Taggie, Crinkly Bibs Tutorial

If you're like me and have a Drooly Julie (or Jack, whatev) on your hands, you are probably constantly switching bibs or else having a soaked baby.  Evan drools without abandon, but I got tired of those old stained bibs, so I decided to make her some, pretty ones.  Knowing how much she loves all things crinkly and the taggie blanket I made her, I decided to through that in to the bibs as well.  It's like 3 baby accessories in 1.  Here's how to do it for yourself.

First off, I printed this template from one of my very favorite bloggers at Homemade by Jill.  You can get it HERE .  Or, you can simply lay one of your own bibs flat and trace around it.  After printing Jill's template, I cut off about 2.5" from the bottom to make the bib shorter because I want to be able to show off Evan's cute clothes.  Since this bib is more for drooling than food, I don't need the extra length.

SUPPLIES:

Flannel fabric for bib front

Coordinating fabric for bib back

Snaps like THIS or you can use Velcro

Assorted ribbon

Empty wipes package

1. Cut 1 bib from your front fabric and 1 from your back using your bib template.

2. Cut 4 pieces of of ribbon.  I cut my 4" long, but they could have been shorter. 

3. Fold your ribbon pieces in half, and pin them to the right side your bib front, with the folds facing up.

4. Cut open your plastic wipes package and lay it across the bottom half of one of your bib pieces.  Cut a piece of the plastic to fit the bottom and pin it to the wrong side of your other bib back.

5. Layer your bib pieces this way: Bib front right side facing up, Bib back wrong side facing up.  Your two right sides should be facing each other.  Pin them together along the sides.

6.  Sew along the entire outside, leaving a gap for turning.

7. Turn your bib and close your gap with topstitching all the way around.

8.  Attach your snaps according to the package instructions or put on velcro.

And there you have it. 

I've made a few more because Evan really really loves chewing on these things.  I even make a dressy bib using flannel and chenille with a jersey knit rose.

ABC Book

I saw this idea on I'm a Momma, Hear Me Roar  (HERE) and, like any good crafter, snatched up that good idea for my own.  So for the past week, I've been digging looking through recent pics to make Ian and Evan their own ABC book and taking new ones as needed.  I'm still trying to figure out what to do for I, K, and X, but I hope to finish up tomorrow.  Once I finish, I'm going to either have them printed in a photobook from Walgreens or just get a cheap album.  Here's some of my favorite pages so far:

 

Opps, been a little too busy to post lately

Life got hectic these past 2 weeks, and I hadn't had time to post anything.  I have been doing some sewing though--just not making the time to post it.  I WILL start posting more because I know all 8 of my blog followers are just dying for something new. Bwahahaha.

Seriously, in the past few weeks, I have done a stained onesie refashion with ruffles, a taggies bib, some more baby shoes, reusable sandwich bags, a infinity dress, and I'm working on an ABC book for Ian and Evan.  I will work on posting pics of all that and fnishing up some new projects this week.

Trinket Keepers

I just love other people's craft blogs.  I have found the cutest stuff and can't get enough of making things for my family.  I ran across these cool little baggies that are soooo easy to make and had to do one (or a dozen) for Ian's trains.  Here is a great tutorial explaining the entire thing: Trinket Tutorial

I changed it up just a little bit because I want to applique a train from some fabric I already had rather than paint one on, but it's the same basic idea. 

The possibilities for these are endless. I may make a few for Matchbox cars, Little People toys, even chapstick or cell phone bag for myself, snap on a carabiner and attach it to my overstuffed diaper bag.

Matt is getting one next for his iPod touch.  Lucky man.

DIY Bath Towel Apron

Evan has reached that stage of still being too small (and slippery) to sit up in the big tub but just big enough to know how to soak the entire bathroom (and me) with all her splashing during bathtime.  I've needed a solution for a while now but just finally got around to it.  I had posted a link to another tutorial for a bath apron earlier this month, but I decided to just make it myself and keep it a little more simple while still adding a hood for keeping my baby's head warm.  Here's how you can make your own for cheap, cheap, cheap.

Supplies Needed:

Standard Bath Towel--I got mine on sale at Walmart this week for $1.50.
Coordinating Sturdy Ribbon
Sewing Machine & Basic Supplies

Directions:

1. Hold your towel up against you and decide how high you want the bib of the apron to go, how wide you want it, and where you want the skirt to begin. Mark these places with pins.

2. Lay your marked towel on a cutting mat and cut away the excess fabric from the top sides of your apron.  Leave the skirt part as wide as possible.  Keep those cut away parts.

3. In the corner of where the bib and skirt of the apron meet, cut a 1" diagonal.  I forgot to take a pic of this, but it's a small step that makes sense when you do it, or doesn't hurt much if you forget.

4. Turn your apron over (if you have a front or back to your towel depending on any designs. Mine didn't so it doesn't matter), and fold the cut edges under 1/2 " and then over again 1/2" to encase the frayed terry.  Pin the tucked and rolled sides and press flat as possible.  Sew both sides of bib and tops of apron skirt.

5. Measure out how long you want the neck ties and waist ties to be, depending on your size.  Add 1.5" to each for space to attach the ribbon.  Heat seal the ends of your ribbon by holding a lighter near (but not too close) the edges of the ribbon.  Pin your necktie ribbons on to each outside corner of the bib.  I did this on top so the attaching shows, but you can do it on the underside if you don't like the look.

6. Sew a square and then a criss cross to attach the ribbons to the the ends of the apron at the top of the bib and at each side of the skirt.

7. Grab those discarded terry pieces and choose one bottom corner to sew on a hood.  Lay the terry rectangle across the bottom corner, leaving about a 1.5" gap at the bottom.  Cut your terry piece to make a large triangle, leaving 1" hanging over for hemming. 

8. Take an extra piece of ribbon (or cut an a few inches off the waist tie) to sew across the corner of the extra terry piece. I did this for three reasons: 1.) to make it look pretty, 2.) so I could find the hooded corner more easily, and 3.) to make the hood a little bit larger because my scrap was a little small.  Sew it to the extra hood piece.

9. Lay your hood top back over the bottom corner, leaving 1.5" for hemming.  Turn it over and roll and tuck like you did to hem the rest of the apron. Press and sew.

That's it.  You will be dry and won't have to struggle with holding a towel up on your shoulder while trying to wrangle a slippery baby anymore.  Plus, you can cuddle up your baby in the extra long towel skirt and keep her precious little head warm too.

By the way, I left the waist ties long and just wrapped it all the way back around the front here in this pic.  And yes, this is how I am dressed late at night after being home with the kids all day.

Knitting Needle Case

I have this online friend from my amazing mommy group I joined back when I was pregnant with Ian who does some really beautiful knitting. When I had Evan, she sent me the most adorable booties and hat, and I have been trying to think of a good way to thank her. So, I decided to try my hand at making a knitting needle case. Here's a tutorial on how to make one yourself. Please note though: I put batting between the fabric layers because I used a really thin, silky fabric, but I think it would be better constructed using heavier fabrics and no batting.

You will need:

1 yd of two sided fabric (we'll call it Side A and Side B) Or, you could get 1/2 yd of two complimentary fabrics
1/2 yd batting

2 yds black or coordinating cord

Sewing machine & basic supplies

Directions:

1. Cut your fabric

Cut one 22"x 15" piece of Side A
Cut one 8" x 15" piece of Side A
Cut one 29" x 15" piece of Side B
Cut one 29" x 15" piece of batting

Cut two 4.5" x 5.5" pieces of Side A

2. Sew the 22" x 15" and 8" x 15" pieces together, right sides together, to make one 29" x 15" piece. Press seam open.

3. Layer all pieces in this order: batting, pieced 29" x 15" Side A facing up, 29" x 15" piece Side B facing down. Sew all the way around, leaving about 4 inches to turn, press, and stitch closed.

4. Fold Side A at the seam to make a pocket, fold black cord in half, and place ends between the layers at the top of the pocket. Stitch both sides of the large pocket together.

5. Sew the 4.5" x 5.5" pieces together with right sides together leaving a small opening. Turn, press, and close opening.

6. Pin 4.5" x 5.5" piece to center of bottom pocket on the case and topstitch right and left sides to create a small pocket. Leave top and bottom open.

7. Topstitch 2 seams on each side of small pocket, evenly spaced, about 1.75" apart. Stitch from the bottom of the pocket to the top of the pocket.

8. Topstitch all the way around entire kitting needle case, closing up bottom on small pocket.

9. Fill, fold, and roll. :)

I hope those instructions made sense. They did in my head, at least. The fabric I used was silky and hard to work with so it didn't turn out as nice as I'd like. I am going to try another with different fabric, but, in the meantime, I am sending this one to my friend as a test run. She doesn't know she's getting it, so lets see if she's even reading my blog. ;)

Easy Peacock Hair Clip

I saw a pretty hair clip like this at Target last week (oh, how I love you Target), but I was broke, and Target ain't free. Fast forward to my weekly trip to Hobby Lobby where I see some pretty Peacock feathers on sale for $1.99. I already had some unused hair clips, scrap ribbon, and a glue gun, so, with the feather, I made this glam clip.

Get your supplies:

Cut the feather, hot glue it to a clip, glue one end of ribbon and wrap it around twice and glue the back.

Ta-Da! Admire your pretty, crafty self.

Fleece Mohawk Hat

I saw this craft in the Crafty Mama book from the library and thought it would be a quick and fun hat to make for Ian. It was fast, and the instructions were easy to follow. However, I ended up with a hat too big for even my head and swolled up Ian. Don't get me wrong, my kid has a big noggin, but this hat was huge. Since fleece doesn't fray, I got out my handy scissor and chopped it up some to help it fit better. I'm not crazy about it, but Ian seems to think it's cool. It kinda makes me think of bad Darth Vader costume gone punk.

The Car Seat Poncho from Hell

Poncho: a small circle within a bigger circle. Should be easy, right? Well, the online tutorial I tried didn't make sense to me, so I decided to wing it. After screwing up my measurements, it became a jumbled mess. I wanted to post my own instructions on how to make one, but I will spare you the confusion. Eventually, I ended up with this poncho. Note the decorative black ring around the collar--added for a little pizzaz and certainly not because I cut the neck hole too large. First, you get proof that I did measure. Then, Ian was already in bed for the night, so you must deal with me modeling it. Let's hope he likes it.

My Project List

I have so many sewing and crafting project I want to try. Most of these projects I found by searching the many wonderful craft blogs out there and using their tutorials. Some ideas are my own. Some are cool products I'd love to buy but will straight-up copy on my own to save a few bucks. Unfortunatley, my two kids don't always give me time, so here is my list of what I hope to finish in the next few weeks.

Car Seat Poncho for Ian: http://community.babycenter.com/post/a20025635/directions_for_a_fast_simple_car_seat_poncho

Black Apple Doll for Evan: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/black-apple-doll

4 in 1 Nursing Shawl like this: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=533771

Vinyl Apron for Ian: http://supamb.com/supafine/2007/08/24/sewing-how-to-make-a-kid-sized-chef-apron/

This apron for me: http://blog.vintageimagemadness.com/keeping-it-real-sewing-simple-apron-tutorial

A few more taggies bibs (my own tutorial to follow)

Wipes and diaper bag like this: https://www.bellatunno.com/shop/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=284

T-shirt Applique/stained shirt refashion

Maternity shirt refasion in to something like this: http://www5.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=50434&CatID=51159&GrpTyp=SIZ&ItemID=1816dd3&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=50434%7c50435%7c51159&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=19&cmVirtualCat=&CmCatId=504345043551159

Adding ruffles to stained onesies: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSE9uBNZrLY7wOskgdnMpLzB_-VJYs3EcErAJmDbn3Oj5SgnokaYXjHqw4-nDDQg9Pg114gWBfVt_tUXHXTH9n6OgBsvulzBEDujTGLKQIQ0XU4TiT6-wd6mklm531MPmNBZBVY4fCGmq7/s1600-h/stained1.jpg

ModPodged birdie wall art for Evan's room

This bag for me: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/reversible-purse?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/sewing-projects-tote-bags-and-purses#slide_5

Bathtowel arpon: http://secretstitchclub.blogspot.com/2008/10/bath-apron-tutorial.html


Ok, that should be good for now ;)

Another reason to love the library

We have a great community college down the street with an amazing library. Not only do they have the best story time each week (more on that later), but they also had these 2 books just waiting to be check out by me.

Mary, Mary quite contrary

We have started our Spring garden at our new house. YAY! I love gardening (when everything grows). We stuck with a our tried and true veggies: tomatos, cucumbers, peppers; added in some we hadn't had much luck with before: carrots and asparagus; and tried a few new ones: corn, potatos, beans. We'll see what sprouts in a few weeks.