that was fun

Seriously that was both fun and easy. The hardest part was picking out the fabric and getting up the guts to try it. Oh and hemming a 2.5 yard swatch is kinda a PITA, but not hard. I am going to look for a 6mm hemming foot for my machine now to make that job easier.

Without further ado, here are some majorly bad, potential blackmail pictures. For some reason DH didn't understand that he was supposed to take the pic of the ring-sling and not his disheveled, no makeup, hasn't brushed her hair since this morning wife.

the one where my son looks crazy...

the one where I look surprised...All my project details are in the previous post.

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PS If you don't feel like making your own fab silk sling, I really like this gal's work and she is affordable as far as a silk sling goes. Her shoulder style is different though.

slingin' it

I've been a big fan of "baby wearing" since Peanut was about 6mo old when I realized I could have a happy baby AND my arms back to myself.
My on-line friend made me a comfy Mei Tai (Asian-style carrier) and also a soft wrap (sorta like this). This summer I won a sweet sling from here and realized I really like the versatility that a ring-sling has. I really wanted a silk one but the $$$ price tag was prohibitive. They look simple enough to make so here I am! I ordered this fabric and a set of these. I have my directions from Jan's site.

(ETA: I used the Medium sized Aluminum rings in silver.)

Stay tuned for the outcome! Has anyone else out there attempted sewing their own baby carrier?

I Did It!

Well here he is! He's just missing something... oh yeah ... clothes! te-hee
I don't particularly enjoy making people clothes so I'm hoping doll clothes aren't too bad.

He was surprisingly easy to make, but a bit time consuming to get everything just right. He is far from perfect, but I'm pleased with the result.
A few notes for next time:
*Make the nose a little bigger than you want the finished result to be. When you pull the "skin" over it, the nose will flatten a bit.
*When doing the inner head form, be sure to tie the string as tight as possible. Again, once I pulled the fabric over I lost some of the definition.
*Ditto on the thumb. Make it more exaggerated than you think or it won't show up at all.
*Make sure you stuff stuff stuff as much as you can with the wool. It compresses and you want a full doll. (I am used to polyfil which is a completely different animal.)

apron-licious

I am soooo excited! The apron swap deadline was this week. I can't wait to see what I got. I sent mine out early since we were going away over Thanksgiving.

In other apron news, I went to Hobby Lobby and found the ideal apron fabric. It's black, red and white with APRONS printed on it! So adorable. I got a red calico with little white dots to make a ruffle and some bias tape edging. Once I prewashed the red calico isn't quite as spot on, but I still think it's close enough.

Isn't it yummy?

sneaky peek

Here's a sneaky peek of my swap apron. I am pretty sure that my swap partner doesn't frequent my blog or anything, but I'll show a better pic once she has it. I had a lot of fun with this one! As you can tell it is completely opposite of my usual style, but I think my new buddy will like it.

Let the Holiday Sewing Commence!!

I put a new button in my side bar for Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog's "Handmade Holidays"

"Each day in November focuses on a particular theme; we will provide great resources and inspirational ideas for sewing holiday gifts. Every week throughout November we’ll also offer two $25 gift certificates to Sew,Mama,Sew! Winners will be randomly selected from all comments posted on the blog in the previous week."

That's 30 days worth of handmade gift inspiration! Sweet!

apron-aholic

So I have a new OBSESSION....

Well it's not so new. I've been an apron fan for awhile. I love looking at vintage aprons and fun, kitchy prints. However, the only aprons I actually own are a stained and well-used canvas "Italy" apron I bought when I got married and a sweet reversable Haiwaiian one Dirkey got for me when she went there.


Over the years I have bought two separate apron pattern packs, a cherry print fabric to make a retro apron, two packs of dishtowels to make dishtowel aprons and lace and trims to go with.
Just chalk it up to my hoarding of craft supplies.


Now that homemaking IS my job it would be really practical to have several clean aprons on handy at all time. They are just so handy for stashing clothespins or protecting your clothes from spatters.


So for xmas I started making some aprons for a couple girlfriends. Dirkey, further proving why we are BFFs also had the idea to make aprons for xmas gifts for everyone. No we did not discuss this. We had just agreed to do a handmade exchange between us and this is what we both came up with independently. But as a bonus I got to weigh in on her fabric choice. Sweet!


Since I already showed her what I have done thus far, here is my citrus apron for Dirkey. I have a few more ideas for it. I used the directions on Martha for a teatowel apron and went from there. Ironically I am using Martha Stewart Everyday towels from Kmart. :) I misinterpreted the directions a bit and made the top extra wide. However, she is ahem "well endowed" like myself so I know the extra coverage is actually quite practical.




Oh and I am beyond excited to be participating in an apron swap over at down---to---earth. I'm hitting Joanns today for fabric for my swap apron.


So it looks like my apron collection is going to be growing!

Cute Baby Burp Cloths

I made these for my friend. The shower is Saturday so I doubt she will be on here before then. They are Gerber prefolds topped with yummy, soft flannel prints. I got fancy and used a different topstitch on each one. They are the perfect addition to my gift basket!

another t@ggie!

I made this one for DH's cousin's baby as a gift for her baby dedication. I hope she likes it!
I used a supersoft yellow minkee on the back and a modern floral flannel on the front. Ribbons were in pinks, black, red, stripes and checks. I also made two crinkle tabs out of the same flannel. I'm very pleased with the outcome!