oh baby (crafts)!

I did it! I managed to make a ton of stuff, all in the MIDDLE of trying to pack and move our house. Every night i would (read: jason would) pull the sewing machine out, set up my table, clear off a tiny work space, then put it all away at the end of the night...only to do it again the next day. I had pretty good motivation because I was making stuff to send to my sister who is pregnant with her first girl. Her baby shower was this past weekend, so I had to finish and get the package in the mail on time. I actually was done over a week ago, but I had to wait to post until she got the goods!


I made 3 things: a bib, a nursing cover and some burp cloths. The burp cloths were super easy and actually got the idea while visiting my brother and sister-in-law who just had a baby (see enormous baby hat post from earlier). My sis in law mentioned that someone had made her some super cute burp cloths..the idea was simple, just take a strip of fabric and sew it on to a cloth diaper...makes something that is traditionally boring into something personalized and cute. Here are the pics of the ones I made my sister:













I cut the fabric, pressed the edges under, pinned, and sewed away! I used a zigzag stich just to make it more interesting.




Next, was the nursing cover. The purpose of this piece is to cover yourself while nursing a baby if you're out in public and don't want to bare all. (side note: i'm actually all for baring all cause: hey! you're a woman- hear you roar- and show off those baby feeders! However, I can see how there might be times you'd want to cover up and why the heck not when it's this cute to cover up!) I made this pattern myself by looking at others as a comparison. It's basically a rectangle + some straps. the straps fasten with D-rings and there is corset boning inserted into the top side so it bows out and you can see your sweet little baby's face. That way, you don't feel like you're just throwing a towel over your baby's head. Here are the pics...and yes, of course I tried it on.







Last, was a bib. Again, I made this pattern myself which was really simple to do. I used a cotton front fabric and a super soft chenille-type fabric on the back. I think it was polyester which i won't do again...not only do I not like the thought of polyester (although it was REALLY soft!), it was super messy when cut and left little furry pieces all over the place. Next time, i plan to use a super soft corduroy. Anyways, I also learned to sew on snaps for this piece. I'm not super comfortable with hand sewing, so this was good for me. I just watched a video online and tried it out! There is a video out there for almost anything, which is so helpful when learning something new! Here is the bib:








And here is the finished product, ready to ship:



One happy sister and one future happy neice.