Baby-in-the-hood

So as my mother knows,  I'm mildly obsessed with my latest creation, the Baby-in-the-hood Jacket from Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner.

I picked up the book over a year ago when our Borders went out of business.   I thought the jacket was totes adorbs, but looked more involved than I wanted to tackle.  A few weeks ago,  I was cleaning out my craft closet when I came across the book and decided to make the jacket.

I don't know what I was thinking waiting so long!  The pattern is awesome, the coat is precious, and I want to make about five more.  Like right this minute.

I followed the recommendation of someone else and started by sewing the lining first,  and I'm glad I did because I overlooked the topstitching on the sleeves.  Otherwise I had no issues and only had to rip out about two inches of seam,  which has to be a record.

For my almost-10-month mister,  I made the 9-12 size,  but in retrospect I should have made the 12-18 so he could wear it into the spring.   It fits great now,  but probably could stand to be lengthened a bit.   I guess I'll have to make another.  Oh darn!

A Christmas Nursery

If you know me, you probably know that I'm a little nutty when it comes to Christmas decorations.  I'm THAT person who always decorates before Thanksgiving.  It's not that I don't like Thanksgiving, because I really do...I just see Thanksgiving as an appetizer for Christmas, if you will.

Anywho, a couple of weeks ago, Elliott's nursery got a Christmas makeover.

Remember when I gave you this sneak peak?

Well, this is what I was up to...

Yup, Elliott has Christmas bedding.  I thought I was being quite clever until I realized that Pottery Barn Kids has already thought of this.  Oh well, mine was a lot cheaper and made with love :)

You may also have noticed that this happened...

Fun fact: you can just take off whatever animals are hanging from your store bought mobile and replace them with cheap (unbreakable) ornaments!  yay!  

You may also have spotted this in the background:

Elliott has his very own Christmas tree!  I was worried that he might try to pull off any ornaments that I may hang, so I came up with some pom-pom garland that I strung myself.  

Finally, I remembered that I bought a little banner kit from Hancock Fabric last year, and I put that together one night.  Now, Elliott has a festive "Noel" sign hanging from his hutch.

He's a happy little peanut in his Christmas Nursery!

Some Sewing

My sewing machine has been gathering dust since Elliott's arrival.  A few days ago, a friend of the family asked if I would make some tie onesies for her for some baby showers.  So yesterday, I dusted off ole Bessie (I don't really call it that), and got to work.

Lisa,  if you are reading, your onesies will be mailed tomorrow!

While working on the onesies, I got the urge to keep sewing, so I changed the thread over to red and made some Christmas things for Elliott's room.

 More on that later.


Little Man had fun playing with his new doggie while Mom worked.

Is it really November already!?

Baby Leg Warmers!

I have been thinking that these baby leg warmers were super cute and convenient for diaper changes, but they cost $12 each.  Yikes!  I looked online and realized I could probably make them myself from adult socks.  Today at Target, I came across a wall of colorful clearance women's knee-highs for $0.75, so I loaded up.  In one episode of Money Saving Meals, I sewed up five pairs of cute baby leg warmers.  Yay!

Here are three pairs that I made for Elliott...

My sweet-in-need-of-a-nap baby model would not be still for a photo, so here is a video for you.  Pardon the fact that he does not match.  I promise I won't actually pair this onesie with these leg warmers for real!

Happy Tuesday!

 

Procrastination

While digging through one of my numerous unorganized piles of random belongings in my house yesterday,  I came across a quilt that I started over a year ago.  All that was left to be done was hand stitching three quarters of the binding.  Now,  I do not consider myself to be a procrastinator.  In fact, with my anxiety level, it would probably be catastrophic to my health to procrastinate.  I never pulled an all-nighter in college and usually had assignments finished a day in advance.

When it comes to quilting, most people would probably say that the quilting or piecing are the most difficult to complete.  I disagree.  I loathe hand stitching the binding.  This was probably the last thing I quilted without machine stitching the binding, and may be the last thing I ever stitch by hand.

To date,  I have finished three quilts.  I found the tutorials for this quilt and my pinwheel sampler on p.s. i quilt.  To this day, I am still impressed that I made a twin size quilt.  I have aspirations of making a queen size in the near future.  It just may get sent to a professional quilter to be quilted.  I'm not sure that my 14 year old $100 sewing machine could handle it.

Twin Size Pinwheel Sampler quilt

  Anyway,  I have been keeping this unfinished quilt in a rarely opened closet.  It was when I was looking for some batting to make some extra burp cloths that I came across it.  Every time I go into that closet, I feel like this thing is staring at me and it makes me very anxious.  But not anxious enough to actually tackle it.  Well, this time was different.  I have been thinking that some couch-based crafting was in order since I'm usually confined to the couch with the little one anyway.  So I took the plunge.  It took me an entire day since I had some cute little interruptions, but it's finished!  Since my hubby keeps the house on negative five degrees, I have been snuggling with this lovely each night since it's completion.  

The quilt's new home on the couch

Cute little distraction

The quilt pattern is synchronized squares from p.s I quilt.  The fabrics were some fat quarters that I picked up from Joann's a super long time ago.  I kept the quilting to a minimum so the quilt would be super fluffy.  I only quilted over the squares--some with circles, others with squares--all done free-hand.  

New Clothes

Whew!  It has been awhile since I updated this blog!  I'm still alive!  Chugging away...feeling like a giant blimp. I'm 36 weeks along today, and it's starting to catch up to me.  We are still missing a dresser for the nursery, so no new updates on that front yet, but I did manage to make the bambino some fun little outfits this week.

First, I dyed a couple of white onesies blue using some RIT dye.  I used my Silhouette Machine to cut out some T-shirt vinyl to make the designs.  I had been promising Jeff I would make the baby a "Captain Cutie" shirt since seeing a similar one (in the wrong size) at Target a few months ago. The other shirt is for his Grandma "Dino-saur."  I tried to find a happy looking dino...I think I succeeded.  I really LOVE T-shirt vinyl.  I think it is my new favorite obsession. This was a fun, no-sew project!

Today I wanted to make him something a bit more dapper.  I dug out my old tie pattern from Crap I've Made and a new bow tie pattern from Shwin&Shwin to make some appliqued onesies.  I also followed the tips from MADE for making my own pattern to make some cute matching seersucker shorts.  She also has some great tips for tie dying onesies.  This baby is going to look quite adorable this summer if I do say so myself!

Needing new maternity clothes and a Crocheted Owl Beanie

The weather here has been a bit warmer lately (with the exception of the last 2 days) and I have realized that I only have 2 short-sleeved maternity shirts.  After shopping this weekend without much success, I thought I would take matters into my own hands.

I made this dolman-style sleeve shirt using this tutorial from Make It And Love It.  Hers looks much cuter, but she does not have to accommodate a giant baby bump.  By the way, the Peeps bunting in the background was made last year using this tutorial from MADE.  

I also did a little bit of baby crafting this weekend.  I couldn't help myself when I saw this tutorial by All Things Bright and Beautiful on Ucreate.    This little owl beanie was pretty quick to whip up, but it's evident that I have some practice to do with my circular crocheting.  

Oh how I love free bloggy tutorials!