Baby Sleep Sack and Matching Hat

I have a new favorite baby knitting project!  A cozy little bag to wrap newborn baby up in.  Disclaimer – it is not meant for baby to sleep in and baby should never be left unattended in the sleep sack.  I found this project on Ravelry.com – my favorite knitting project website.  I can get lost for days searching for fun new projects to do!

This project took two skeins of yarn, and only a few days for me to complete both the bag and the hat in intermittent knitting sessions.  I still have more than half of the second skein left, so I am planning to knit some matching booties as well.  It is almost impossible to see in my picture (don’t mind the scary looking baby doll model

…I’ll try to remember to replace the photo with one of my daughter when she is born in a few months!) but there are adorable little owls knitted into the pattern.

It is much easier to see them on the pictures found with the pattern at ComfortWool.blogspot.com.  This is the pattern for the sleep sack and this is the pattern for the hat.

Aren’t they adorable?!?!  I am just dying to put my baby in them!  Also, this is the first time in my entire history of knitting that I purchased yarn somewhere other than your big corporation craft store.  I made the effort to drive to one o

f my local yarn shops and bought some “real” yarn.  The pattern recommended Malabrigo worsted, but I used Manos maxima (no website available, but Google it) – any worsted weight yarn will work.  Be sure to check the yardage.  I don’t think I will ever be able to go back to buying yarn from those big wig stores ever again.  This yarn cost 2-3 times as much, but the quality is 100 times better!  Totally worth spending the money, and now I understand why.  Of course, at our house we have been on a buy local kick for quite some time now.  The CSA I just signed up for has a few farms that sell their own yarn.  I may have to try that!

This project is not a beginner level project, but it is not advanced either.  You do need to have cable knitting knowledge and the ability to decrease stitches.

Tags: Baby, Hat, Knitting, Marissa, sleep sack

Prettying Up a Burp Cloth – Version One

It seems as if we are all silently motivating each other to get back to work on our Threaded Together blog!  One person posts and all the rest of us seem to follow suit.  I hope that we are going to be able to keep up the momentum!

When I got my embroidery machine, the first thing I wanted to make were custom burp cloths for some friends.  Kelley made me some when I had Little S and I absolutely adored them.  They were the only burp cloths I would use.  I got so many compliments from other mothers who were carrying around plain, boring burp cloths.  They are so easy to make and are a lovely handmade gift.

I know there are a ton of tutorials out there on how to make these burp cloths, but I am still going to share what works for me.  Please keep in mind that I am not a seamstress and my sewing skills are very amateur! 

To complete these burp cloths, you will need burp cloths, fabric (I prefer flannel for this project), thread, and your sewing machine.

The first step is to embroider the burp cloths with your design.  If you don’t have an embroidery machine, you can skip this step.  They will still be adorable burp cloths and make a great gift.  Also, you can check around your local embroidery places and see how much it will cost to have them embroider.  For such a small design, it may only be a few dollars.

Next, cut your fabric about an inch bigger (all around) than the burp cloth.

Fold over the fabric to create a pretty edge, iron and pin to the fabric.  Here is where I go all amateur sewing skills on you.  These burp cloths are sometimes all wacky and making a perfect square will not fit the burp cloth properly.  I fold the fabric over the top of the burp cloth as a way to measure it. 

Here is my stack all ready to be sewn! 

Once the fabric is pinned to the burp cloth, sew all around the perimeter of the  cloth.  I use a zig zag stitch.

After that, sew up the lines of the burp cloth.  This will make the same lines down the flannel fabric giving it a more finished look.

Wrap up with a pretty bow and give to the lucky mother!

Tags: Arts and Crafts, Baby, Jennifer, Sewing

Appliqued Toy (or anything) Box

My sweet baby is now at the age where he is on the floor, rolling around, and playing with toys.  I was keeping the toys in a small basket on a shelf (to keep the dog from thinking they were his toys), but the basket is now too small to hold everything.  Thus, I decided it was time for a toy box. That and…if you don’t remember to turn some of them off, you get to hear “Row Row Row Your Boat” in the middle of the night when you hurt your toe after accidentally kicking a toy while looking for a pacifier…at 2:36 am. Fun!

This toy box is really simple to make, however, the trick is to take your time.  Major tools are an iron and a sewing machine capable of sewing a zig zag.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Some sort of canvas or fabric covered bin. I found mine at Hobby Lobby in the purse and tote bag section.
2. Fabric scrap: Size depends on how much of the bin you want to cover.  This piece will be for the backing.
3. Fabric scraps: These will be for the letters. I used two fabrics, but you can use whatever suits your fancy.
4. Fusible Web: Also called Wonder Under, this stuff really is “wonder”ful. :-)
5. Matching thread.
6. Scissors
7. Sewing machine and iron.

Step 1:  Cut out your letters.  *Personal piece of advice: Iron your web on the fabric before you cut out the letters.*  I was so excited about this one, that I forgot to iron mine on first. After I cut out the letters, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make them look as good the second time around so I took little pieces of web and “pieced” them on the backside of the letters. Not ideal, but it worked.  But…the best way to do it is to iron on the fusible web and then cut out your letters.  I always like to free-hand my letters. They’re never perfect, but I like that.

Step 2: Iron/attach the letters to the “back” piece of fabric.

Step 3: Hem the edges of the backing fabric.  Be sure to press the sides under before you actually sew the sides. If there’s anything my Granny taught me in sewing (she’s taught me many things, actually), she says to “Always press your hem first…then the job is already half done.”

Step 4: Applique the letters. I used a simple zig zag stitch, but I did practice on a piece of scrap fabric to make sure my stitch length and width were what I wanted.  *Another piece of advice: Line up your needle placement so that the zig zag is ON the edge of the letter. If you can keep the stitch ON the item being appliqued, it will look much cleaner and almost give the item a “puffy” look. I tried to show it in the pictures below.

Step 5: Attach backing fabric to the bin: With your backing fabric edges finished and hemmed, cut out a piece of fusible web to fit the size of the backing fabric. You’ll want to get it as close to the edges as possible as this is what will actually attach it to your fabric bin.  Once the web is on the bin, peel the paper off, line it up on your bin, and iron it on. I made sure to give mine a little extra time to ensure it set properly.

Step 6: Fill that sucker up with the toys (or whatever) and enjoy a (somewhat) clean room.

This is the first one of these I’ve made, but I’m hopelessly in love with it.  It might be an “organizing” themed Christmas this year…if ya know what I mean…

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Tags: Arts and Crafts, Baby, Decorating, Kids, Sewing

Pacifier Clip

A little while ago, I was out with a friend who has a little one and she had the cutest pacifier clip.  I asked her who made it for her and she said she bought it at a baby boutique.  I took a closer look and decided it was a crafty project I was going to try.  I didn’t use a tutorial for it but after I made it, I did a quick search and found the following tutorials: 1) Pacifier clip with snaps at This and That; 2) 8 paci clips for only a dollar at Ruffles and Stuff ; 3) Paci clips using fabric at So Simply Stephanie. 

For this paci clip, I was trying to find the easiest and quickest way to knock it out and I certainly did.  This pacifier clip took all of about ten minutes!  I would love to make half a dozen of these for a baby shower gift.  Since they are pretty inexpensive and quick to make, they make a perfect baby gift!

What you will need:

A strip of grosgrain ribbon (I like the way this ribbon holds up a little better than satin) cut to the length you would like (my ribbon was 13 inches long)

Velcro

Sewing Machine and thread

Suspender/Mitten Clips

What to do:

1.  Slide one end of ribbon through the suspender clip and sew to the other side of ribbon.  Before I sewed the ribbon into place, I folded the ribbon over 1/4 so that it had a clean edge to it.   As you can see in the pictures below, I had the suspender clip facing the wrong way!  I took the pictures before I realized what I did.  Note to crafter: Be sure to pay attention to the way that the clip is facing before you sew! :-)

2.  Fold over the edge on the other side of the ribbon so that it makes a clean edge.  Stick one piece of velcro on the end of the ribbon and the other about an inch down.  This is the side that will hold the pacifier!

3.  Sew a line through the velcro so that it will stay attached to the ribbon.

That is it!  Seriously, this is the easiest sewing project I have ever completed!  I would show it to you with a paci attached to a baby, but my babies aren’t so baby anymore and I couldn’t locate a dolly pacifier in the pit we call Little S’s room so this picture will have to do!

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Tags: Baby, Jennifer, Sewing

Helicopter Baby Shower

Today I threw a baby shower for a great friend of mine.  The dad of the baby is a helicopter pilot and many of the baby’s things are related to planes and helos.  I decided to stick with it and made the baby shower helicopter themed (well, I didn’t do much “theme-ing”, but what I DID do was helos).  I thought I would have no trouble finding things to aid in my party planning, but it was quite difficult!  Time to get to work!  I made the invitation from scratch.  Here it is below where I have, of course, replaced the personal information:

I used the same helicopter to design the cake as well and used basic buttercream icing:

I did not feel like doing the typical baby shower games like Smell the Baby Poop or Guess that Baby Food.  Instead I opted for a craftier avenue to travel down.  I bought various sizes of white onesies from 0 months to 18 months.  I had the guests make their own onesies for the new baby-to-be.  It took a little encouragement for some of the guests and I probably could have used more than two irons to iron letters on, but I was still pretty happy with the outcome.  Also, one set of letters – all of the black ones – DID NOT work.  I managed to buy a bum package and we all found it out the hard way.  A few words of advice: Test it out in advance.  I had intended to do this by making a shirt for the mom, but only managed to try it about 5 minutes before the shower began!  Find out how long it will take to iron the letters on, etc.  My materials for this project were:

1. various sized onesies
2. iron on letters and patches
3. fabric markers
4. cardboard to stick between the onesie so markers will not bleed through to the back (make sure the cardboard is free of all markings and colors, we also had issues with that bleeding onto the onesie if using the cardboard while ironing)
5. youth t-shirts.  My baby shower was kid friendly, so I also had white shirts for all of the kid guests to use the fabric markers and decorate.  We kept them away from the iron on items.
6. ironing board and iron (have at least one iron for every two to three people).

Some of the sayings we used were BYOB (bring your own bottle).  Navy Baby.  The baby’s last name.  ”Mini (name of dad)”. A picture of a chick then the words “dig me”.  Other ideas – Naps Are For Sissies.  Bootie Kicker.  Little Prince(ss).  Drooling Zone.

 Finally, the treat for the guests was a bag of candy with a ribbon tied around it.  Attached to the ribbon were two cookie cutters – a helicopter and an airplane.  I didn’t get a picture of them, unfortunately, but if you look hard enough you can see them in the back corner of the table here:

I had tons of fun planning and celebrating the future birth of my friend’s son.  It is such a great way to welcome a new baby to the world!

Tags: Baby, Cake Decorating, Cakes, Entertaining, Homemade, invitation, iron on letters