Category Archives: baby stuff

Jun 17 2010

A few random projects

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I’m trying to get things done before the baby comes so there are a few random projects I’ve been working on. I have a pile of old shirts waiting to be refashioned so I made a baby skirt out of one of them. It was relatively easy but next time I won’t put quite so many strips into the bottom ruffle. It was a little too full. But all I did was cut off the bottom half of the t-shirt the desired length, plus about 1 inch to fold over for the waistband. I used the bottom hem of the shirt so I didn’t even have to hem it. I used my serger for a rolled hem on the ruffle and also stretched it while sewing to make a lettuce edge. Gathered then sewed the ruffle, folded over a waistband, inserted elastic, and ta-da, baby skirt. Ok, so maybe time-wise it would have been better to just buy the skirt I saw on clearance at Target but this used up a shirt and next time it should go a little faster.

I made new curtains for the kids’ bedroom since they are now sharing and the pink flowery ones weren’t going to work for Ian. I used Sweetwater’s Make Life Silly fabric.

I also made another Undercover Crate to go in our living room for toy storage. I need to make one more but I ran out of muslin. The liner turned out a little loose, so I’m going to increase the seam allowance to 1/2″. I used another Sweetwater fabric, from their Authentic line. Both fabrics I got from my favorite little online fabric shop, Fabritopia.

May 27 2010

Baby Kimono

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I think I decided that this little kimono is going to be baby sister’s coming home outfit. I finally got around to making Habitual’s kimono tutorial. I think you can still get the tutorial, but you have to email her. The pattern is really easy. I made it 2 inches longer to make it more of a dress that she will wear over a onesie. I just had a hard time deciding on fabric and I wanted to make my own bias tape but I couldn’t find any coordinating fabrics in my stash late last night. And in my indecisiveness, I forgot that I had put a batch of cookies in the oven. I’m not sure how long they over-baked, but they were just a touch shy of charcoal. Oh well, I blame it on pregnancy brain.

I did the kimono because I kind of gave up on the ruffled bag for now. It’s most of the way done; I just need to finish the quilting on the top piece and figure out what the straps are going to look like. But, the quilting has been giving me fits and the bag turned out too big for a purse and too small for a diaper bag. So, maybe another attempt someday. I was proud of my interior zipper I put in the lining, based on this tutorial, but oh well.

Feb 13 2010

One More Baby Item

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I’ve been meaning to make the Undercover Crate pattern for a long time but just never got around to finding a crate. I found little ones at the dollar store that were perfect to hold the baby shower gift previously posted. The pattern is really easy (and free!). At the end of the pattern, it tells you how to modify the pattern to fit any sized crate. I just changed the side B length (the pink fabric), since it was a little crate (only 6″ high) so 9″ wouldn’t have let the brown fabric be seen on the outside. I took off a couple inches from the pink height and added it to the brown inside fabric height. Very easy project and turned out great results. I need to make a few more for the kid’s rooms. This crate was 6″h x 8 1/2″l x 7 1/2″ w. I had bought 1/3 yard of each of the fabrics and just barely squeezed it out of the brown, so a little more would have been nice. I also added a covered button to the middle front of the long side. A bow would have been nice, too. A cute, useful packaging option for gifts.

Feb 2 2010

Shirred Baby Dress and Ruffle-Bum Onesie

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I love making things for friend’s babies. A baby shower is a good excuse to get going and try something new. For a recent baby girl, I made an elastic smocked sundress with a ruffle-bum onesie to go underneath. I have done the sundresses before, but the ruffle onesie was something I had on the to-do list. I think it turned out cute. I’m a total perfectionist when it comes to some things, so I redid the first ruffle twice. The first time, the fabric underneath puckered, so I started over. Then I forgot to use a stretch stitch the second time so I went over the stitching with the knit stitch and ripped out the straight stitch. I guess I did it three times. The other two ruffles were much easier once I had that figured out. The knit stitch just ensures the stitches will stretch with the fabric.

Ruffle-bum onesie tutorial from Char by way of UCreate
Jul 13 2009

Yet Another Baby Shower Gift

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I made a set of raggy letters using the little boy’s name for a gift. I got the idea for it from this blog post. I think they turned out pretty cute. The main idea is for them to be something soft for baby to play with and later to learn his name. But they could also be used as wall hangings. I might still add a little ribbon loop for hanging or putting them all on one of those plastic link-a-doo things to keep them all together. The YW and leaders helped me prep them by tracing the letter on the fabric and cutting out fleece for the middle and chenille for the back. Then I sewed a satin stitch following the tracing using my walking foot to keep the layers all together. I then cut the letter out leaving about 1/4″ space around the stitching. Clipped into the seam allowance to help the fraying, then I’ll run them through the washer and dryer a couple times to get them nice and frayed.
And my newest addition to my sewing pile: a used Euro-Pro 534 DSi serger. I found it at a yard sale on Saturday. It appears to work decently but I’m not really sure. The stitch quality seems to drift- it starts out ok, then loosens, then goes back to ok. I don’t have a clue so I’ll probably take it to get looked at sometime soon. It also came with a whole bunch of feet still in their (original?) packaging. I spent some time online trying to figure out what each one was for. There isn’t much online for this specific serger so it’s pretty much a guessing game. But I’m excited to have a serger, mainly for things like rolled hems.