Semi-Homemade Birthday Doll Set

Unsolicited frugal tip of the week:

Do your gift shopping after Christmas.

For obvious reasons, yes? EVERYTHING is on clearance.

I have a huge tupperware bin in my studio that is devoted solely to unassigned gifts,

things that I know I can gift eventually for birthdays, showers, and such.

Pretty much everything inside is something that I've purchased on way way way mark down.

And pretty much everything inside is something that I've purchased at post holiday clearance sales.

Being that there are so many children in my life,

and I seem to spend almost 3/4 of my time at baby or bridal showers,

here is what I always have in my magical gift bin,

and therefore what I'm always on the lookout for when searching the clearance aisle:

1) Bridal shower gifts.

Think kitchen utensils, tea towels, pyrex, wine glasses, cookbooks, etc.

Even if I buy something off the registry, I always jazz it up with utensils and some towels.

Way bigger bang for your buck.

2) Baby items.

Unisex newborn clothes for showers, swaddling blankets, little infant toys, etc.

See above about jazzing up a registry gift.

3) What I call "universal" toys.

These are toys like dolls, trucks, blocks, and the like.

Things that pretty much every kid plays with.

Not specific (Sorry kids, you will almost never get that crazy specific action figure on your Christmas list, but it doesn't mean Aunt Meg loves you any less).

Not to mention, have you seen the girls' toy aisle lately??? ick.

I mean really.... gross.

I've never seen so many overly curvaceous, bug-eyed, mid drift-showing dolls things in my life,

and frankly, I'm horrified.

So anyways...

I snagged this normalish baby doll after Christmas last year at Target for $2. Yes. Two.

She wasn't bug-eyed.

She wasn't wearing make up.

I know what you're thinking, newborns don't wear make up.

Ah yes, I'm a grown woman and at this point I rarely wear it myself,

but for some God-forsaken reason, there are (many!) baby dolls that are wearing eyeshadow?

Okay I'm done. Maybe.

Anyway, she came with a pacifier and a bottle and outfit and whatnot,

but I always like to add to a handmade touch to every gift,

so I made her some new clothes,

some dollie diapers with velcro,

and some itty bitty bibs.

The pattern for the dress can be found here.

I used velcro for all of the fastenings, so it would be easy for a 2 year old to change her.

For the diapers and bibs, I just drew a template first on paper and tweaked it to fit her.

As for fabrics, I used some that I had on hand,

cotton for the dresses and cozy flannel for the diapers and bibs.

Ben was psyched to give this gift to his friend, Lucy, for her birthday.

And he had a crazy good time, as always, at her house for the party.

For other ideas on how to "dress up" a doll gift, head over to my Pinterest board

"Education and Just for Fun Toys".

There are pins for baby doll carriers, bassinets, and all kinds of fun stuff.

Till next time!

Nursery Bedding Project [Links to Free Tutorials]

A friend asked me to make some custom nursery bedding for her firstborn.

She picked out all of the fabrics to match the nursery,

and I've been chipping away at making the different pieces for the past few months between other orders.

Nursery bedding, I have found, can be frustrating to purchase because the affordable sets are all pretty ugly, and the pretty stuff is expensive! I was lucky enough to have my mom make a whole set of crib and cradle  bedding with extra sheets and matching blankets to my exact taste. I know. She's the best.

So I totally understood the request for something custom made with her choice of fabrics.

Everything came out so well,

and, even better, I was able to use some free online tutorials for everything.

So I thought I would share the wealth and pass the tutorials along to you all.

Altogether, I made three fitted sheets, a set of bumper pads, a window valance, and an adjustable crib skirt. So here we go!

Bumper Pads

Had to start with these because they were the most fun to work on.

You can find the free tutorial here.

They were actually easier than I anticipated, and if you're a newbie to piping, this would be a great project for you to try it out, in my opinion, because you work with the piping in small sections instead of one long continuous strip. Also, if you want to make the piping super simple, you can use pre-made bias tape.

I also liked that you can utilize two different prints for the bumpers and a third fabric for the piping and straps.

Because the pads are separate, they are easier to fit in the washer, and if you're tired of one print on the inside, you can switch them around, alternate them, and whathaveyou. I know, I'm wild.

Fitted Sheets

These were pretty straightforward.

You can find the directions here.

The one thing I will say about these is that you want to double check that your fabric of choice is at least 45" wide, because you'll need all of it including the selvage.

Standard width fabrics won't cut it... Actually, you will have to cut it and piece it together and it's a pain... trust me. I did it.

Valance

Sorry... the only pic I have of this is with my iPhone camera.
I have to say, while this one wasn't very complicated, it was pretty tedious... especially for the impatient sewist of quick projects (me).
The bright side, though, is that it is a genuine "real" window treatment, and you'll appreciate the quality the design even after all the extra steps and hand sewing.
Click here for the tutorial.

Adjustable Crib Skirt

This was SUPER simple. And great considering that more cribs nowadays have all different heights and stuff.

Essentially, you just make fabric panels for each side of the crib (be sure to get accurate measurements), and then you clip them or pin them to your mattress spring or board. Adjust as you go. Awesome.





How to measure for you fabric cuts: for the long sides of the crib, measure from one side of your mattress spring or board to the other. Add 2 inches. For the short side, do the same. These will be your cut lengths.
For the height, you'll want to measure from the floor to the highest setting of your mattress. Add 6 inches. This allows for your hemming and an additional 4 inches so you have something to clip underneath the mattress. The height will be the same for all four sides, obviously.
Cut your pieces, then finish each side by ironing over 1 inch (twice) and top stitching for each side. You should have four simple rectangles that fit nicely on the bottom of your crib. :)

So there you have it!

I'm happy with all of these tutorials, and I'm happy to pass them along to you!

Sewing for babes is fun, yes?



Another Milestone: Sewing Garments

Was anyone else out there totally inspired and motivated by Kids' Clothes Week

a few weeks ago?

I certainly was, and if you follow me on Pinterest or Instagram,

you've probably noticed that I've been somewhat addicted to finding some simple garments to sew

in order to boost my confidence in the pattern department.

For some reason kids' clothes seem so much less intimidating.

Luckily, I found these bubble shorts by Elegance and Elephants.

Not much needs to be said.

They are beyond cute and also beyond easy.

(!!!)

Which means they were perfect for my first try at sewing a real garment.

The pattern also comes with a variation for sailor style button front, which is so incredibly adorable, I can hardly stand it. That may be next on my list.

I don't have any female offspring, so I've been churning these shorts out for my nieces and Ben's little lady friend, Lucy.

I also found a free pattern for this toddler swing tank.

I added the peter pan collar with some extra fabric I had left over from the shorts.

For the shorts, I opted for a linen blend which gave me the look of linen, but more ease of care,

and the shirt is a quilting weight cotton print (both from Joann).

Super cute, right?

This endeavor went so well, I'm actually considering sewing something boy-friendly for my own child! haha.

I'll keep you posted.

Mommy Poppins Bag [Pattern Test and Review]

When the lovely Jodi over at Sew Fearless asked me to test her new pattern for this here bag,

there was little hesitation.

My actual thought in response to her email was, "omg... okay so wait at least 5 minutes before you respond or she'll think you're a total stalking freak."

You see, Jodi made her first Mommy Poppins Bag what feels to me like FOREVER ago,

and I've been borderline coveting it ever since.

(Okay, NOW she'll think I'm a total stalking freak.)

Anywayz... I've used Jodi's patterns before for my nephew's Christmas gift Pajama Eaters (link to pattern here),

and for Ben's Sidekick Suitcase (link to pattern here), which I have to say we use about every weekend.

Jodi is super talented sewing things herself, but she really shines in the clarity of her patterns.

The directions are not only thorough, but there are plenty of pics alongside.

PLUS, whenever I've had a problem, she always obliges me with a quick and helpful tip.

Monday marked the release of this new pattern, and if you head over to Sew Fearless,

which I strongly suggest you do, you can enter (this week) her giveaway for some free bag patterns and one lucky person will win all the necessary hardware (my favorite part).

So the details:

The Mommy Poppins Bag is a nice roomy handled bag with a "carpet bag" style closure at the top.

It has four, count em FOUR good sized pockets on the interior in addition to the main compartment, as well as two exterior pockets, one featuring a nice accent flap.

I used this geometric print from Joann's for my main fabric.

I chose that first, loved it, and then chose my accents from there.

The brown corduroy seemed to match nicely, and then I got a little funky with the floral print for the lining. 

I know, I'm crazy like that.

The pattern includes directions for attaching the handles to the D rings by sewing, which I had originally planned to do as I have never riveted anything before,

but once I got started and saw how everything was coming along...

I just knew.

I knew the way you know about a good melon.

Had to rivet.

And I'm beyond happy with the results.

I had a hard time finding double capped rivets (without waiting ions of 2 days for delivery), so I ended up with single capped rivets, and I just made sure to the put the capped side on the exterior of the handles.

All in all, I LOVE this bag, and the pattern was a nice new challenge for me, but not so difficult that I got frustrated. For those of you who know me or have been following the blog for awhile, you'll know that I'm somewhat pattern illiterate.

In my opinion, though, this pattern reads more like a lot of online tutorials than a pattern you would find at the store, but with much more clarity than many tutorials. Best of both worlds.

So give it a shot!

If I can do you, SEW can you!

See what I did there?

Ben's Valentine's Gift

In the interest of "being real"

I must disclose that I'm not much of a Valentine's person.

Maybe it's all the pink (ick)

or the feeling of forced lovey-doveyness

or the fact that it falls in my least fave time of year...

probably "D", all of the above.

So really it's a minor miracle that this happened at all.

In my 1.5 year(s) of blogging, I don't have the best track record when it comes to V-day crafting

(see above statements).

Last year, I did complete my LOVE mini-quilt/banner,

but by the time I posted it, it was approximately 9 pm on the 14th.

you're welcome blogosphere.

No matter!

I did put together two of these quasi-valentine's gifts for Ben and his lady-friend, Lucy.

I originally intended them to be Christmas gifts,

and guess what?

Didn't order the books on time.

Shocking, I know.

All is well, t hough, because V day is about love

and there are few things that I love more than books.

and felt.

and kraft paper with twine.

The book is one of my favorites from childhood,

that I've been wanted to purchase for Ben since I got pregnant.

It's The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allen Ahlberg.

The gist: a postman delivers mail to different fairytale characters

The best part: yes, there's actual mail that you can open and read.

Take a look! It's in a book! Reading Rainbow!!!

To go with the books,

I got these cute little mailboxes from the dollar bins at Target.

Then made felt envelopes to put inside (tutorial below).

and some heart, of course.

Felt Mail Tutorial

Step One:

Cut felt as pictured here.

Easy enough, yes?

Step Two:

Sew on a rectangular "stamp" in contrasting color.

I zigzag stitched around to keep it in place.

On some of them, I also sewed a zigzag for the "writing".

Step Three:

Fold the envelope so the sides match up and sew along each side (as pictured)

I did some with a straight stitch and some with a zigzag stitch.

Step Four:

I sewed a crease into the top of some of the envelopes so the flap would stay down, and the others I just tucked the flap in.

And done!

So cute.

Wrap it up

and gift away!

Happy V Day, all!

Simple Baby Blanket [Tutorial]

I had the opportunity to make another baby shower gift basket last week (one of my fave projects to put together),

and I couldn't resist including some super cuddly fabrics.

 

I had some fleece and cozy flannel in my stock that were going really well with the colors of the basket,

so I put together a quick and simple blanket.

And since it was so gosh darn quick and so gosh darn simple,

I couldn't resist passing the steps along to you all (see below for tutorial/measurements).

 

While I love to challenge myself, I think it's good for me to remember that more time and more effort is NOT always better, yes? Simple is good, Meg. Simple is good.

 

Side note: this would be a perfect project for an older sibling to make for a new baby, especially if they're learning how to sew. It's that easy/kid friendly. :)

 

You'll Need:

about 1 yard fleece (or other cozy fabric)

about 1 yard flannel

regular sewing implements

 

Tip: you can sub the fleece for minky or other super soft knits, just beware that many of them are EXTREMELY stretchy and can give you some problems when sewing them together especially if you're a beginner.

 

Step One:

 

Cut your flannel.

Mine is is about the size of a typical receiving blanket, measuring at 30"x34".

  

I also used a circle template to round my corners.

I like the look of the rounded corners,

and *added bonus* if you're not a big sewist or you're using this as a kid-friendly project, it's nice to not have to tackle corners just yet. :)

 

 

Step Two:

 

Lay your flannel on your fleece with right sides facing and pin together. 

Tip: I find it easier to pin, sew, then trim the fleece as opposed to cutting your flannel and fleece to the same size and matching up the sides.

 

Step Three:

 

Sew the pieces together using the pressure foot as a guide

and leaving about 6 inches open to turn right side out.

 

Step Four:

 

Trim the excess fleece.












Score your rounded corners, being careful not to cut through your seam allowance.

This will help the blanket lay nicer at the corners.

 

Unpin, turn right side out, and iron flat, spending extra time at the seams so they lay as flat as possible.

Step Five:

 

Top stitch around the edge of the blanket.

At the 6 inch opening, make sure that you catch both fabrics to sew them together.

 

Step Six:

 

"Quilt" the blanket together.

I just sewed straight lines across the blanket from one side (at the top stitch seam) to the other,

and then again across in the other direction (perpendicular).

 

Done! See? I told you it was simple.

















I like to wrap it up like a little bundle for the "little bundle."
See what I did there?
:)













What are your favorite baby shower gifts?