Cloth diapers

I plan on using cloth diapers on this babe when she arrives.  Although, I don't really want to start until she is about 6 or 8 weeks old.  I didn't want to start with newborn size diapers as they generally only go up to 10 pounds or so.  All my babies have been big and 10 pounds would get about 2 weeks worth of wear in my house.  So I started out buying and making size small which goes up to about 20 pounds.  My last baby was 20 pounds at 7 months so I still may not get much wear out of these!

I bought a bunch of the Babyville items at JoAnn's and set to work making diapers.  I made a few testers first for my sister and a friend.  Both have reported that the diaper worked fine and has held up.  So I made 12 for myself so far.  I still have 8 more to make but it gets so boring!  I am not a very dedicated assembly line seamstress. 

These are all the same pattern, some just have velcro, some are snaps, some have curved tabs, some are square, but the basics are all the same.  A waterproof PUL outer, microfleece inner with a pocket to stuff a prefold or soaker into.

Here is the inside!

These 2 have a knit outer layer, then the waterproof PUL and then the microfleece inside layer.

Here is another I made for my nephew with the last boyish piece of PUL I had.

These have coordinating tabs!

 

So far that's all I have!  Hopefully within the next 6 or 8 weeks I can find time to sew a few more.  I definitely don't want to do laundry everyday! 








 

Not much sewing has been going on up here on top of the hill!  This pregnancy is kicking my butt!!  It was so much easier when I was younger!  Any time I have sewn it's been baby stuff though, which is super cute, and one would think it would motivate me to keep sewing.  But it hasn't.  I have soooo many things on the to do list and sewing just kind of falls to the bottom of the list.  Plus, I have like 11 weeks still.  If it wasn't for the last minute, I would get nothing done!

A few cute little baby outfits...

This little skirt, shirt and jacket set is from 4/2009 Ottobre.  I have always wanted to make this and finally had the perfect opportunity once we found out it was girl #3!! 

The shoulders on the shirt aren't really that big, but it's a tiny shirt on a big hanger!

The jacket is super adorable and super soft!  I have a shirt made from the same material and I love it!!!  So snuggly!  I spent so much time on the pockets because they were small and fiddly.  Because, 3 month old babies use pockets.....

I really loved the new 4/2012 Ottobre.  There are so many cute things in there for my girls in all size ranges. 

2 t-shirts

This is #4 that goes with the white t shirt above.  It's a cute little romper.  Still needs snaps but I am working on that....

This little outfit is number 1,2 and 3.  The red t shirt from above, plus little leggings and a tunic.  Aren't the little bows on the leggings the cutest things you have ever seen!!

I also made 10 receiving blankets.  Which was really boring!  I'm glad I only made 10!  I think it should be enough.

Finally, another maternity shirt for me.  A Mamu Katrin.  I have made lots of these in the child size, but never the adult size.  It's a little small up top, but should work out, if I can get past the fit issue in my mind!  This is about 26 weeks.

And that's about it!  I do have to embroider some owls on the curtains in the nursery.  And I need to make about 20 cloth diapers and ome more clothes....  But I have 11 weeks still!! 

A few baby items

Slowly but surely I have been sewing up a few baby items.  Two more outfits done!  Hopefully by January I will have a complete wardrobe!

I have loved these little MC Hammer pants since this pattern originally came out.  Even if the pattern came in bigger sizes I am sure my girls would not wear them!!  But little babies don't have any choice.  Hehe.

Pattern:
Ottobre 1/2011 #1 and #2

I also made the bodysuit/onesie that they had paired with the pants on the model in the magazine.  Just a regular old onesie. 

I did have one issue though....  The underneath crotch hem was shorter than the top.  So the top hem kind of bubbles between the snaps and creates these little gaps.  I guess in the grand scheme of things it won't matter since you won't be able to see it when the pants are on the babe.  And honestly, once you get a cute little baby in the outfit, no one will pay a bit of attention.  But I know it's there.  And it bothers me! 

See!!!!

The other outfit I finished is a jumper with a matching t shirt.  I made one of these last fall and decided to finish this one since it seems girly enough for a cuttle little girl to wear.

Pattern:
Ottobre 6/2009 #4

Cute little Humpty Dumpty!!

The shirt is Ottobre 1/2011 #4.  Just a basic tee.

The good news is that I still have the girly one I made before.  I completed it too late to send the intended recipient.  So now my babe will get to wear it!

Remember this one?

Baby Buntings

Sort of.  The new Ottobre magazine came and just flipping through it I was immediately drawn to this cute little baby coverall.  Sort of like a bunting but not as substantial.  I wanted to make it right away.  Problem is, I haven't had a sonogram to know if I am making girl clothes or boy clothes!  So I decided straight away that I was making both girl and boy.  I figured I could gift the one I don't use to someone!  Second problem was that I had no suitable boy fabric.  Shocking I know, considering the unbelievable amount of fabric that I own.  But it's true!  I wanted to use french terry and have plenty of girl options as I make the girls plenty of hoodies but my boy options were pretty much a solid color.  And those were black, aqua and chocolate brown.  I searched the internet high and low for a few days but didn't find anything! 

So I decided on the brown and then tried to find matching ribbing, which I had none!  Even JoAnn's didn't have any as the chocolate brown, which is actually a velour, was part of a line a few years ago and they discontinued the color and replaced it with something lighter.  While searching JoAnn's I came across some cute little iron on appliques of monkey's and my fate was sealed.  I came home with the appliques and then decided to use bright kelly green ribbing to match the appliques. 

I almost can't decide which one I would rather use!

The only thing I don't like about the pattern that I didn't realize until it was too late is that the hood isn't lined.  So there are serger seams down the middle of the hood which may be okay for bigger kids, but I just feel like the hoods should be lined.  Which I took care of in the second one!

I really like how the zipper is diagonal across the body of the suit!

My girls begged for me to put the monkey on the butt!

And so I have completed the first baby outfit for number 3!  And a spare! 

I have a secret!

For those of you who know me in real life, it's not much of a secret.   But I will give you some hints.

Burpcloths...

Diapers...

I am having a baby!

I will finish up my first trimester next week so hopefully I will start feeling better!  You may or may not (which is more likely) have noticed that I have been somewhat absent from this here blog over the last month or so.  Mainly that's because I have felt so sick over the last 6 weeks that I have not been able to accomplish anything.  Making dinner and watching tv from the couch are about all I feel up to some days.  The nausea has been lessening over the last few weeks so Saturday when I accomplished all my chores and even weeded the garden, I considered it a win!  And since I got that stuff done on Saturday I could spend Sunday morning doing a little sewing. 

My poor machines have been neglected over the last month but I finally put them to good use making some burpcloths in gender neutral colors and 2 cloth diapers for friends and family to test out.  We plan on cloth diapering this little one so I wanted to try my hand at making them.  Now, they weren't the most fun thing I have ever sewn so I won't be quitting my day job to stay home and make them all day long, but they weren't THAT bad! 

Up next, I have some shorts to sew for the girlies.  Last year they only wanted to wear skirts, which we have tons of, and then this year they decide that shorts are the way to go.  Which we have none of.....  Go figure! 

Baby clothes

I recently made 2 baby outfits for a friend who was giving them as a gift!  I am pretty sure I have never turned down the opportunity to make baby clothes!

The first outfit is from one of my favorite pattterns ever!  The New Conceptions Baby Essentials pattern!  It has a button down shirt, a cross over shirt, pants and shorts!  There is also a hat and bootie pattern which are very cute as well.  I have never made the booties but have made the hat several times..

Then I used the shirt and pants pattern from my favorite Ottobre magazine, 1/2009!  Really, I needed to get this outfit done and I already had it traced in the correct size.  I finally used up most of the stripe facbric that I purchased from Girl Charlee last year.  I bought 2 yards and when you make baby clothes it sure doesn't get used up very fast!! 

On this one I decided to put an applique in the center to jazz it up.  It turned out really well!  I just hope they stuck woth the name they had picked out ahead of time...

In this pic the pant cuffs are rolled all the way down.  They are meant to be folded up in half like the sleeves!

Close up of the applique!

Oh baby!

I don't know what it is about baby clothes!  They are so cute and tiny!  Kind of like babies!  Anyway, I finished up some baby items for no particular reason.  Some are for baby Avie but the other set just hangs on my garment rack. 

Avie got a tunic out of the new Ottobre magazine, 1/2012 #17, and some matching leggings from Otto 4/2004.



Isn't this fabric so sweet! As soon as I saw it, I snatched up 3 yards from Girl Charlee!





And then there is this little jumper! Swoon!

Jumper is Ottobre 6/2009 #4 and the t shirt underneath is 1/2011 #4. Both of these are about a size 3 mo. They are so tiny!

Stash Game

It is now that time of year!  Stash Game started on September 1!  If you recall, Stash Game or SG, is where I earn points for sewing and lose points for buying fabric.  February and September are about the only 2 months out of the year that I almost don't buy fabric.  Almost, because every now and again I slip up.  Maybe a yard or two if I really must have it! 

I have started out strong and mostly made my way through the things I had cut out.  I need to spend some time tonight cutting out more items.  I usually try and trace all my patterns the couple weeks before SG and then the first day or two I go on a massive cutting bender and cut out like 10 or 12 items.  Then I spend the next couple days sewing.

I intend on cutting out some pillow cases for the charity project this month.  I figured with my serger I can whip out like 15 in one night.  They are basically a seam up each side with a hem at the opening.  I also intend on making the girls some pants.  I have a couple colors of twill to turn into pants.  I also am going to make the hubby something!  I bought a cargo shorts pattern from the Kwik Sew co-op a few weeks back.

Let's start with some baby items!  I made this outfit as a present for a baby shower.  Once I had it done I thought it was so cute that I decided to make my niece one also! 

Pattern: Ottobre Design 4/2010
t shirt- #1
tunic- #2
pants- #3
the baby shower gift is in size 62, about 3 to 6 months-ish.  I cut out a size 74 for my niece.  The pants are 74 waist with about 2 inches of added length since she is longer than she is wide!  I do need to find a way to fix the smaller set.  The tunic is so freaking wide!  Maybe some shirring?



The baby set is made from one of my most cherished fabrics. Not my all time fave, but this comes in a close second! It's Alexander Henry and I found it at a garage sale. There was only 1/2 a yard which is not enough for my girlies but was perfect for this project. I think it is soooo beautiful!



close up of the ballerina's!



The pants have these little cut outs on the side that gather up and fit onto these little panels.



I also added cuffs because one of my biggest pet peeves for baby clothes is when the legs ride up and leave the babe's legs exposed. I almost always add cuffs to baby clothes for this reason!!

baby stuff

There are quite a few babies coming this summer, so I have been making these cute onesies as baby shower gifts.  They are pretty fun to make and they are super cute and well received by expectant moms.  So far, I have 3 down and want to make a couple more.  Since I have barely sewn anything in the last couple weeks, I wouldn't count on that happening.  :) 

All embroidery designs are from Urban Threads

First up are 2 gifts for my cousin.  I'm so retro and food fight.



And for my sister in law, it's Elvis Duckie



He even has rhinestones on his "suit"!!



Pathetic huh?