order up

Lately I have been up to my eyeballs in orders and sewing projects for friends. A nice stretch of my creativity. First up, curtain panels out of a flat bed sheet. Flat sheets are actually great to use as curtains. You can find some cute prints, usually cheaper than you could buy that yardage at a fabric store. In my case, I turned one flat sheet into 4 panels, but it could easily be a no sew project if you use the top/wide hem at the top as the rod panel.

These are going to look so cute in a little girl's bedroom (they certainly go nicely with my daughter's pale purple walls).


This mama just had a new baby, she had ordered this nursing cape, so I wanted to make something that went with it. I made a couple of burp cloths, similar to these, but I drafted my own pattern (bigger!) and added a panel of matching fabric on the flannel side. So soft and cozy.


Fun stuff!

Change N Go, an awesome new diaper clutch!

Whew, I've been promising this unveil for a while, hope it is worth the wait. My problem once again is picturing taking and editing, sigh. This was the other part of my baby shower gift package.

Nursing cape


peek-a-boo baby!


Ok, now it is time for a flash back. Do you remember this that I made last Christmas? She had asked me about making a different closure, so this is what I came up with. A velcroed strap, with a little elastic to allow it to stretch to fit more diapers. I wanted to keep the softness of the ribbon, so I stitched some pleated ribbon on the closure. I swear she is my product tester for everything!


Now check out this set! Wouldn't you love a matching pair in your diaper bag? This is Sunshine Baby's nursing cape (right), and soon to be listed, change n go diaper clutch (left, front)!


I'm SO excited about this! Do you think people would guess this is to change a dirty bum?

Unfold and lay it out to change baby, the pockets are currently holding a pack of 40 wipes and 3 size 4 Huggies diapers. You'll never walk away without your changing pad again!


Tada! I have one more to "practice" on before listing them.

baby gifts

Did you know that Joann's sells those packs of white Gerber onesies (don't forget your coupons)? Talk about blank slate to let inspiration roll! I may have mentioned that my brother and his wife are having a little girl. Their baby shower (sadly STATES, many miles, away) was last night and these were part of the gift package that I sent.

I had SO MUCH FUN with these!


For this one I bought a pack of paper doilies from the Dollar Store (I have TONS left over), cut it into different size pieces, laid them on the onesie and then used fabric paint over the doily. I thought the pattern looked very nautical, almost like rope. I tie some little bows in matching blue grosgrain ribbon and hand stitched one at the neck and then several on the bum (LOVE it!). I also had some white cord and used the same ribbon to make a little headband.



This one has been in my head ever since I did this tutorial. I'm SO glad I finally had an excuse to do this! I used this crazy rainbow printed knit and just cut out the colors I liked, but it left some fun shading. Then I tried my hand at a little embroidery flossing. I didn't get a picture of the little clip I did for this one because I literally was blowing the glue dry as I was wrapping the packages. lol


I found a little iron on initial (the baby's name starts with "O") for this one. By way, my new favorite way to initially attach an applique is with spray adhesive, thank you Adventures in Dressmaking! The headband has a bunch of different sized hearts layered on top of each other.


Another blue one for you! My friends tease me, but I LOVE putting girls in colors you don't expect. I took a lot of tips from this tutorial for the "necklace" and then some tulle and ribbon for the flower. I made a larger version of the same flower for the little clip. Once again, I LOVE adding something fun on the bum!




Here is a little tip, if you have lots of cute baby clips but your sweet baby is a baldy (like mine was), just attach the clips to a plain headband!

linking up here:

the boys in my life

My brother and sister-in-law having having a little girl in September. I've been so excited about creating cutie-pie baby girl things that I started to feel like I was neglecting my favorite little boys. I found some cute little boy fabric at Joann's and got to work.

For the older of the two boys (who my daughter just adores), who loves anything that goes VROOM...


I used Homemade by Jill's Cozy Car Caddy tutorial.




For sweet baby boy I used the tutorial Disney guest posted at luvinthemommyhood.


I think I may actually make one for Jocie too because she was obsessed with it too, lol.


I think it may be my new favorite craft for babies.

Breast feeding and baby wearing

These are two of my favorite "baby" things! I already make and sell nursing capes, so when a mama asked if I'd try my hand at making a ring sling to match her cape I was excited! She had bought the last nursing cape in this fabric (pretty, isn't it!) and I had to do quite a bit of searching to find it again. But, SUCCESS, I found it, and bought enough to stock the shop as well since it is a popular fabric with mamas of little boys.

I have a ring sling of my own that I bought cheap on ebay (before I knew the wonders of etsy) from a woman who made them. It was a total life saver for me. My daughter wanted to be attached to me 23/7 and wouldn't sit happily in a shopping cart or stroller until she was at least 11 months old. I still occasionally pull it out, like when I travel alone with my toddler, or when she isn't feeling well and wants to be held although my arms are about to fall off. I love how simple they are to use (at least after a little practice), how many ways they can be used at so many stages, that they are washable and take up so little space in a diaper bag.

I was referred by a few friends(thanks Heidi and Alyse!) to order the rings here and tutorial here (btw, they have some great instructional videos for use and wearing as well). I asked the mama if she'd like me to add anything to it and she requested a large pocket and loop to hook keys or a paci clip to.

As usual, I forgot to take the time to get good pics of this project. I was about out the door to take it to my mama friend and asked my hubby to take a few quick pics. I didn't even take time to make sure it was really straightened out, ugh. You'll get the picture though.




This has a shoulder cap (mine didn't) which distributes the weight a little better


close up of the pocket and loop


Yay for baby wearing!

Another nursing cape

This is the last nursing cape order I filled before my little break (wisdom teeth removal and then family in town). I just love this fabric, so unique and a beautiful combination of colors. For a sweet mama of a little boy.




I'm actually disappointed that I didn't have more of that fabric left over. I have enough for more more nursing cape, but I thought it would make a really cute skirt.

Just because

I had a few extra minutes over the weekend, not enough to tackle a big project, but enough to whip up something simple. My nephew is almost 6 months old and is at the phase where he likes to grab things and put them right into his mouth. I had a couple cute new flannels from Joann's remnant bin (yay!), so I made him another crinkle taggy blanket.

Sorry for the blurry pics, I took them right before I walked out the door with it.
(front)

(back)

baby time!

My brother and sister-in-law were thrown a quick baby shower (in FL) so I managed to whip up a few burp cloths in time to send them down. Remember this tutorial? The only thing different I did was finishing off the edges, maybe I'm just lazy, but I actually like them better all frayed. lol I had found some cute flannel in the remnant bin and picked it up not knowing what I would do with it. It had little turtles on it (and lizards, hibiscus...) so I thought Jocie would like it, but turns out it was just right for this project. (=

it is fun to give!

I just put this most recent nursing cape in the mail. A friend's mom group is having a fundraiser and asked if I'd donate. A Sunshine Baby Nursing Cape is now in Pennsylvania! I hope the mother who receives it gets a lot of use out of it and enjoys it!

I chose to use this fabric because it was neutral enough for a boy or girl. Isn't it pretty!


Now if I can just get over this cold (yes, another one), I can fill another cape order. Yay!

Another homemade Christmas gift: diaper/wipes/changing pad

I told Billy that next year I'd love to make most, if not all, of our Christmas gifts. I really enjoyed the few I made this year. My other sister-in-law requested another nursing cape (for those who don't know, I make and sell nursing capes) so that she could have one in each of her bags. I went on the hunt for some new fabric because I didn't have too many that were "boyish". I was excited that Joann's had some new blue/brown patterns so I picked a couple up. This is the one she picked. I think it looks really cute as a cape, bummer that I forgot to take a pic.



I still really wanted to make something else, so I figured I'd work on an idea that had been floating around in my head for a while. Does anyone else have a pouch that holds diapers/wipes and a changing pad? Now I want to know how long it was before you walked off and left your changing pad somewhere, never to see it again? I really wanted to find a way to create something to hold diapers and wipes that was also a changing pad so that you could wrap it all up when you were done and not leave the pad behind. I've looked(some)to see if I could find anything similar being sold. I couldn't find what I was looking for so I figured I'd create it myself. I used the same fabric as the cape for the outside material, and then I used the same tan flannel as the nursing cape's pockets so that the side you lay the baby on is nice and soft. When it is folded up it looks like a cute clutch purse with a ribbon tie.



I added two pleated pockets so there is LOTS of room for both a wipes case and several diapers. I used a strip of the patterned fabric in between the pockets to add some visual interest on the flannel side.



I stitched one seam parallel to the pockets so that it would be obvious where to fold the changing pad.




I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! I think I'd make it a little smaller next time and possibly use a different fastener, but we'll see what she thinks after using it for a while!

burp cloth tutorial, my very first!

I'm so excited to be able to post my own tutorial! I love these burp cloths, and they are so simple to make. I did some searching online until I found a pattern I liked, I didn't actually follow their directions. Instead I pieced together techniques I liked from various blogs including Small Fry & Co. blog and Homemade By Jill's blog.

What you'll need:
flannel
one cloth diaper (you want to buy the flat diapers which came in a package of 12, NOT the prefolded)
pattern

First you will want to wash and dry your flannel and the diapers. You don't want then to shrink at different weights AFTER you've sewn them together.

Iron your flannel and diaper. Fold your diaper in half so that the shorter sides meet at the ends. Lay the folded diaper on the wrong side of your flannel (the side you don't want to be seen) and pin your pattern to the diaper and flannel.


Cut out the pattern and you will be left with this, flannel on one side and diaper on the other. Leave your fabric together and pin around the whole thing.


Your next step is to do a straight stitch about a 1/2 inch from the edge of your burp cloth, all the way around.


In order to hold it all together I like to add one straight stitch right down the middle (long ways). In order to find the middle you can fold it in half and either put a few pins in or iron a crease. My flannel fabric happened to be striped so I was able to find the middle stripe and stitch along that.



Once you are done with that, this is what it will look like. The last step is to take a small pair of scissors and make small cuts, about 1/4 apart, all the way around burp cloth. Just make sure you don't cut through the stitches.



Throw them in the washer/dryer a couple times and the edges will fray and the whole thing will be extra soft and cozy.


I like to roll up a couple and tie them together with a ribbon as a gift. They go nicely with the crinkle taggy blanket as you can use the same flannel for a cute, coordinating set.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it out, I'd love to see what you come up with!

***I just had this thought and had to share. I LOVE being able to reuse things and if I ever have another girl I will likely use several of the countless flannel receiving blankets I still have as my flannel for the burp clothes.