Baby projects

Here's some baby projects I've made this past month. I have about a dozen friends/family members who are churning out babies at an unbelievable rate. Also, I just have a very large fabric stash that I need to do something with. I'm thinking of selling the extras, if I can ever get enough for an inventory.

*note* The picture above includes blankets made previously. Just wanted to show you the beginnings of what may become a new etsy store someday.

First of all, does this happen to you when you buy a yard of fabric?? (All fabric was from Jo-Ann's, btw.)

 

Ugh!! Sometimes it is so bad I end up having to cut off 8-10 inches of fabric to get it squared up! I almost think I need to start buying 1 1/4 yards at a time so at least I can end up with one yard of straight fabric. Sheesh.

Flannel/cotton

Flannel/cotton

Cotton/minky

 

Flannel/minky

 

Cotton/ultraplush

  

Flannel/ultraplush

 Cotton/ultraplush

Minky and ultraplush are new territory for me. They come in weird yardage, they are slippery, they stretch, they shed fibers, they are sort of a nightmare to work with.

I am slowly of getting the hang of things--I learned that you need to use about 2,000 pins, a walking foot and to sew plush side down. (Which seems counter-intuitive to me.)

 

But this still happens. (The top bunches up, which infuriates me.) So I need more practice. Those pregnant friends of mine will be receiving these imperfect ones because hopefully they will just be thrilled that someone sewed something for them!

 

Just look how soft!

 

How thick and cozy! Perfect for those babies who have been born into this wretched winter weather!!

This elephant blanket and diaper clutch I made went to my friend Michelle and her adorable newborn, Christian. 

Speaking of diaper clutches...

Here's my latest batch. I tried to do a bunch in boy fabric.

 

So, I couldn't find my pattern, so I printed off a new one from the blog (from this post), but I guess the dimensions weren't right when it printed because those two came out way smaller. Also, the scrap of gray fabric I was using was really small and I juuuusst squeezed two out of it. But they still fit a travel sized wipes case and diaper, so I guess they'll work fine.

Okay, I lied about all the fabric being from Jo-Ann's. The orange/brown diamond pattern and the green/white raindrop were both fat quarters from Walmart.

Now that I've made so many of them, I sort of have a system worked out so they're not quite so annoying to sew.

 

Then my friend Krystal (who is about to pop with her 3rd boy) came over and wanted to know if I could help her make a couple of fitted sheets for her bassinet mattress.

I've never made sheets before, but sure.....

  

I went onto my favorite sewing/crafty website Made, because you can always trust Dana's sewing genius. Sure enough, she has a great, simple tutorial for sewing fitted crib sheets.

But...

 

This was about 1/4 the size of a standard sized crib mattress. I have no idea if bassinet mattresses come in standard sizes--Krystal had been searching for sheets for months but could never find any. (The one she has is vintage, from when her husband was a baby.) 

 

 So I just had to wing it. She'd brought an old flat sheet for the material and I just had to cut enough to fit around the mattress, box off the corners and sew an elastic casing.

 

I am really sort of amazed that they turned out so well. That does not usually happen when I do things for the first time.