Letter Press Cookie Cutters

Am I the only one who has a soft spot for fabulous cookie cutters? 

I don't have time to make fancy cookies these days.  Still, I couldn't resist buying these Letter Press Cookie Cutters when I saw them yesterday.

Today during Sylvie's nap I did a quick search to see how these actually look when done.  I searched google, pinterest, all the classic places and can't find any real examples of them made up.

Maybe everyone just buys them and looks at them (I hope I will actually make them!  Maybe for Valentine's Day?).

Speaking of Valentine's Day.  I've got the bug this year. 

So far I have made this:













And sent out these:














as well as a whole stack of Valentine's from Sylvie and I. I can't wait until people start receiving them in a few days.

Baby Carrier Strap Protectors

There are several tutorials out there describing how to make your own baby carrier strap protectors (see here and here for some examples).  The straps are in the perfect location to end up being chewed by your little one, and since most carrier companies don't recommend washing carriers regularly, it's nice to consider protecting those straps (also, they get very wet and clammy - ew!).

This is a quick fix with no sewing required and uses a pair of babylegs / leg warmers. Yep, it's that easy.  Unbuckle your adjustable carrier strap and slide a legwarmer up the strap to the shoulder area.  Mine are doubled up to add another layer of protection, also because they are long and doubling them up made them fit a little snugger.

I got these leg warmers from BmodDesigns.  There are tonnes of colour options available there and they are pretty thick and of good quality.  I've even seen some tutorials on how to DIY lately (like this one for example) using a pair of knee socks.  If you're feeling crafty.

I loved how simple this fix was.  I hope you do too!

Diaper Service Dilema

When I signed up for our 10 weeks of diaper service, I was assured that I would be provided everything I needed (except consumables, like wipe solution).  So last week, when the diapers were delivered, I was surprised at what I received.

The diapers themselves look great, no concern there.  They definitely look appropriately sized for a newborn ...

The diaper covers however, had me worried...

Please allow me to use dolly to demonstrate...

Dolly in her Cloth Diaper

Dolly in the Diaper Cover provided by the service

Dolly has a permenant smile, and isn't likely to complain, but mama is not smiling!

Seriously... How is my precious baby supposed to where that and be comfortable, or look cute, or whatever... how is a onesie supposed to fit over that?

Let me just point out, that this cover is in fact, newborn sized:

Maybe I'm using it wrong?

Surely the other diaper covers they provided were better than this? 

Nope...

So, what's a mama to do?  I have a few wool diaper covers, but mostly onesies for baby to wear when she turns up.  Wool soakers and onesies don't mix... the wool will wick moisture when it is compressed.

I immediately headed into the internet to find some sort of solution for this problem.

I found the Spindles to Sashes etsy site which included a pattern for a PUL diaper cover.

There is a great youtube video which shows how she makes the covers.  They seemed quick, easy and like a good way to deal with elastic, because that's something I've never really done before.  The video can be found here.

I was able to whip up 3 PUL / flannel diaper covers pretty quickly.  There are sizes XS to XL available, and I used the size S.  It turned out very comparable in size to the newborn cloth diapers:

Dolly and mama are a lot happier with this diaper cover!

I didn't have a snap press, so I have used sticky velcro to close the covers.  I only have the diaper service for 10 weeks before I switch to washing my own BumGenius diapers, so I'm hoping the sticky velcro will work that long. 

I stuck with white flannel knowing these covers would mostly be worn with patterned onesies.  I didn't want the diaper cover pattern to show through to the onesie.  Really though, you could have a lot of fun with this type of diaper cover.  The sky is the limit for patterns.  Even different types of fabric would be great.

I also knit up a tiny wool soaker, mostly for when she is just born and will be spending a lot of time in just a diaper:

I used the Vanilla Soaker pattern and modified it to look like the Milo Soaker, which is super cute on a tiny baby.  I might have to go back and add some ribbed legs to this soaker, but I also want to use in our newborn photoshoot, so it'll stay like this for now.

Dolly seems to like this soaker too:

Hopefully this will be the first and only cloth diaper dilema we face.  I really am committed to cloth diapering, but don't want it to be a big hassle either!

Nursery Bits

I'm 39 weeks along now, and baby should be here any day now (I hope!).  Our cloth diapers (from a diaper service) arrived on Friday along with our birthing tub and the nursery glider.  So officially, we are about as ready as we ever can be.

I am getting excited, but also nervous, about what having her here will be like.  I know deep in my soul that I will love her immediately and that the changes she will bring will be good for both me and my husband, but it's still a little strange to think of how suddenly everything will change.

I worry about things like our dogs, who we love deeply and who are already pulling away from me (why doesn't my puppy want to snuggle with me anymore?).

Anyway, I have a few scattered photos of the nursery, but none that show the whole room yet.  I'll work on that today.

Here is the mobile, featuring knit fruit I happened to have kicking around.  My friend Kimberly made one of the strawberries and the grapes a while back.  All the patterns are available through ravelry (except the grapes which are from Itty Bitty Toys).















Diaper Caddy with all the essentials.  The basket is from Michaels and is traditionally used for scrapbook supplies.  I love all the pockets.  This caddy will move around the house with me and baby, so I always have what I need to change her.

Floating shelves from IKEA with mostly decorative stuff for now.

Cloth diaper stash of BumGenius Diapers.  We won't be using these until week 11 or so, since we have a diaper service for weeks 1-10.  I got these gently used and they are in great shape. 

Homemade Crib Sheets using this pattern.  This pattern makes a casing for the elastic, so you don't need to worry about sewing the actual elastic.  It was super easy.

Slowing Down...

I am 36 weeks now and quickly approaching full term.  I am one tired mama! 

I try to keep up with my husband, but it's just not possible anymore.  At least things on the home front are much more settled these days and our renovations are pretty much complete.

I have been cleaning and organizing and preparing for baby, but if she were to turn up today, we'd be okay (except for diapers, we don't get our diaper service diapers until July 4th, but it is unlikely she will turn up this early, after all). 

This weekend we installed the carseat and I pulled together most of what we will need for our homebirth.  We're waiting on a birthtub, which I won't get until early July, but again, it's pretty unlikely that I will go earlier than that.

I am still knitting, although slowly these days.  It's more about the process than churning things out.  I have to admit, it's nice to slow down. 

I recently finished this dolly, for an informal knitalong with the Itty Bitty Knits group on Ravelry.

The pattern is from Itty Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson.  I am currently working on her little dress.  I think she will be the perfect companion for baby (eventually).

Here is what my craft studio is looking like these days.

Last week I made 2 fitted crib sheets.  I'll share those soon.  This week I need to make some wet bags.  I've decided to use this pattern from Little Birdie Secrets.

I should also share some updated photos of the nursery.  I'll do that soon too, I promise!

Nursery Sewing - Wet Bag

I have been keeping busy with lots of sewing for the nursery, and I haven't had time to share any of it.

One of my biggest projects was a large wet bag for the cloth diapers we'll be using.  This one is specifically for the nursery and was inspired by this one which was made using this tutorial.  I didn't really end up using the tutorial, since I had a few different requirements for my wet bag. 

Here's the finished product so you can see what I am talking about.

I wanted a wet bag that could hang from various locations including this closet door, the regular door, and possibly on the side of our dresser.  I sized it accordingly, and based on the 18 inch zipper I bought.  The inspiration bag actually zips at the top, but I didn't want the handle getting in the way of putting things into the bag, so I made the zipper on mine several inches from the top of the bag. That was a little bit tricky, but I worked it out.

Probably the hardest part was the fabric, which I love, but has a straight line pattern, which wasn't straight any more after the fabric was washed and dried.  I had to decide whether to cut the fabric square (which would mean the fabric would always look crooked), or cut the fabric based on the fabric pattern (which would mean the bag wouldn't actually be square).  I went with cutting based on the pattern and it worked out fairly well.  It isn't wonky enough to be noticeable, but I feel like if I had cut the fabric square, the bag would have looked wonky.

I was really worried about just cutting into my nice fabric to make the bag, so I made a small version first testing out all the necessary tweaks and techniques.  It was totally worth it and I felt a lot more confident when it came time to start the large bag.

In case it's not obviously, since this is a wet bag, it is lined with PUL.  The PUL was sewn basically in a separate bag so that fluids (etc.) don't wick in between it and the patterned fabric.  There are lots of sites out there talking about PUL and how to use it in cloth diapering and wet bags.  I was thankful that I had read somewhere to use parchment paper on top of the PUL and underneith the zipper foot when sewing.  If I didn't use parchment paper (which can easily be ripped off after you finish sewing), the PUL would get stuck and became all bunchy.  Not good!

Appliquéed Onesies

I've been excited to share the results of this project for a while.  At the last baby sale I went to I picked up some plain onesies to play with.  Each of them cost me between 50c and 75c, so I wouldn't feel too bad if I screwed things up and had to throw one or two out.

There are so many great (and easy) ways to customize a onesie (more of those soon I think!).  It's fun to make 100% original clothing for the little one.

For this project I dug through my stash of I-Spy squares and pulled out some fabric bits that had cute images I wanted to use on them.  I also had a few iron on decals that I final got around to using.

Here is my first effort, using iron on decals I bought from etsy a long time ago:

Please excuse the awful lighting, I took these photos during the greyest week ever.

Here's a close up:

The next ones were made from fabric, so I had to iron on double sided fusible interface (the thin kind!), cut them down to size, iron them on, and then do the sewing.  I found using a sewing hoop makings it go a lot faster.  I might later put some one sided fusible interface on the inside of the onesie so that it's not all itchy on the baby's skin.

I know you can't see all the detail in the photo above, but seriously, who doesn't love onesies hanging on the line.  Totally warms my heart!

Here are some close ups:

I hope you can see / read these okay.  Feel free to click on each image to make it larger if necessary.

I love the last one, there is a bit of a story behind it.

I loved the mushrooms from a Michael Miller fabric.  I had them ironed on the onesie and was about to start sewing when I asked my husband, totally out of the blue, if he had a saying I could use on the onesie - sometime Pun-ny I suggested.  Without even skipping a beat, or taking a moment to think, he came up with the saying I used "My Papa's a Fungi".  It worked perfectly along with the big mushroom and little mushrooms I had chosen to put on the onesie.  It was the perfect, cute, catchy saying.  I still can't believe how quickly he came up with it.  That's why I love him so much (first of all because my request didn't seem odd to him at all, secondly because he was smart enough to have a response that didn't suck!) haha.

The hand sewing details in these onesie took a little bit of time, but I think its totally worth the effort.  All in all I spent about two nights working on these projects.  I think this would be a great way to make seasonal onesies, etc. to help any baby be stylish and stand out in a crowd.

Baby Shoes

I made these a little while ago. They were my first real project to try to get me back into sewing.

They are supposed to be reversible, but didn't end up that way.  I'm sure it was an error that I made, rather than an error in the pattern.  I'm pretty sure I used this free pattern.

I like the Stardust Baby Shoe Pattern a little better I think (also free).  I did a pair of those way back when (I was just pregnant... did I even know I was pregnant yet?).  I talked about them in this blog post.

Anyways, while I like the sweater shoes better, they were a lot harder to do.  I made them first, and the sweater I chose was thicker and harder to work with.  From now on I will probably make a fabric version first, and then make a felted sweater version for projects like this.  The pink sweater pair took me most of the afternoon (not including cutting out the pieces), but the second pair from fabric took only a little more than an hour.

I have absolutely no idea if these will actually fit the baby, or when.  They both seem big to me, but I have no idea idea how big a baby's feet actually are!

I guess we'll see!

DIY Nursing Covers

One of my recent sewing projects has included a pair of nursing covers.  These often retail for upwards of $30.  I saw some in a local baby store for $35 each!  It's such a simple concept, and such a simple sewing project, I just had to make my own.

I found a great DIY pattern on Prudent Baby.  You need a yard of fabric (I used quilting weight cotton), some corset boning and a couple d-rings.  Each of these took me about 2 hours, but I'm slow.  The second one definitely came together a lot faster, but I tend to stumble through things the first time I make them.

I used stash fabric that I bought earlier this year and I'm pretty happy with my fabric choices.

I added a terry cloth pocket on one corner of the cover.  I'm pretty sure that "Udder Covers" have these.  I'm not sure the pocket will be functional, but the terry cloth can be used to wipe the babies mouth after nursing, which is nice.  It was a simple mod.  I just cut the terry cloth to size in a triangle and pinned it into the corner, turning the edges under for a nice finish.

I chose to make a light coloured cover, as well as a dark coloured cover, because baby is coming in July and if I only had a dark cover, we might got hot nursing outside.  Each of the covers probably cost me about $7 to make and I'm really happy with the final results.

   

A little Sewing...

I have been trying to get back into sewing the past few weeks.  The truth is, at the end of the day, I rarely feel like sitting upright in a chair, sewing.  Weekends are better and I spent most of last weekend working on one project or another.  I'm really just an evening knitting sort of girl I guess.

This week I have gone back to painting in the studio.  Yes.  I am still painting.  The trim is taking forever, mostly around the window area.  It's almost done now though, so yay for that.

I made two pairs of baby shoes last weekend, but also finished up some projects that had been languishing.

These are some receiving blankets.  They are basic pieces of flannel, cut to size and sewn around the edge with a blanket stitch.  Super easy.  The letter one is 42" by 42" and seems quite large, the one with giraffes is 39" by 39" and seems more reasonable.  I chose those sizes because they are common sizes for swaddling blankets. These blankets will be used for swaddling, spit up, diaper changes and cuddling.  They will pretty much do it all so I wanted them to be large enough to be practical. 

I have enough fabric bolts to do about 6 more of these blankets I think.  I better get measuring and cutting.  I hope I can do a few at time as I find that part especially tedious!

I also finished some diaper wipes that I had pre-cut, probably a year ago.  They just sat and sat and sat, waiting for the little sewing they require.  Oh well, they are done now.  It was satisfying to finish up a few projects that had been sitting around.

Since I have an official sewing / craft studio, in the middle of the house for all to see.  I feel like I better make good use of it.  It is still not officially up and running, I have a lot to move into the space, and can't really do that until painting is finished and other stuff is moved out, but for now I think this is a good start.  It feels good to be back at the sewing maching again!

Dryer Balls

I have been desperately trying to get back into sewing.  There are a few reasons for this...

•  I truly do enjoy sewing, it is satisfying to finish projects relatively quickly, especially compared to knitting sometimes
• I have a bunch of great supplies I should be using, but of course, I never seem to have what I need!
• I have a bunch of project lined up for the nursery, the baby, nursing, etc.  All of these are items that are sold for much more than I can make them
• I am in the process of creating a great new sewing / craft studio.  My husband will be annoyed if I never ever use it!

Throughout my pregnancy, I have found sewing a little exhausting.  I have more energy these days, but it still tires me out to stand for a while ironing and cutting, and then to put it all together to sew.  I keep trying, but I'm not always very successful. It is much easier to curl up on the couch and knit, of course!

A few weeks ago I did finish up some dryer balls.  These had been on my list of things to do for a while.  We don't use fabric softener, but we do use dryer sheets.  I'm hoping that now we can stop.

The pattern I used is from the purl bee fabric beach balls pattern.  The pattern ended up being much to big (even the smallest ball), so I halfed it for the two of the balls I did. The balls are filled with wool sweater scraps and some wool yarn as well.  The biggest makes a huge racket while in the dryer, it'll just become a toy I guess, but the other two are in constant rotation through the dryer.

You definitely don't have to use cute colours for this project, but I really wanted to enjoy using these.  Fun and bright colours make me smile.  I'm just like that.

Once I sat down to sew these, they went pretty quickly.  There is a small amount of hand sewing for the final seam, but since these are pretty utilitarian items, the seam doesn't have to be too pretty.  This was a great way to use up some smaller scraps you might have kicking around from other projects.

Catch Up and Scrappy Vintage Blanket

Sorry for my lack of posts lately.  There has been a lot going on behind the scenes here, you'll just have to trust me on that!

Lately I've felt a bit like I have been spinning my wheels, trying to get things done, without much success.  I had a day where I actually felt like sewing a few weeks ago, and then the bobbin case in my machine jammed and I had to quit.  Alain was away so I had to wait for him to fix it.  That has been done, but I have yet to return to my machine.

I've been working on a few projects that have been getting me down.  Between a project I was loathing (and then loved when I finally got down to it) and re-knitting several hats due to size issues, I have spent a lot of time knitting things I haven't really wanted to be knitting.  I often knit for friends, but I think that is going to stop, very soon.  There is so much I want to do for me these days.  I've decided it's okay to be a little selfish.

I'm looking forward to Monday.  Value Village is having another 50% off sale, so I can get some more sweaters to felt and make into stuff.  I'm planning on hitting two stores this time around!

For now, I'm going to leave you with a project that I haven't even posted on Ravelry yet (although I'm off to do that now!).  This one has been slow going, mostly because I don't have much time to work on it, and it is a big project.

I use a lot of Vintage Wool for the baby stuff I knit.  I love it and often end up with little bits of it.  I spent a long time saving these little bits, and have been working on a scrap blanket for a little while now.  There are so many ends to weave in it's scary, but I like how it is turning out.  It is certainly very colourful!

Ravelry Project Page here

Tiny Shoes

This week I made these tiny shoes:

The pattern is from Stardust Shoes.  It's free!

I wanted to see if this pattern would work well with felted sweater.  I used some lightly felted sweater for the soles.  I know, you can't see that, the soles just weren't photographing well.

The pattern relies on several layers of fabric and fusible interface to make the shoes less floppy.  I think it might work with felted sweater (maybe lined with cotton fabric) but I'd have to play around with them a bit.

It's a fun pattern though and came together very quickly.  I don't think baby will be running any marathons in these shoes, I would probably use them until baby started crawling or moving around too much.

Taggy-like Blanket

I know, it is absurd that I have to refer to the blanket in this way.  Apparently there is a copywrite on the whole phenomena that are taggies.  One cannot make an item with "taggies" to sell.  Don't worry, I'm keeping this one.

There are a lot of tutorials out there.  I particularly like this one which also uses velcro to keep small toys attached.  I used the pocket idea for my version, I'll probably make a velcro version eventually too.

I used what I had on hand for both fabric and ribbons.  I think I will need to grow my ribbon stash a little in the future.

This project was really fast, it took me a couple of hours, but only because I made a few silly mistakes along the way.  I was very inspired by the Tag Blanket Janelle made over at Pretty Little Knit Stitches.  You can check out here blanket here.

For Kicks Patchwork Ball

I have been seriously busy the past few days and have several sewing FOs to show for it.

I haven't been sewing too much lately. During stressful times, all I want to do is curl up and knit. Things have been better lately, but I couldn't get back into sewing no matter how much I tried.

I have a huge I-Spy Quilt going and it has been weighing me down. This past weekend I finished the quilt top and even stretched the back on as well. I still need to quilt the quilt and then attach a binding. I might not tackle that for a few days, because we are going away on Friday and I'd like to wrap up some other things before that.

One of the sewing projects that was weighing on me was the For Kicks Patchwork Ball by Anna Marie Horner (found in Seams to Me). It wasn't a hard project, but I walked away from it before I finished it and left it for a long time. I got very lost and didn't know how to finish or what step I was one. Eventually I just sat down and experimented with pieces I had left.

It didn't take me too long to figure it out.  I just had 4 pieces left to sew in. 

I like the finished result, although it is far from perfect.  I am trying to accept minor imperfections.  They are part of making things.  Imperfections make an item unique.

I love the fabrics that I chose and even more so because they were all just kicking around in my stash.
 
I had a hard time photographing it in my lightbox because it is so darn big.  It is about the size of a soccer ball.  I'll have to take more photos of it outside before I put it away in the baby box.