Baby Projects in Use

As I promised in my last post, I am back with a couple of pictures to show you how those baby projects are working out for us.

First I would like to share the only project which I was able to finish after our little sunshine was born: we were in need of baby bibs, so I made three of them. I sewed them from six different colored fabric, so when we turn them, they have a different color and style and more option for us. They are still in use a lot and we find them great. Previously I downloaded a bib-pattern for the turquoise dress but I found that bib too small, so I sketched a new pattern which works way better.

The turquoise outfit worked out just partially because as I said, the bib was too small and those shorts are still a bit too big and the weather is not so sunny anymore, so she is able to wear those only with stockings. The hat was the best one she had but it is getting slowly too tight. I might make a size bigger once I have the chance. The tunic itself was a very loved piece and it still is. Since it is made from jersey, it’s kind of growing with our little one.

The blue dress is my favorite. I am just in love with it and her in it. I think it is the cutest of all. Unfortunately it is getting tight but for a couple more weeks we can still enjoy it!

The green dungaree is in the other hand still a bit too big but I like how it keeps her back and tummy warm. The only problem is that it is a bit too bright. I can understand that this design has to be loose for moving around (for the older kids) but in baby sizes it could be a bit tighter on the sides. I might add a couple of snaps though.

The green jersey tunic and pants are just a perfect fit and it is also very cute. Too bad, that it is not the season for me to wear my matching tunic as I planned…

Which of these projects did you like the most? And which is your favorite project you made for your little one? Share with us in a comment below!

(The links to all the patterns I used are in a previous post called Baby Projects.)

Baby Projects

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted for a while now and it’s because I’ve been busy sewing for our little baby girl who is coming within the next month. I challenged myself on facebook to make at least six girl outfit before our baby arrives and that challenge I completed! I’m going to show you all my creations in this post, so be aware it’s going to be picture heavy!

Outfit Nr. 1.

For this lovely romper I downloaded the pattern from Schnabellina over here. It’s called Strampelina and the instructions are written in German but loaded with pictures and it’s easy to follow! Plus it’s a freebee!

I made the romper in size 68 and the matching bonnet hat was made following this pattern which is also free to download and it has a great tutorial in English!

Outfit Nr. 2.

This little red tunic was made in size 56 from a heavier cord fabric which I received from a friend as a present since she was getting rid of tons of unused fabric. I still have a piece of this red beauty, big enough to make a skirt for myself some day. I used a pattern from Yvonne Rippers, called “Warme Füßchen” (warm feet) which is actually a romper-tunic combination but I ditched the romper part and only used the pattern for the top. To find her blog, you’ll need to register but the pattern itself is also free to download.

Outfit Nr. 3.

This outfit is actually a collection of free patterns that I put together. For the tunic I used the same pattern, but this time in size 62. The shorts came from Helena’s Nähecke which is written in German but if you ever made pants for kids, it shouldn’t be too difficult to follow.

The little bib was self-drafted and the pattern for the hat came from Lybstes, once again, in German but full with pictures and very easy to follow!

The fabric was purchased on my “Girls’ Weekend” in Düsseldorf which would’ve been an awesome weekend anyway, but we did an additional tour in the local fabric shops and this was one of the few I found on that trip! Isn’t it just lovely?

Outfit Nr. 4.

The tunic is the same pattern and in size 62. I used my left over fabric from my summer tunic from last year which doesn’t fit me at the moment because of my baby bump but by the time the baby grows into this little green outfit, I should fit in mine again and we’ll be matching. 🙂

For the harlem pants (Pumphose) I used an old pattern from Lybstes and the fabric is an old T-Shirt of mine. This whole outfit was actually made only from scraps… Can you believe it?

Outfit Nr. 5.

Ok, I admit, this is not a complete outfit, just a sweater (size 62) but it still counts. I got the pattern from Schnabelina again, and it’s called “Trotzkopf”. My verdict on this project would be that the pattern is great, the instructions are easy to follow but my choice of fabric wasn’t the best… Next time I’ll try something else, maybe jersey or a stretchier sweat-fabric.

Outfit Nr. 6.

This is actually my favorite! The fabric was bought on the same trip in Düsseldorf and it’s a very light cotton print. For the top I used the pattern from outfit Nr. 1. and for the bottom I just gathered a skirt and attached to the top. Yes, the snaps are still missing but only because I ran out of them. A trip to my local fabric store is planned for this week, so hopefully this cutie will be done very soon!

+Baby Project Nr. 1.

I also had to make a new car seat cover because after the boys used it, had a few ugly stains and the plain black color wasn’t “girly enough”… 😀 This seat cover was actually a very difficult project: I thought that I’ll be done in one or two hours but it took me more then a day to finish it because of its small details… Anyway, it’s done and pretty and easy to take off and throw it in the washing machine! Yeah!

+ Baby Project Nr. 2.

This little patchwork baby blanket was made by using the scrap fabric I received in my Stitching Santa parcel from Pippa, who blogs over at Beads and Banacles. She wrote me that these fabric scraps came from her Grandma’s stash and she inherited them when her Grandma passed away. I promised her to make something beautiful out of them and hopefully a baby blanket is just perfect: a new life begins and the life of the fabric goes on…

This blanket will be shipped to a dear old friend of mine who is also having a baby girl very soon!

If you can take in even more pictures, here is one of me on that trip in Düsseldorf:

Thank you for the trip and the picture for Adrienn!

And now I’ll have to say good bye to you all for a while now. My due date is in a couple of weeks, so I’ll be taking some time off of the blogging world. I plan to come back with a new blog in the fall, I hope, you all be re-joining me then!

Until then I will probably post short notes on my facebook page, if you want, you can follow me there. Thank you so much for staying here with me and supporting me with all your lovely comments! You guys mean a lot to me! 🙂

Baby Boy Outfit

As I mentioned this before we are about to move. It’s a big change in our life and a lot of work. We have been packing for a couple of weeks now and at the end of this month we are definitely moving to the other side of the town. We decided to find an other apartment because we wanted to be closer to work and kindergarten and didn’t want to spend so much time anymore getting there.

 

Many things are already in boxes including my sewing machine and crafting supplies. It was very hard for me to pack them but I try to keep in mind that it’s only for a short time. And of course ever since I am full with ideas that must wait…

We also try to have fun with the kids while packing.

But before packing all my craft-supplies into boxes I had a “last project”, a very sweet little project: a cute outfit for our baby’s baptism. After moving we are going to spend about one week in the new place, then we are heading to Hungary for a long vacation with friends and mostly family. And while we are there, our little baby boy will have his baptism, just like his older brother had at this age.
I thought that I would like to him to have a special, kind of elegant but also cute outfit for this occasion. But he will be seven month old, so those typical white baby outfits were out of question. Especially because he is a gigantic baby…

So I went to Pinterest to search for ideas and I came across this cardigan-onesie which I fall in love with. I checked out a couple of tutorial and finally fallowed this one and Voila! This is how our version looks like:

I wanted to keep it white but with a little punch of blue. The outfit is a bit too big for him right now but as quick as he grows it will definitely fit to him in a month. I also made a pair of shorts for him from the same fabric as the bow-tie.

He discovered the bow-tie right away and of course took it off. I might have to sew that on.

But I am pretty proud of my work and satisfied with his look: he is very handsome, isn’t he?

I wish you all a very nice summer and see you again sometimes in September!

Baby car-seat blanket with tutorial

We are expecting our next baby and he is going to be born (hopefuly not before) January. My three-year-old son was born in September which means we still have lots of warm winter-clothes for the little one but slightly in a different size, meaning bigger. So I am collecting warm babyclothing in newborn-size now. Also, our daily life-style is different now: I have to get into the car and pick up my older son from the kindergarten every single day at the same time. This got me thinking: how am I going to manage this with a newborn? It is something that many parent can manage, so I will, too. But to make it just a little bit easier, I figured out to create a couple things, like this car-seat baby blanket. It will be useful because the temperature in the house, in the car and in the kindergarten will never be really cold but on the street it might be. Yes, we used regular blankets with my first son but we also lost a couple of them. And we mostly used the stroller anyway, not the car seat…

To make this blanket, I needed a warm but not too thick fabric, so I choose the combination of fleece and cotton. I bought a 130x170cm big fleece blanket. I could have bought it as fabric, but I just didn’t have time to head to the fabric store. This way was easier for me and it only costed 3€. The other two fabric were already on hand at home.

Then I was searching online for DIY ideas but I couldn’t find anything that I liked. Or if I found something interesting, then it had no tutorial. So I came up with my own idea, made it, it turned out exactly how I wanted and now I am sharing the tutorial with you.

What you will need for one blanket:

– fleece ca. 130x150cm

– a cotton fabric of your choice for the inner side ca. 130x120cm

– an other cotton fabric for the bag-part ca. 50x50cm

I drew a “sample” or “plan” for myself and it looked something like this:

I decided to make the rounded top but if you want to make a hoody, then make the square-kind top and at the end attache three pair of magnetic buttons.

First I took out the cover from our baby seat (maxi cosi) and layed on top of my fleece. I traced the edges and the holes with a pencil to get some idea how big this thing should be.

In the car seat there are two sets of holes for the seat belt. Mark them both and the one down in the middle, as well!

Then comes the tricky part: I  just drew the whole shape following my “plan”. I folded it in half, so both sides will be the same, and then cut it out.

Note: I could have made the bottom a bit wilder… next time.

Then I layed the leftover fabric underneath and cut around the bottom. Don’t have to cut farther then 5 cm from the corners. (Shown on the next picture)

Then I took off the blanket and folded the leftover-halfcut fabric into half. Marked wher the top should be and then cut it.

Now I had the two pieces I needed.

As the next step, I cut out the same shape from the baige cotton fabric, and the smaller fabric with the elephant pattern. I just simply layed the fleece pieces onto the cotton fabrics and cut around them.

When I was finished with the cutting, I layed the two smaller parts onto each other, facing the right sides and then sewed just the top together. Then I turned it inside out and sewed it along the edge again.

 

After that I was making a fabric-sandwich: put the cotton fabric wrong side down, then the smaller pieces facing the pattern up, then the fleece facing your markings down.

Pin all four layers together and sew. Don’t forget to leave a gap somewhere to turn the whole thing inside out later.

Then I made an other seam around the edge from where the bag on the bottom starts to the other end of it. I forgot to take a picture of this step but hopefuly you understand what I am trying to say. The important thing is to close the gap once the blanket is turned inside out. The good news is that your blanket is basically done. The last thing to do is to make those button-holes that you marked at the beginning. But before you do that, make sure to check if your markings are at the right place. Mine were not! I put back the car-seat together and put the blanket on top, just as we would use it. Then took a look at the seatbelt and made new markings.

Then I rememberd, that there is somewhere a newborn addition/extension to the car seat. I was able to find it and tried the blanket out with it. I noticed that I had to make a third marking for the seatbelt-hole because it had a completely different size now. Don’t forget to do this!

 

Finally I sewed the button holes for the seatbelts but only after careful measuring! And voila! The blanket was done! I am so happy with the result!

My model was the huge teddy-bear once again. It is much bigger then a newborn (about 70-80cm) but I think you get the idea how the blanket works and looks in use.

 

 

For me it was very important to have a cotton fabric inside of the blanket because my older son’s skin is sensitive to anything that is not cotton, so I had to make sure, that the little one has also cotton touching his skin, if possible. Just in case, you know.

I made some other great projects for the car that I will present in the next post. Not much baby-related but very practical things if you use your car a lot.

And at the end I still had lot of left-over fabric. My evening-project was to make a hat(again, with cotton on the inside) and a scarf for my older son. We call it the “elf-hat” and he loves it! (And as a bonus for me, I don’t have to pay an other 8-10€ for a new set of hat and scarf!)

What do you think of this project? I am very happy with the price. I gave only 3€ out, but with the cotton fabrics the hole blanket costs no more than 6-10€. If you buy something like this in a store or even online, you will at least have to pay 15-20€, if not more… But probably more. This sewing project took me about three hours which is not bad, I think. But my favorite  thing about this project, that I made it especialy  for our son, and that is priceless.

 

UPDATE: The blanket has been in use for six weeks now and it is really great. Here is a picture with our son (and no more teddy bear):

 

 

 

 

One more baby quilt

The last piece that I sewed before the Lothringair Street Festival was a beautiful yellow and green baby quilt. It’s made from stripes so it is kind of an easy project but this time I quilted it a bit differently: with waves. I think it turned out very nicely.

For the back side I was finally able to use that beautiful flower-printed fabric which I bought very long time ago.  I love the fresh colors and the fact that it’s unisex.

I would have been very happy if I got something like this blanket on my baby shower (if I had had one).

 

By the way a notice for all: I will go on vacation and get back to you with the results of the monthly give away sometime in July. Until then: have a great and creative time!

Toys for boys…

Last year, just a few weeks before Christmas I had a booth at a local craft fair which was an amazing experience for me and I learned a lot about this business. Of course I took a look at the competition and I realized something: when crafters sew for kids they usually have more stuff for the girls. It is understandable because it’s much easier to make cute clothes and accessories for girls. But I decided to look at this as a challenge and try to come up with ideas for boys. Well, it’s not easy, let me tell you this but not impossible.

The first thing was for me to buy a great boat-themed printed fabric and then I made a few things using this very nice fabric. I already presented once before the playing mat but my collection has more members, such as a portable changing mat…

a toy storage…

… a car seat organizer with a cup/bottle holder…

and a notebook cover (for the book of medical records that every child has in Germany)

Which one is your favorite?

Besides this boat themed collection I also made two fort kit. No, it wasn’t my idea, I saw it somewhere and thought it would be a great present for a bigger boy!

The fort kit contains a blanket, a flashlight, clothes pins, carabiners, wooden rings, kitchen towel clips, and clothes line in a great bag.

The third idea came from this website and I had one of those typical moments: “Why did I not think of this before?” Pirate eye patch!

 

 

The next idea came when I was making head bands for girls: Why not make feather head bands for boys? For the feathers I used my scrap-felt fabrics. I am officially out of felt now… I hand stitched the feathers first, made the bands and then attached the feathers by hand-stitching.

Unfortunately my son didn’t like them, so I had to ask our teddy bear to be my model again.

The next idea is kind of old. Do you remember when I made car-garage that you can hang? In case if you don’t remember here is a picture from one of them:

So when I made these last year I thought I should make some kind of portable car-storage or bag for boys and here is what I finally came up with:

This car-bag has seven pockets: four smaller and three bigger. Also has a road and you can fold it and roll it up and it’s ready to go!

Finally I made a truck-themed drawing set, as well.

So far these are my “toys for boys” ideas. How do you like them?

Elephant Baby Quilt

Last week I worked on an other baby quilt. I wanted to use my newest elephant-print fabric that I found in Hungary on our last trip. I find it very cute and perfect for baby/kids projects, so I decided to make an other blanket. After a long consideration I choose a geometrical quilt pattern and I am happy with the results.

It wasn’t a difficult project but with my very simple home sewing machine I am not able to make advanced quilts. Anyway, my elephant baby blanket is soft and cozy and kids will love it. I can’t wait until my next craft fair where I will be selling this one, too.

 

The binding is hand-stitched which takes a bit longer time but considering that this blanket is only 1x1m, it wasn’t that bad. I really like the fact, that even the backside looks very neat.

Who wouldn’t want a blanket for his kid like this?

Craft Fair in Aachen

A couple of weeks ago I was accepted to a local craft fair which will take place in Aachen on the 14th of June. I was really happy and now that we got back home from Hungary, I can focus on the work and the products I will bring to that craft fair. In this spirit I made twelve more luggage tags and two small, but really soft and cozy baby blankets.

 

Is anyone interested in a tutorial on the luggage tags? They are a little bit complicated but it’s a great project and worth making them because they are very fun gift ideas for people that love travelling.

Unfortunately I couldn’t take better pictures of this owl-themed blanket. Sorry. It is made using fleece and cotton fabrics. Very easy project and looks fun!

Finally a car-themed blanket, my favorite. It is really soft and small-sized, so it fits perfectly to the trolley or into the car-seat.

I also decided to make more car-seat organizer for the bigger kids. Especially in the summer-time, when families are traveling more, it’s a very useful thing to have in the car. So, probably you will see more of those in the near future but I have also new ideas! Let’s get back to work!

 

Fabric baskets

I tried to make fabric baskets previously but I couldn’t really say that I succeeded. Until now! And thanks to a great tutorial on THIS site.

So I made these three fabric baskets in about one and a half hours but after the first basket it’s gotten much easier.

The good thing about fabric baskets that you can find many purpuses to use them. Let me show you two. This way they keep things organized on your baby’s changing table:

(great giftidea for baby showers!)

Or later you can use them as toy storage like here:

Or you can use them in the bathroom, for storing craft supplies etc. You can also make bigger ones for ex. throwing your magazines into it. Or for Christmas or birthdays for using them instead of paper gift wraps. Reusable, washable, practical, good.

Owls

As I was searching for new ideas on the internet, I noticed that owls are in fashion. Not just for sewing projects but for any kind of craft idea. I don’t know why. I am not a big fan but it is very easy these days to get fabrics with owls on it. So I bought a piece and made two babyblankets out of it. Take a look and let me now, what do you think? Who likes owls?

Elephants

As I promised in my previous post, I am presenting the newest babyblanket that I sewed. I used the same technique (sewing together stripes) but I also applied three elephants on the front and one more on the back. I tried to make this blanket “unisex”, so it would be good for boys and girls, as well. What do you think? I always love most the project that I just finished, so this one is my favourite right now.

A colourful babyblanket

A tried something new again: a babyblanket made out of stipes and let me tell you, I loved this project! I loved it because it was very easy to make, quickly done and it contains so many colours! It’s like a rainbow but even better because the colorful stripes can come in any order. I can only recomand this project to beginners and for those, who need a quick present for the next babyshower.

 

And I am already working on the next, similar babyblanket that I will spice up with a couple of elephants! Are you curious? Well, it’s not done yet but here is a sneak peak:

More kids’ stuff

Today I was really productive and created two things: hanging organizers and a very practical changing mat for the little ones.

The idea of the changing mat came from this source and I think it is genius because it is small, fits to a (bigger) purse or a changing bag, has little pockets for diapers and wipes. But really my favourite thing about it that it is not big. I hate carry lots of thing with me, I usually have a normal size vallet, a small cell phone and my keys in my purse. Maybe paper tissues, too but really that’s it. So when I had my little boy and was forced to carry lots of stuff with me all the time, I wasn’t happy about it. And two years later (when hopefully very soon he will be potty trained) I find this great idea. That’s my luck. But I am not complaining, I still love it and made one for my upcoming fair and I am corious how it will sell. Take a look:

The hanging organizers were totally my idea and have been planning them for ages to make and finally the time came and voila! Also this was the very first time when I bought and used the eyelets for hanging solution and I like them so I will stick to using them in the future.

I actually anded up making two hanging organizer: one for girls (pink with chickens) and one for boys (blue with trucks).

Would you put these hanging toy organizers in your kid’s room?

An other babyblanket

This babyblanket was an other step for me learning new techniques in patchwork. Assembling triangles was new for me and I really thought through every little step of it, I was careful and watched some tutorial videos on youtube. Take a look at this picture below, it shows you the steps how I created this pattern. Yes, it does take time but at the and it will be worth it.

Now I am proud of the final product.

It’s a 1x1m blanket with thicker batting, so it’s even better for those little crowling babies. I hope a little one will enjoy this blanket for a long time!

I will be seeling this blanket with all the others at a three-day long maket in Aachen in December. (12. 06-08. Nikolausmarkt in Marienhospital)

Plans

As I mentioned in my previous post, recently I sewed two baby-blankets using new techniques. I didn’t have pictures of the second blanket but I do now and I would like to share them with you. Unfortunately I did not take picture during the sewing process, therefore I can’t give you a step by step tutorial. But if you look very closely, you’ll see that this blanket is actually a visual illusion because I sewed only squares together. Each square has four little triangles on its side using the other color.

Put two squares next to each other that are “negatives” or “opposite colors” and the pattern will turn out very neatly!

I feel like all the math-classes in school were after all worth it because finally I can use that knowledge! Yeay!

This blanket it approximately 70x140cm, so it would perfectly fit to a same sized baby bed to cover it when it’s play time and not sleep-time. For the back I used the darker, deep-red fabric.

And it’ll be for sale soon on a website, called dawanda. It’s very similar to etsy.com or meska.hu in Hungary. Anybody with a payPal account can use it. And yes, I am planning on starting a small business. This is the reason why I don’t have so much time now to write: I am busy planning and researching but hopefully soon I will be able to introduce my own online business. Fingers crossed!

Notebook cover

In Germany every child has a notebook which contains medical information from birth until they turn 18. In German it’s called “U-Heft” which is short for “Untersuchungs-Heft” and that means “examination notebook”. I don’t know if in other countries there is something similar, probably yes. At least for keeping records of the child’s vaccinations.

Having a baby sower and getting tons of presents is very common also in Germany (I think). So why not make a nice and practical cover for the “U-Heft” what the parents will receive right in the hospital? There is no limit, the variations are endless: you can put an image onto the front, decorate it with ribbons, sew the baby’s name onto it, use different shades of one color, etc.

One of my friends organized a baby shower and she asked me to sew a cover for her friend’s “U-Heft”. Well, take a look at my version below!

As you can see, I used two fabrics and one ribbon for the cover and one neutral linen fabric for the inside because the yellow fabric was too thin and transparent.

The front may seem a bit “empty” for some but it’s because once the baby is born I will sew her name onto it. I hope you like it. And the great thing is that you can make this simple covers for any kind of notebook! Get creative!

Photo-box

This year at Christmas (I mean last year, 2012) we wanted to send pictures to my husband’s grandmother of her great-grandson but I thought sending a pack of pictures or sanding a photo-album is very boring. And then I found this playful idea on this great blog (where you will find the tutorial as well). It’s actually a mini-birthday-album version what I created but I think it works both ways. And I made it one step easier because instead of covering a box, I bought a ready-to-go, Christmas-themed gift-box.

Please, take a look at the final photo-box:

Hedgehog on a pillow

When I started to make felt-pictures I got a little bit carried away and had the idea to make pillows (and many other things…) using the same technique but the tree that I used before did not fit onto the pillow I had. So I figured out a different pattern but I wanted to stay in the “animals/forest-theme” and this is how I came up with the idea of the hedgehog. And also they are cute and kids like them. Check out my new pillow:

First step: planing your pattern to the size of the pillow (or smaller, this way you can make a frame to the picture later as you will see below). When everything is in the desired spot then sew down the pieces.

Make a frame as seen on the picture. Use the same fabric what you will use for the back of the pillow-case!

Do not forget the label (if you have one) as I did… 🙂

And voila, the pillow-case is done!

Paper hands

I started this project a year ago and according to my plan it’ll go on for 15-20 years. How is that possible? Last year around Christmas time our son was about three months old and I made an ornament that shows how small his hand was. My plan is to make the same kind of tree ornament for Christmas every year until he gets so big that he will refuse. But I hope in twenty years we will have a Christmas tree covered with these paper-hands especially if we will have more kids.

I used scrapbook-paper: put his hand on it and drew around it with a pencil, then I cut it out, made a hole, put a ribbon on it and finally wrote the name and the year in the middle. Very simple and look how big his hand has grown in one year!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is hear in two days but it is still not too late to get ready and figure out something crafty. As you probably know, we live in Germany now and Thanksgiving is not a holiday hear but we will try to celebrate it in a small way anyway. Last year and before we prepared the whole traditional Thanksgiving menu and we also had guests but probably not this year.  What we absolutely love is the pumpkin pie and I am 100% sure that I will bake one again (of course from scratch because you can’t buy the canned pumpkin in Germany). And I found something really cute and funny on a blog (here): a turkey T-shirt! Plus, it was made with felt which I love so I decided that I will make a turkey T-shirt for our little son. This way we will have at least one turkey at the table…

All you need is: felt in four colors (white, black, yellow and red), needle, thread, scissors, a brown T-shirt. You can make this in any size! If you wanted you can make turkey T-shirts for all your family-members, it would be funny but we decided we will try this year with the little one and then we will see.

Cut out the shapes for the eyes, beak and that red thing over the beak which I have no idea what it’s called. Pin down everything onto the T-shirt and then sew the layers. That’s it, not very complicated and it takes about fifteen minutes. The final product is:

And the happy owner in it:

Well, what do you think?

Felt picture and mobile for the nursery

A little more then one year ago we were building together the new furniture for the nursery and of course I was thinking about the decor. We just moved into the apartment which was newly renovated and all the walls were painted white. I didn’t want to paint over because it was so fresh although I would had preferred a little more color, but again we just moved in and the baby was going to born any minute. So we left the white walls.

We already chose a fun fabric for the curtain from IKEA with trees on it and I had leftovers. I really liked the trees on it and wanted to make some pictures for the wall, this is how I came up with the idea of this: I cut out one tree and sewed it onto a plain beige fabric.

Then I cut out some birds, flowers, apples, mushrooms and clouds of felt and arranged them on the tree. I sewed them on and then made a frame for it also out of leftover fabric. Finally I glued the whole fabric-picture onto a piece of cardboard and there you have it: a sweet picture for the nursery!

Actually I ended up making two because the wall was still empty and I also made matching felt-birds for the mobile. And I can tell you, my son was looking at the pictures all the time during feeding and he still loves those birds over his bed.

I’d like to add a couple more picture of the new creations that I made using the same technique. Here they are:

Birthday bib

My son turned one years old in September and I thought that I should make him something fun besides the gifts he got. We didn’t have a party for him for two reasons: 1. I don’t see the point for a one year old to have a party and 2. he and also my husband caught cold. (Don’t get me wrong, I love organizing parties!) And then the idea came to me to sew a birthday bib with a matching hat for him.

I used and other bib to make a sample out of paper. I cut the shape out twice, one out of an eggshell colored fabric and an other out of a brawn fabric. I also cut out a circle and the number “one”. See the picture below.

First I sewed the number onto the blue circle, this was a bit tricky on the edges but with a little patience you’ll succeed! Then I attached the circle onto the brown fabric.

Next I sewed together the two bib-shaped fabrics with a blue ribbon on the edge and finally I attached small velcro on top. It’s really not a complicated project and it requires only an hour, a bit of patience and some leftover fabrics. For the hat I just used paper for the base and I glued onto it the blue and white fabrics. As I thought my son didn’t really like the idea of the hat, that’s why I didn’t make it more permanent.

Look at the results, how cute is that?

 

 

Diaper Bag/Playing Mat

I read many other blogs and I just realized that my English is very poor, so I decided that I will post more pictures until I improve my language skills. This way you may understand better how things were made and help you even more. Unfortunately I don’t have many pictures of my old creations but in the future I will pay more attention to that. I promise.

My latest project was a 2 in 1 present for my dear friend Marta who had her first baby a couple of weeks ago. The present contains two peaces: a folding diaper holder and a playing mat that you can fold in and wear it as a bag. This way you can put the diaper holder in it and for example a few toys, too. It wasn’t very difficult to sew them but you need to be a little better at sewing as a beginner.

Here is the final product:

Let’s get started. I will show how you can make it step by step!

1. You will need for the playing mat/bag:

– 80x85cm cotton fabric with patter on it (mine was blue with cute worms)

-80x85cm filling fabric (I still don’t know the proper English word for it)

-80x85cm plain cotton fabric

-60cm zigzag ribbon for the worm

-20x30cm blue fabric for the worm

-black and red stitching yarn for the eyes and the mouth of the worm

-2 pieces of 7x60cm cotton fabric with pattern for the handlers

-2 pieces of 7x60cm plain cotton material for the handlers

-2 pieces of 4,5x60cm filling material for the handlers

-6 pair of snap fasteners (13mm)

STEP 1: Put the (80x85cm) filling fabric on the wrong side of your plain (white) fabric (85x80cm) and pin them together on the edges and in the middle as well. With the edge of an old soap draw a couple of lines on the right side of your white fabric. Something like this:

It might be a good idea to pin the two fabrics together along  these lines, too. And if you do so than pin across those lines so your sewing machine will sew through the pins and you can take them out when you are done with one seam. Now it’s time to sew together the two fabrics along those lines. I suggest that you sew one line/seam vertically and then one horizontally this way you’ll have a better chance that your seams stay nice flat. When you are done don’t forget to take out all the pins!

STEP 2: It’s time to cut out the worm from the blue fabric. You just have to be creative and drew it yourself because I don’t have a pattern for that but it should look like something like this:

Now you have to cut in every 1,5-2cm along the side and fold it back. Even better if you iron it down. Before you sew this little worm onto the other fabric you must hand-stitch its eyes and mouth with the blue and red yarn. If the face is ready then turn the worm on the right side and place it in the middle of your white plain fabric (what you had just sewed together with the filling) and of course you’ll have to pin it down again.

Now get back to the sewing machine and sew your little worm onto the white fabric. When it’s done take the zig-zag ribbon and sew it onto the worm covering the edge of it.

STEP 3: Place your colored fabric and what you’ve made so far onto each other facing the wrong side of the colored fabric and the filling! Now comes a little bit of a trick. As you sewed together the filling and the white fabrics the edges may have become a little uneven. Pin this now together with your colored fabric just on a few places and then cut it straight: 5cm from the edge of the colored fabric. Careful, don’t cut your colored fabric!

Now it should look like this:

With the help of your iron fold 1cm up from your colored fabric all around. Then fold the now 4cm wide edge onto the white fabric and pin it down. The corners are a bit tricky but just fold it as you would fold a wrapping paper. Next you’ll have to sew all the way around the folding. Basically the playing mat-part is done now.

STEP 4: Making the handlers. Take the 7x60cm colored and white fabrics facing the right side. 1cm from the side sew them together on one side. When it’s done turn it out and iron your line and also the other side: fold in 1cm along the edge:

Now put the 5x60cm filling into it, pin it and sew down on the other longer side on the right side of the fabric.

STEP 5: Attaching the handlers. Now you pin down the end of the handlers on the shorter side of the playing mat and on the “outside” where the colored (blue) fabric is. Make sure they are even from the middle line. The length between the two end of one handler should be not wilder then 30cm. Follow the drawing below:

Of course you must turn 1-1,5cm from the handler underneath itself to make it look nice. Attach it to the playing mat where the “frame” runs and don’t go onto the white fabric. Sew it down on all four endings. Now it should look like this:

It is very pretty now and you are almost done! You have a good idea how it will function.

STEP 6: Fold in the two longer side of the playing mat. They should overlap in the middle as wild as the “frame” is (about 4cm). On the inside you will have to sew on the one half of the snap fasteners and on the outside the other half.  So when you fold the playing mat the two sides stay together. I hope you understand what I try to explain.

And this is it. Your playing mat/diaper bag is done! If you fold the whole thing in half you’ll have two packets what you can fill from above and carry the bag on the shoulders.

If there is one person who understood my description and liked my idea, please, let me know!