5.26.2011

Baby Sleeping Bag


Okay so this isn't really a baby sleeping bag per say it is more of a sleep sack but for our upcoming camping trip it will do the job. The Bubb hates to be swaddled and generally prefers to be on his tummy with his butt up in the air wedged in the corner, and not at all under then covers, when he sleeps. In order to try to keep him warm I made him a sleeping bag out of some organic cotton fleece by Michael Miller. Since the "back" of the fleece is actually really nice I decided not to put a "front" on the bag and instead just embellish it a bit. Running extremely short of time, I didn't have any free moments to run off to Joann (and of course planning ahead didn't cross my mind) to get a zipper or some fabric, so I just used what I had on hand. And I found the remains of the scooter fabric left over from my chairs. I had totally forgotten about this fabric and was so excited when I saw it! I love it when that happens, sorta like finding money in your pants pocket when doing laundry!


I traced around one of his old sleep sacks and made it a good 7 inches longer (cause he is pretty tall). I then cut out the front and the back, the front has a lower neck line.


I cut two stripes out of scooter fabric (this was all I had left) and pinned them to the front and the back, as well as a label, and stitched everything down.



Next I pinned the sleep sack together and sewed it shut, "front" sides facing. At this point I was sorta hesitant, thinking that it was just going to look like a potato sack, but after I turned it right side out, it looked way better than I had imagined :) I decided to add some bias tape around the arms and neck holes to give it a more finished look and then I installed some snaps on the shoulders so that we can get him in and out.


I love how it is super soft on the inside for him (and is still amazingly soft on the outside too) and that it has a nice weight to it.


We'll see how it goes while camping. Hopefully it will keep him nice and warm.



On another note isn't it amazing how much stuff one little person can need!


5.23.2011

Reversible Playmat


I finally put together a playmat for The Bubb and I am so excited to share it with you.


It can be blue


or yellow


as both sides are equally wonderful!



My original plan was to have a laminate type top so that I could wipe it down and then have a heavy canvas or denim type back. But once I found these fabrics, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Have both sides be laminate! That way I can easily wipe down either side and I can pick the side depending on my color mood.

I love the brightly colored fabric and the thickness/weight of the mat because I sandwiched a piece of minky inside it.



To construct the mat I first pinned the minky and the yellow side together then quilted it, 3 times horizontally and 3 times vertically to create a tick-tack-toe type pattern. I quilted it so that the layers would stay more or less together. Next I pinned the blue side to the yellow side, right sides facing, and sewed them together. I flipped it through the hole that I left and top stitched around the outside. I used a wide stitch for the top stitching to give a more industrial/manufactured feel.


It was pretty easy to make and came together in about 1.5 hours. It is going to be perfect for going to the park, the beach, camping, etc. Obviously he won't stay put on it for long but at least it is a "safe" place for him to start out and touch the grass cautiously before crawling free.


It is pretty large measuring around 5 feet by 6 feet.


So excited to go and try it out :)


5.20.2011

Giraffe Pillow


Here it is, the last pillow for The Bubb's room, well for now at least! I had some left over yellow giraffe fabric and made a simple case with an overlap slot on the back. In retrospect I think that I would have put chunky white piping on it. But I'll have to save that idea for another project!



And they're a good size in the crib too, although Emmett doesn't sleep with pillows yet.

5.19.2011

Custom Requests

I've been seriously slacking in making anything for The Bubb or for the family lately and it is because I've had the privilege of making other babies some custom items! So I thought I would share a few pictures of what I've been up to.

The first was a large striped patchwork baby blanket/play mat that used the new fabric collection by Laurie Wisbrun called Pooches and Pickups. I love these fabrics! So great for boys :)



The other items I've been working on were a 4 paneled reversible crib bumper with the always cute Russian Dolls by Kokka, crib sheet, changing pad cover, and blanket. This order was fun to work on as it broke up my baby blanket and burp cloth making for a few days.


Since The Bubb appears to still be napping and his breakfast is already made (yeah for freezing stuff) maybe I will go get started on a few projects I have in the works for him! Happy Thursday everyone the weekend is almost here!

5.18.2011

Napopoly


Last weekend we went to Napa with some visiting family. And as someone kindly (maybe somewhat drunken at 10 am) pointed out, "You brought a BABY to a winery?" and my husband politely replied, "Yes we did!"


My camera batteries died at the first of the 3 wineries that we went to but here are a quick few shots of The Bubb enjoying himself.




We also tried to drive the car while "napping".


And we were curious about the vines, although I wouldn't let him crawl in them.


Monogrammed Pillow


Continuing on with the pillow making for Emmett's room, I have now completed the 3rd pillow (I have 4 in case you are wondering how many I am making). I decided that I needed to have some piping on this one AND a zipper. So not really knowing what I was doing, these are the steps that I did to make it. I am sure there is a better way to install a zipper and piping?

1. Cut out two squares of fabric to fit your pillow. I used this cute little car fabric by Kokka and some men's suiting material for the back.
2. I then cut out a big car to match the little cars to applique on the front, but decided that it didn't look good. So instead I cut an "E" out of black fleece to monogram the pillow. I used Lite Steam-A-Seam and adhered it to the fabric. I thought about top stitching it but didn't see the point as it is permanent and fuzzy so you really wouldn't notice the stitching anyway.
3. Installed the red piping on the "front" of the pillow.
4. Installed the invisible zipper, first on the front side and then to the back.
5. Open the zipper and then sewed the two panels together rights sides facing.
6. Flip the pillow, stuff, and I was done!



Pillows are very addicting to make :) And the best part is I remembered to put the zipper on the bottom this time, hooray!



5.09.2011

Hello Leon, Welcome to the Family


So call us crazy but we've been without a "proper" vacuum for almost 9 months now. Since we have hardwood floors in our new place we haven't bothered to replace the dust spewing vacuum that we had. There has been a lot of sweeping, Swiffering and using this hand-held vac (that is probably for tiny spills) on the floors and the couple area rugs that we have. And its been working pretty well. But from all the sewing with chenille it has finally gotten to us (in case you don't know chenille snows like crazy) and over the weekend we purchased a vacuum. We call him Leon and I'd like to welcome him to the family!


He is a beautiful yellow Miele. So shiny and new! When we were at the store picking him out we got to vacuum up rice krispies, like in the infomercials, so much fun. (I also think that once he gets scratched, bound to happen eventually, I am going to paint orange dots on him). Okay so I am lame blogging about a vacuum cleaner but this is the first time that we've actually fought over who gets to vacuum.


And The Bubb LOVES the box. It even has this precut window in it which he thinks is the funniest thing in the world.



5.04.2011

8 Months Old


April seemed to quickly disappear on us which means that The Bubb is now another month older! He is one curious little man. Explore explore explore. That is what we are doing. He can crawl extremely well and is trying to (and succeeding) in pulling up on everything, just to his knees - not his feet. He has just figured out how to get back down without face planting so I think that is wonderful.

So stats I guess, he is about 18 pounds, 27-28 inches tall (he wouldn't hold still for me) and his head is about 18 inches round. He is sleeping 12 hours at night and takes two 1.5-2 hour naps and then a 30-60 min power nap in the late afternoon most days. He is eating really well, we tried some chicken the other night and mixed it with yams as putting chicken in the food processor makes chicken powder (yuck) and decided it was best to just mix it. We have tried to give him a sippee cup but he isn't pleased with it so we are working on it slowly.


He loves to look at books, play with his yellow jingle ball, hide in the curtains and crawl everywhere. He also finds mirrors fascinating which works out well for me when I am trying to brush my teeth in the morning :)
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