One pretty dress

Bubble Bird dress made for Chloe by Liza

We recently received another huge influx of hand-me-downs for Chloe. Combined with all that we were given previously, we are now close to being set for the entire year.

One would think organizing baby clothes would be an easy task. We picked up several more Ikea bins to help us sort sizes, but it isn’t a perfect system. One shirt might say size 9 months, for example, but actually be more like 6 months. And then there is the shifting of summer clothes into the 6-9 month bin, even if they say 12 months, because what good would tank tops be in winter? Now the nursery is filled with bins, and there is hardly room to stand. That is a whole other challenge.

I was reminded of a few really great pieces during the sorting, like the sweet handmade Bubble Bird dress above, made by Chloe’s Aunt Liza. I’ve thought several times about sewing Chloe some simple summer outfits, but I wasn’t sure where to begin. Then I saw a post about another Etsy shop called Little Fish Big Pond, where you can purchase DIY dress kits. All the materials and instructions are included. I really love that idea. I think I might have to try it. Here are two I’m considering…

via Cool Mom Picks

My First Softie

Here is the softie for the swap I mentioned earlier. The pattern is from the book Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle. It turned out pretty good for a first attempt. Sewing such small, rounded corners was quite a challenge. The fabric is the same dot print used on the art cards that are also part of the swap package, and I used non-toxic fabric paint for the eyes and nose. The set is going to my partner’s new nephew, whose room is done in baby blue and brown, and she is a big fan of polka dots. Hope they like it!

Baby Craft Tutorial Roundup

A while back I started a page devoted completely to cool baby craft tutorials. There is a tab below the blog header that links to it. It contains a mix of my own tutorials and other people’s projects. So far there are tutorials for baby hair clips, appliqued onesies, felt baby shoes, burp cloths, kimono wrap, diaper and wipes pouch (poopy clutch), knit hat with earflaps, LED baby booties, diaper cake and embellishing baby tees. I hope to add more as I come across them on the net, so check back if you’re interested, or let me know what some of your favorite ones are and I’ll add them to the list.

Handmade Baby Boy Booties

My first attempt at baby boy booties

Introducing little Lorenzo. Isn’t he a cutie!?

I finally got around to making these felt little boy booties for Marcy & Alex’s adorable son Lorenzo. I’ve posted about handmade baby girl shoes before here and here (with tutorial links), but mary jane’s just don’t work for little boys. The template for the pair above are based on one from B is for Baby: 26 Projects from A to Z by Suzonne Stirling. A really nice book with lots of fun projects. Also, did you know that Joann’s now carries ecospun felt, made from recycled post-consumer plastic bottles? Nice.

Making Totes

David and I have been making totes lately. That’s right, David is sewing now, too! We were at New Seasons and saw a batch of simple, unlined totes for sale made from Ikea fabric and David asked me to teach him how to make them.

For his first two totes, he decided to recycle an old Pottery Barn curtain panel from our fabric stash. I walked him through cutting for size and inseam, and a few other basics like threading the bobbin, back-stitching, squaring the bottom and making french seams to keep the inside neat-looking and strong. Actually, David kind of knew how to sew long before me, because I remember him making large curtains for one of our first apartments back in the mid 1990s. However, this was a machine he hadn’t used before. He was a fast learner, and doesn’t get hung up and fussy about details like I do.

After making the bags, he then screen-printed one with an image of a bird. Didn’t it turn out great? I’m so proud!

And not to be completely outdone by my talented husband, here is a tote that I finished as well. I kind of made it up as I went along, which was not a good thing, in this case, because I think I would have made a couple different choices had I thought it through from the beginning. The outside is Ikea fabric (from the frederika collection) and the inside is Essex white linen cotton blend from Sew Mama Sew.

Hobo Slouch Bag

This is the bag that I mentioned was giving me such trouble. I call it my hobo slouch bag, modeled after one I saw at Target recently. It kills me to think that this bag was selling for only $9.99, and that it cost me more to make (not to mention the time!), except that I didn’t like any of the prints it came in. What I did like was it’s size and super long strap that could be worn across the body or tied in a knot to shorten. My version is very soft and lightweight, almost like a pillowcase, but sturdier. There is a lined magazine size pocket on the outside and smaller pockets inside for my phone and camera.

Besides drafting the pattern and the actual sewing, the hardest part was finding the solid grey fabric to match the side print I wanted to use. Greys are so tricky! They tend to be either too blue or too brown. In the end, the fabric for this bag came from 3 different fabric stores. Not very fuel efficient, I admit, but hopefully useful and re-usable in the long run.

Sister-in-law Love

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but one of the most crafty/creative people I know is my sister-in-law Liza. She always seems to be painting, cooking, knitting or sewing something really cool, and because of this her gifts are always unique. This past Christmas, one of the handmade gifts she gave me was a pair of grey cashmere arm-warmers (re-purposed from a thrift store sweater) hand-stitched with a lovely little flower design. Oh boy. Its hard not to feel like a million bucks wearing them.

Recently, she sent me this snowflake obsidian and labradorite pendant as a belated birthday gift. Believe it or not, but dark grey is one of my favorite colors to wear. Of course, I love it. It reminds me of living in the Eastern Sierra Mountains of California, where huge blocks of black obsidian could be found right along the highway. A quick web search says that snowflake obsidian can clear away negative energy and bring balance and harmony to the wearer, which I’m all for (if you believe in that sort of thing).

A few of Liza’s other handmade items can be seen here.

Spring Fever: Tokyo Tie Bag

Tokyo Tie Top Bag in Lotus by Amy Butler for Rowan fabrics

The past several days have been so beautiful. Sunny, breezy… almost warm. It inspired me to do some spring sewing this weekend–when we weren’t outside enjoying the weather, that is. Meet my new Tokyo Tie Bag, from Sew Everything Workshop.

In search of suitably spring-like fabric (and to broaden my search for a solid grey to match another fabric I already have, that I want to make a larger bag with later. You would not believe how hard it is to match greys!), I checked out Fabric Depot for the first time. It’s over on the east side of town, where I rarely wander. They bill themselves as “the largest, most complete retail fabric store in the west” with 73,000 square feet of shop space. The place is huge, seemingly a sea of fabric bolts, including some of my favorite designers, organics, and even bamboo material. And they were having a 30% off sale!

For this new little bag I found a pretty flowered pattern and a matching heavy canvas for the lining. This was a good project for me to learn some new techniques – grading seams, clipping curves and adding a snap. Actually, I decided to use a magnetic snap instead, and was happy to find this tutorial for a little help. I didn’t machine sew the hole (since I don’t know how), but I did reinforce the sides by hand. Also, I couldn’t get the prongs to lie flat on top of each other properly, so I bent them outward instead. I hope that doesn’t cause too much of a problem later on.

Because I can’t leave anything well enough alone, I altered the shape of the pattern from the original sizing specified in the book. Instead, I made the straps just a little longer and the bag body a little wider. You can download my template here, but it has to be tiled onto two sheets.

I actually remembered to wash and iron the material before getting started, but I’m thinking it was a mistake to wash the canvas. It came out of the dryer a hard, wrinkled mess. I tried stretching, ironing, re-wetting and hanging, and even used some dreaded Downy Wrinkle Releaser (why do they make it smell so strong?!), but never got it very smooth and flat again. I could swear it said it was machine washable.

Next time, I think I’ll make the straps longer, so it’s more of a shoulder bag instead of a handbag, add an inner pocket, and maybe choose an even heavier weight canvas for a slightly more structured body. Either way, it’s pretty cute.

Handmade Valentine Cards (a personal swap)

This year for Valentine’s Day I asked David for just one thing, a handmade (by him) Valentine’s card. No chocolates, or flowers, or store-bought card. Just a little of his personal time and effort. And I promised not to judge him. That whatever he chose to make would be just fine. I really meant that. And in return, I would make him a handmade card, too.

Look at this beauty. I would never have expected this in a million years. It looks like a rolled up piece of paper in the photo, but it is actually a little cylindrical box made of heavy paper, secured by a red thread around two eyelets. About 4 inches across.

This is what it looks like inside – surprise! Filled with little strips of pink paper, each with a word on one side and the matching design from the container on the other. Words like love, forever, we, you, mine, desire, romantic, emily, david, always. I could re-arrange the little strips into many different combinations. Pretty and clever. I’m clearly blown away.

This is the card that I made for David. He really loves to flyfish. On our drive back from the coast on my birthday, we stopped at a tiny scrapbooking shop in the seaside town of Gearhart, where I picked up my first collection of brads. That’s right. Before making this card I was a Brad Virgin. I don’t know why I waited – they’re so fun! Such a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. I purchased these little fish, the dragonfly, and the heart paperclips, chosen individually out of tiny drawers. They worked perfectly for this card. The writing on top says “Fishin’ for your love.” The little fish hooks are made of staples I bent with needle-nosed pliers. The inside reads “…and now I’m hooked on you! Happy Valentine’s Day!” embellished with two red heart eyelets.

I’m so proud of us.

Bottlecap Pincushion Tutorial

I was perusing swap-bot this morning when I came across the cutest little tutorial for a bottlecap pincushion. Love it! Jen also provides a link to more little cuties and other handcrafted cushions for sale in her etsy shop Schmaltzy Craftsy and her on her blog. She even has a book out called Pretty Little Pincushions. I think I’m going to have a go at making a couple myself. You can join the Bottlecap Pincushion swap here.

If you’re interested, it’s not too late to join my plastic pendant giveaway! Just leave a comment on the previous post. The drawing will be held tomorrow!

Crafty Giveaway

I’ve been having fun designing and making plastic pendants lately. I love combining colors and shapes and patterns into these little (mostly) 1″x 1″ works. You can kind of see what’s been on my mind lately – birds, patchwork, snowflakes, leaves and flowers. I don’t tend to wear much jewelry myself, but I like how necklaces can provide just the right amount of polish and character every now and then. Anyway, I hope you guys like them. To celebrate recently reaching my 250th post and to thank everyone who stops by my little blog, I’m holding my first crafty giveaway!

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. That’s it! On Friday I’ll announce a winner by having David draw a name. The winner will get to chose a pendant from the selection shown above, and I’ll attach it to a leather cord for wearing. Be sure to leave a valid email address so I can contact the winner for a shipping address. Thanks for visiting and good luck!

Crafty Cuteness – Felt Baby Shoes

I got my haircut today. I’ve been going to the same stylist for over a year (maybe two?) which is a record for me. She is only a couple weeks away from giving birth to her second child, a baby girl this time, and I decided a while back that I’d sew up something simple to take along with me.

Lately, I’ve noticed several cute online baby shoe tutorials. I thought it would be fun to give little mary janes a try. Instructions usually call for wool felt, because it is more durable. I decided to use craft felt because a) it’s softer, b) it comes in many more baby appropriate colors and c) I already had some on hand. Since I was sewing for a newborn, she’d grow out of them in a matter of weeks anyway.

To make the strap, I used papercrafting ribbon. It’s the kind with the adhesive strip on the back, and I hand-sewed it to the inside of each shoe. This way there is no need for velcro, elastic or snaps (none of which I’ve worked with yet) because it will stick delicately over the baby’s sock and attach to the other side of the shoe. I’d like to try other fastenings in the future, but this worked fine for a first pair. Cute, huh?

See my second pair and links to baby shoe tutorials and templates here, and baby boy booties here.