Sewing Reveal: Modern Scrappy Baby Quilt & Link to Free Tutorial

Finished this somewhat modern scrappy baby quilt recently from a free tutorial I found via Pinterest (link below).  I even appliqued the baby's name on the back of the quilt - my first time to applique!  And the binding is actually stripes of all the fabrics used on the front.

Sewing Reveal: Baby Kaitlyn's Herringbone Quilt

This sweet little quilt will be gifted to a friend in celebration of her baby girl.  This is the second herringbone quilt I've made and this one went much quicker, but it being baby sized probably has more to do finishing it quickly than my prowess as a sewer.

Quilt Inspiration: Baby Kaitlyn's Owl Mobile in Lavender and Teal

Inspiration for this quilt was this adorable sleeping owl mobile in the baby's room.  I thought about adding an applique owl to the back, but I chickened out since I have never done applique before.  Since this was a gift; figured it wasn't the best time to experiment.

Sewing Pics! Mom's Colorful Baby Blanket

My mother just finished a chenille baby blanket and it was so pretty, I had to post a few photos.

The bright colors are so fun and it's great high contrast for a newborn. And for a boy, something outside of the norm. 

Sewing Reveal: Hand Cut Chenille Blanket for Baby Boy Reid

I can't get enough of these hand cut chenille baby blankets! This is the third one I've made and every time I gift one away, I think I need to make one to keep for myself.


This is the first blanket I've made for a boy, this time I went with a geometric patterned fabric.  Have to say, it was pretty awesome to not have to mark the rows out for stitching and just use the fabric itself as my guide.  My lines were super straight this time!

And I actually made my own bias tape binding this go round too! Whoot whoot!

I used the same red fabric for the binding as I used as the "backer" fabric that I place behind my cut chenille rows (but I leave it un-cut, so you can see hints of red peeking through).

Guest Favor for Baby Shower ~ Homemade Sugar Scrub

A few weeks ago, I co-hosted a baby shower for a university friend who is due this August with an adorable baby boy!  The other hostess and I decided to give guests a sugar scrub because it was something we would want to take home ourselves.

Update for printable files and instructions: Click here to use this free printable for your event.  You can customize your text and label size to fit any Avery brand printer label.   Graphics are available in pink or blue.

Here's how I made these adorable little jars.

Grabbed the Ball 8 oz wide mouth mason jars at Target.

Filled the jars with Shaina's Ginger & Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub recipe.  As you can see from my photos, I extended the recipe a bit for the amount of baby shower guests. Plus, I could only find coconut oil in a tiny jar or a big jar, so I made the recipe to match the amount of coconut oil.  Where the recipe calls for essesial oil, I picked lemongrass.  And opted for non-comedogenic almond oil.  Organic ingredients were used whenever possible.
When I make this again, I would use more ginger than the recipe asks for because I love ginger and can never get enough.  It was fun to make, especially with a bottle of wine. Total Breaking Bad moment while "cooking" the scrub.

 

I've used the scrub myself and I really liked it.  My skin felt like it was naturally moisturized after it, not super oily - but the results were even more amazing in the winter when it can be difficult to moisturize enough.

Printed the jar labels using Avery's 2.5" round glossy labels.  I created the graphics and then uploaded them to Avery's Design & Print Online system.  While it was super easy to use and print from the Avery online layout (even allowing me to save a .pdf version), the graphics in their software were quite basic and disappointing.  The nursery has an animal theme, which is what we used as a basis for the baby shower, hence the elephant and giraffe print on the back ingredients label.  Awe!

EDIT TO ADD LABELS TEMPLATE (click here for more detailed instructions):  It's the first time I've made something like this,  so I'd love to hear any feedback!

Last step was to use the 3/8" ribbon to tie the bows.  I used about 22"-23" of ribbon on each jar (if that helps anyone calculate how much ribbon to buy) and the sheer ribbon I tried first, did not look nearly as nice as the grosgrain ribbon.
Tying a bow seems easy, but my first tries had them looking like my shoelaces, messy and not so precious.  Google-fu lead me to this super helpful tutorial on tying the perfect bow. Silly, but necessary.  And a quick flame to seal the ribbon's cut edges and viola, all done!
If you wanted to really get detailed, you might consider using a glue dot behind the bow to keep the ribbon attached to the lid.  It was easy to pop off which made tying the bows slight more time consuming because you have to be careful.

If my math is accurate, each jar cost about $5.65 each to make (but this includes the left over ribbon and extra labels, so maybe cheaper depending how many you make).  This project would make an excellent gift for Christmas.  Maybe made with a peppermint scrub?  Could use white sugar and dye a portion red for a candy cane stripped look in the jar?  Endless possibilities!

This was so fun to make, hope I remember the next time I need gift ideas!

Sewing Reveal: Hand Cut Chenille Blanket

Ta da! Just finished this hand-cut chenille blanket for Baby D last weekend and it was a big hit with the parents-to-be at their baby shower.  Surprisingly, it only took about 3 and a half days to make.  I just adore the blanket's bright colors!

Here's the hand cut chenille baby blanket I made previously; both are based on the fabulous tutorial found over at Aesthetic Nest.  Be sure to take a look at the Flicker Group photos for inspiration.  One blanket added tiny pom pom trim around the binding.



Based on the registry, I knew the baby girl's bedding was going to be green and blue.  Hopefully it coordinates with her room, but regardless, I imagine Baby D will use this more as a play mat or stroller cover than anything else.

On the close up photo of the faux chenille side, you can see the layers of flannel material that are cut to create the super soft rows of wavy chenille.  It really is a cozy blanket.  The hubs even asked if it were possible to make an extra large blanket for him.




Baby Chenille Blanket Shopping List
◊ 1.5 yards of each fabric x 6 layers.  My finished blanket measured around 40" x 50"
◊ Two packages of 0.875 inch double fold quilt binding that were 3 yds each. (Next time make my own!)
◊ Matching thread - the chenille channels use a ton of thread.  I used a natural color thread for the top printed fabric and pink in my bobbin for the chenille side (green would have been the norm, but I was in a playful mood and I already had pink at home).
And get this, I completely forgot about needing teal thread for the binding BUT it turns out the thread I used for my split shower curtains was a perfect match!  Sometimes it pays to be forgetful.

The blanket's fabric in order:

1) Top printed paisley

2) Hot pink broadcloth 

3) Pastel pink flannel
4) Printed pink flannel w/ green butterflies (on sale!)
5) Printed green flannel w/white print (on sale!)
6) Solid green flannel 

Then I only cut the layers of flannel into the chenille rows, leaving the print and super bright pink.  I was a little nervous about using the pink with green butterflies, wondering if it would blend into the background enough.  I think it worked out great on this blanket - and at just $3/yd - can't beat it.
The bright pink fabric on the bottom of the stack is a broadcloth cotton/poly fabric that I used as a "backing" of sorts to pop behind the chenille rows.  Since I used the solid green flannel as the top most layer to make the chenille, I knew it would appear most prominently so I thought a high contract color like candy pink would look nice.  Plus the extra layer gives the blanket a little more heft since the top fabric is just your average light weight quilter's cotton.

This blanket was so fun to make - I'm already thinking about making the next one!  

Itching to Stitch!

I'm sure I drove my friend S crazy today with a zillion emails on fabrics and sewing but she's sweet enough not to complain (love ya S!).  She's expecting a baby girl on October 8 - I am having a blast virtual shopping with her even if we aren't in the same city. 

After looking at all the blogs, fabric swatches and sewing websites, I'm dying to start a new sewing project. Although admittedly much of the things I admire are way above my sewing skill set.  Kind of like shopping and always falling in love with the most expensive dress.

I can't get too excited and post too much since my friend S will see this and gifts are better when they are surprises, right?  Plus, there's always the factor that if it's a total #fail then I can just pretend it never happened.  

Just look at this dress! Isn't it super sweet for a little girl? I think my nieces are too old for this (although it sizes up to 13/14) - but they might indulge me and wear it long enough to send a few photos back.  Just hard to compete with all the latest "must have" fashions that they are starting to like at that age. 

This would be adorable in any of these materials for the July 4th holiday!  I especially like the seersucker check fabric to help beat the summer heat. Too bad I'll be traveling between now and then and won't have time for any sewing. 

   

Sewing: Boppy for Baby

Do you ever want to sew, just for the sake of sewing?

That was me.  

Finished Boppy Cover

I wanted to sew, but something small & fast and then I'd get the instant gratification I was craving. And let's face it, the stuff I really want to make, would be way too much of a project.

Eventually I decided on a Boppy pillow cover to coordinate with my friend's nursery colors.  I had so much fun looking at the fabrics - I thought this fabric was girly but busy enough to hide any messes.  Not that it would matter, since it has a handy zipper on the seam so you can toss it in the wash.

Only part I was nervous about was the fact that there were loads of free patterns floating around on the internet, but after printing a few, I realized they were no where near the same size!  

Ended up using this Boppy Slip Cover Tutorial, and the recommended 1/2" seam allowance instead of pattern creators suggested 1/4". 

My friend sent me a photo of it on her boppy - so relieved it fits! Yay!

Hand Cut Chenille Baby Blanket

Made this baby blanket as a gift for baby R. Her nursery colors are pink & brown so that's how I selected my materials. The solid (uncut) giraffe fabric is a minky material (super soft, almost fur like). It can be messy to cut and tends to move a bit, but it actually helped hide the stitches of the chenille a lot more than regular material. Especially since my "straight" lines were less than straight at times. I used a trick (found here) of using painter's tape to help guide me every 4-5 rows. I noticed when I sewed slower, my lines were straighter, sounds so obvious now, but it's true.
Here's the tutorial I used:
http://www.aestheticnest.com/2010/08/sewing-heirloom-cut-chenille-baby.html

I really want to make a zig zag quilt for my living room now.