11.30.2010

The Slinky: A Toy For All Ages


We gave the Bubb a slinky to play with last night and he really enjoyed himself. Check out that drool!





11.29.2010

All Star Flannel, Part 4

Finishing off the Riley Blake All Star Flannel, I decided to make a bib. Yes I realize that usually bibs aren't made with flannel, but I needed to make a practice bib anyway. I backed the bib with Michael Miller 100% organic terry cloth that I got HERE.


Making it turned out to be much simpler than I thought, of course installing the snap took as long as the cutting and sewing. Silly me. More bibs to come later this week, as I finally get to use fabric that I've been collecting for just this purpose!



Front, back, and snap details.



11.28.2010

Morning Walk

I love the crisp clear mornings we've been having here lately, especially after it rains. So we went for a walk this morning on the jogging/walking trail behind our house. We got ourselves and the Bubb all bundled up and off we went.  It was great to get out and stretch our legs after 3 days of eating.



11.25.2010

Giggle

As you may or may not have heard, Sir Bubbington is now giggling! It isn't spontaneous and he definitely needs to find you amusing but he will giggle for you. I've been trying to capture this on video for the past 2 weeks but have been completely unsuccessful (as he gets distracted by the camera)...but just know that it is super adorable (of course) cause it is more like a little man giggle than a baby giggle, it is just awesome. Hope this brings a smile to your face on this day of pie!

Happy Thanksgiving

11.24.2010

All Star Flannel, Part 3

I bought two packages of Gerber Birdseye Prefold cloth diapers, aka burp cloths, right before The Bubb was born, as they seemed like the perfect thing to use to wipe up pretty much everything. And so far they have been fantastic, although some days I run completely out of them! I've been thinking about sprucing them up a little bit to make them more fun for me (and possibly the Bubb), so I decided to give it a try and I'm pretty excited by how they turned out!








11.23.2010

Tutorial: How to Make a Changing Pad Cover

Tired of the ugly baby gear that is in the stores, I have been prompted to figure out how to make some of my own, starting with changing pad covers. Of course making your own will probably cost you more than the $6 one you can get on sale at Babies R Us or Walmart, but it will be way PRETTIER and you have the satisfaction of knowing that you made it!


This cover will fit a standard changing pad (roughly 16x32) So what do you need?


1 36 inches of 3/8" Knit Elastic (if non-knit elastic I'd use 40") and a Safety Pin. Usually I use white elastic, but this was all that JoAnns had after Halloween, and since it is encased, it doesn't matter.
2 Sewing pins
3 Fabric measuring 32 inches x 48 inches. You can use as many different fabrics as you want, but after you sew them together to make your design, it needs to be 32x48. For example HERE I used more pieces of fabric. In this tutorial, I used a 32x18.5 inch piece (the dots) and a 32x30.5 piece (brown minky).

Okay now that you have your supplies, lets get started.

Step 1 After you've washed and ironed your fabrics, cut them to the desired length for a collective finish size of 32x48 inches (after you sew them together).


Step 2 Place the dots on top of the minky, right sides facing. And pin into place. After pinning, sew with a 1/2" seam allowance, backtacking at both ends. You should end up with one piece that measures roughly 32x48.




Step 3 Now on to creating the corners. To do this, we need to cut out four 8" squares from each corner. (You can cut them all at once or one at a time, doesn't really matter. In this case I folded it in half horizontally and did two corners at once. One set of cuts on the flannel and one set of cuts on the minky.)




Step 4 Looking at the top right corner, take the bottom of the "L" and fold it up to the side of the "L", right sides together. Pin in place, and do the same for the other three corners.




Step 5 Sew that corner together. I used a 1/2" seam allowance, and I sew from the "corner" to the edge of the fabric. That way if the fabric shifts, the excess is easier to cut off and doesn't bunch the point. Of course backtack at each end. You should end up with 4 corners.




Step 6 Iron all the seams open, as it makes it easier to thread the elastic through later on.


Step 7 Creating the elastic casing. Starting at a corner, I fold the fabric up roughly a 1/2". Then I roll that up about 3/4" to an 1". I then pin that corner seam in place. Do this all the way around the cover. If you want to iron that 1/2" fold and the final fold, you can do that, but I am lazy and don't want to be bothered with more ironing. Place a stop pin in if you need to remind yourself that you're at the end and you need to stop to create a hole and not close it off.





Step 8 Sew that elastic casing down. I start at a corner seam (as I think it looks cleaner) and work my way around with an 1/8" seam allowance, stopping just at the other side of the seam, which leaves about 1/2" hole. Backtack at both ends.



Step 9 Cut your elastic to be 36" long if you haven't done that already. Attach a safety pin to one end. Thread the safety pin into the opening at the corner you just created and inch worm that safety pin all the way around. Pull the safety pin out when you've gone all the way around.




Step 10 Stitch the two ends of the elastic together either using a zigzag or make an big X. (this is always the hardest part for me to do cleanly for some reason, oh well, no one ever has to see it!)



Step 11 Pull on the cover to get the elastic ends you just sewed to disappear into the casing. Make sure the elastic is pushed all the way to the side (so you don't sew over it). Then sew that opening closed!



Stretch the cover out so the elastic shifts to be more even and you're done!! Yeah!


Try it out on the changing pad.



Tips I've noticed that it fits the changing pad better after you wash it (probably cause the elastic gets shaped properly inside). In this case I used a beige thread, as the seams don't show and it was already on my machine. Normally I'd probably match the thread to the fabrics better.



Enjoy your new changing pad cover!
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