knockoffs.  So simple to make!  Seriously took like 2 minutes a piece!  Guess I need to start making my new baby some of these so that when he comes in April we will be prepared.