Brief Hiatus

I've been feeling like this the past few days - feels like nothing I am making is turning out right.

Guess I must be in a crafting funk.

So for now I will take a brief hiatus and not craft for a few days. Hopefully when I start back I will feel more positive and refreshed.

Easy Baby Blanket

I came up with an easy baby blanket the other day that I wanted to share with you.  If you need a baby shower present in a hurry, or just want to make a quick blanket for a little one, this project is for you!

I used a package of flannel receiving blankets from my stash. You can easily find these blankets at Target or Wal-mart, they come 4 to a package and are color coordinated and are usually around $10 or so. Mine were 30 X 30 in size. You could use these pre-made blankets or buy some baby flannel at the fabric store and cut them to size; I just used what I had on hand.

After choosing two I liked, I decided to personalize it by appliqueing baby Evan's name on it. I used my handy-dandy alphabet letters I found at Hancock Fabrics:

and some red cotton fabric I had in my stash. Once I fused the letters onto the front of the blanket, I simply zig-zag stitched around the letters to secure them:

Once that was done, I put the blankets pretty sides together and stitched a 1/4 seam all the way around, leaving an opening for turning. Make sure you trim your corners.

I then turned it, pressed it good with a hot iron and top-stitched all the way around using red thread (this will close the opening you made for turning).

It did not take me very long to make and I think it came out really cute. Here are a few more photos:

Sometimes these pre-purchased receiving blankets are not really square, so you may need to square them up before you start sewing.

If I left anything out, or you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment or send me an e-mail (azbelle3@yahoo.com).  Happy Sewing!

I'm linking up to:

More Baby Stuff

It was cold and rainy out yesterday, so I spent the day inside sewing. I decided to spiff up the diaper burpcloths I showed you yesterday and added some ribbon to them:

I made some washcloths:

And I made my very first diaper/wipes case using the great tutorial I found here.

I have been wanting to make one of these for awhile now, but I never found a tutorial that I liked until I found this one of Christie's.  She includes pattern pieces for you to print and cut out, and gives great step-by-step instructions along with plenty of photos. Thank you Christie, I can't wait to make more of these!

I cut out my bib pieces last night, so I just have to sew that together. After that I will finish putting together the sweater I crocheted and then all of baby Evan's things will be done.

Next I will work on finishing my baby quilt and then maybe start on some UFO's and old projects that have been sitting around for awhile that need done. Oh, I also want to organize all my fabrics too... lots to do around here! 

Weekend Sewing Projects

I got quite a few sewing projects done this weekend, but still have more baby stuff I have to do. The newest addition to the family that I am sewing for, baby Evan, is a month old already!

I made him some cute onesies:

I just love the tie one, isn't it adorable?

And some burp pads made from cloth diapers:

I have crocheted him a blanket, hat and sweater too. I need to make some bibs and small receiving blankets then I think I will be done.

I also made some more pillows this weekend (big surprise, huh?). My younger sister came over last night and I walked her through how to make an envelope closure pillow step-by-step, so I am hoping she attempts one soon. I gave her my old sewing machine when I got my new one and have been encouraging her to sew.

These pillows only required 2 fat quarters and a 16 X 16 pillow form. The nice thing about them is you can sew up a bunch in your decor colors and then change them out when you want a new look. You could also buy themed fat quarters for the holidays and have one pillow that you switch out for every holiday with a new cover.... the possibilities are endless!

I'm off to do more sewing... have a great week everyone.

Easy and Inexpensive Felt Flower Pillow

Somehow or another I came across this blog and absolutely fell in love with the felt flower pillow that Brandi made.  It was one of those projects I knew I had to make right away.

I purchased some really pretty embossed felt from Hobby Lobby (around 80 cents a sheet) and some inexpensive muslin and got to work. I used Brandi's method of attaching the felt flowers to the front of the pillow with fabric glue. To make my semi-circles more uniform, I got out my biscuit cutter and traced around it on the back of the felt, then cut out the circle and then cut that in half - it worked great!

I sewed the pillow and made an envelope closure on the back. Here is a side view so you can see the layers of felt:

And here is the back:

I absolutely love making pillows! This was my first time making an envelope back closure and I really liked it - it was simple to do and you can remove it to wash the pillow cover if needed (although obviously you wouldn't want to do that with this particular pillow).

I gifted it to my sister-in-law Becky - I have made her so many pillows her hubby is ready to kill me!

Thanks so much for the inspiration Brandi, you are so talented and creative. :)

Valentine Projects - Picture Frames

I usually don't decorate for Valentine's Day, but I have been inspired by all of the neat Valentine projects I've seen in blogland for the past few weeks.

I came across this post the other day and knew it was something I wanted to try. Here is what I started out with:

A simple frame from Dollar Tree (it only cost me 50 cents!)

and 2 bags of conversation hearts (1 large, 1 small)

Here is how it turned out:

I found the cute heart ribbon at Wal-mart for $2.00.

While at Dollar Tree I spotted this:

14 sheets of red felt - I knew I could use it for something. I bought another frame ($1)

And hot-glued felt around it, then some of the heart ribbon, and added some cute buttons.

So easy and so cute!

I may have to make some other things, since I have plenty of felt, ribbon and candy left!

By the way, those cuties are our youngest nephews, Kael and Jayden. Aren't they both adorable?

Larri from Seams Inspired responded to my previous post with a great tutorial for a little girl's dress that I am going to try. She used a top that her daughter had outgrown and sewed some fabric to the bottom to make a cute twirly dress. It seems like something I can handle (I hope!!) so I will try to make it this week. I'll post pictures when I get it finished. Thanks again for your help Larri!

 

Help Needed!

I need help from those of you that sew. I want to make a dress for a little 4-year old girl that I know. I have very little experience in making clothes, so I need a pattern that will be easy for me to do. I don't know her measurements (and she is not nearby for me to measure) all I know is she wears a 5T.

Any pattern suggestions?? Have you used a tutorial from a blog that you would recommend?

Any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks so much!