Baby things

My daughter's friends were expecting their first baby, a little girl, and my daughter asked me to make a couple of soother clips, a flannel blanket and some burp cloths. Since they live in the states, time was of the essence so I took time out from quilting my True Blue quilt and went searching through my stash for suitable fabrics. 

Apparently, the colour scheme for the baby's room is black and white and these are the ones that my daughter chose for the soother clips from my collection of black and white fat quarters.

Here they are finished.

I used up a bit of my flannel stash and made burp cloths or spit-up cloths, as I call them.

I found three smallish towels in my sewing stash waiting to be made into pull over bibs but I figured I could use them for heavier burp cloths.

I also made a flannel blanket. Here they all are - minus the soother clips ready for little Leona, who entered this world on the 28th of August.

More baby things

Continuing on with my busy busy sewing and knitting.

I forgot to take photos of the first set of change pads I made so here's the second set.

More burp cloths and another hat. The ice cream flannel was leftover pieces from pajamas I made for my two oldest grandchildren.

Soother clips. These take very little fabric. Fat quarters came in handy.

The second quilt I made. Same pattern as the first just a different colour combination.

It's been an absolute joy to create these items. I have more things to make but they shall be for Christmas.

Baby showers

With two new little ones on the way in the next couple of months, there has been a flurry of excitement and of course, to celebrate the impending births, baby showers have taken place. I haven't posted in a while because I have been busy sewing and knitting. Now that the celebrations have taken place and the new future mom's have received their gifts, I can show you something of what I have accomplished.

First off, a gift can't be given unless there is a card attached. I have always made a cross stitched card to go with the gift for a newborn grandchild. This particular design was found in a summer issue of the Cross Stitcher magazine. I came upon it just at the appropriate time - when I was searching for new baby cross stitch patterns. I had tried free patterns online but didn't really like any of them. 

Here's another one out of the same magazine. The library had some very nice cross stitch card pattern books too and I hope to be able to use some of them in the future.

 Several little hats were knitted. I love making them with variegated yarn. you never know how the pattern is going to end up. I have been asked by one of the future dads if there is a matching one for him. Perhaps when I have a bit more time I can whip one up in an adult size.

Another little hat sitting on a pile of burp cloths.

This pile of fabrics that I was auditioning became a baby quilt for the next one due next month.

The new, modern baby quilt.

And here's the label. My Kenmore has not been well and doesn't seem to be able to produce the letter stitches anymore so I have now started to embroider labels.

That's it for now. I'll post more later.

Sewing for the little ones

Severn likes pink and Mackenzie likes blue. I had some remnants that I found and could use up. Last year's Row by Row theme was Home Sweet Home and I purchased a fat quarter of one of the theme fabrics. I remembered that, as it sat on a chair shortly after I bought it, the girls found it fascinating. There are all sorts of houses, signs and little critters on the fabric so I thought it might be a good idea to use some of it to make pockets. The dress was a nice, quick pattern and what I liked best about it was that it was self faced. I'm not keen on little girls' dress patterns these days because most of them have bias binding as a finishing on armholes. I don't like how the bias looks on a finished garment.

I also made a couple of sun bonnets for the newest members of the family. I found a free pattern on Purl Soho's website and asked the new moms if they wanted one for their little ones.

 Maili chose the fabrics for Esme's hat.

Mark, my son and Darcy's daddy, wanted a bonnet for her and so he thought it would be nice if both girls had the same fabric.

Only the brim is different.

Looks like it fits.

Little Esme, almost four months old now.

And I made something for big brother Teemu.

Not sewing but knitting. When I was looking through my stash for a certain yarn, I came across two partial balls of a jacquard that I had used to make a sweater for Patric. I thought that it might be enough to make a hat for Teemu and, as you can see, it was. I'm not keen on this pattern because I don't like the way the decrease looks once it's finished. I made note of it on the pattern so I probably won't be making it anymore.

I'm now in the process of sewing a dress for Esme and Teemu's mom so once it's done, I'll take a photo. There's a never ending list. Did I mention that there are two more little ones due later this year?

Sewing with remnants

Definition of remnant: noun
1. a remaining, usually small part, quantity, number, or the like.
2. a fragment or scrap.
3. a small, unsold or unused piece of cloth, lace, etc., as at the end of a bolt.


I came across a free pattern for a little dress. It's called Little Geranium. The size is 0-3 months. Since I have two brand new granddaughters, and since it will be summer soon, I thought I'd make the girls their first little dress. I headed for my bins of fabric looking for little remnants. I found two pieces that were similar in colour.

These are the two fabric remnants I found. One is the polka dot and the other one is just underneath but is a bit hard to see. It has a small floral motif on it.

The skirt part is the whole width of yardage which is between 40-44 inches. I had some teeny tiny rick rack and decided that it would be a perfect trim for the pockets.

Just to give you an idea as to size, the ruler is an 8 inch square.

Here's the second one I made. The colour is not true in this photo. The back yolk has a button or snap closure but I opted for circles of hook and loop (Velcro) since babies spend a lot of time on their backs or propped up leaning on their back. A button or snap just seemed like it might bother a little one.

Here's a close-up of the wee rick rack.

If you want a free similar dress in an 18 month size, I found one here.

This is a super easy pattern - with French seams. My daughter wanted these pants for Teemu because they were roomy in the bum area and tapered down the leg. The front and the back are identical. I found a small piece of seersucker  on my shelf that I had purchased when my children were little. It was a remnant and the price tag on it was $2.44. 

The second pair. I really like this fabric and I found two different pieces of it. It's a soft cotton and the weight is just perfect for shirts and pants.

That's it for now. I still have a bunch of sewing to do - some of it just repairs or alterations. 

I'm linking up with The Needle and Thread Network. 
Pop on over to see what's new.

Another little piece

This time, it's a t-shirt.

I had some cotton knit sitting on the shelf.

And I had some matching ribbing. I put the two together and made a little t-shirt. I don't know which of these photos is closest to the true colour. It seems I am using up the stash on my shelves one garment or one project at a time. I didn't even have to buy thread because I had some that was the exact same colour. I am so happy that my electronic Kenmore has a variety of stretch stitches and that it's still in working order (purchased circa 1980s.) It needs to have a cleaning and a tune-up soon. That machine has made so many things over the years. I don't know what I'll do when it finally quits on me.

I'm off to put a border on a quilt now and then get it onto the frame.

It's a nice day out today. We're headed to a barbecue later - no cooking for me.

Stay safe.

Little people sewing

Teemu is over a year old now and has two teeth - with more to come. I have sewn outfits for him and will keep on sewing for him if he'll wear the things I make. One of my sons didn't like button up shirts so I stopped sewing for him. I still sew garments for my own children but now that I have grandchildren, it's so much fun to see what I can get out of a small piece of fabric.

 Here he is wearing the hat I made him. 

It fits perfectly.

Even the chin strap fits. I cut some off the piece I made because it was way too long. Then, after I sewed it in place, I thought that it could be too short. However, it turned out just right.

He loves to have something in his hands at all times.

He doesn't like this shovel much anymore because he has found my turquoise and black spatula much more appealing - and shorter.

 Picking long grass was fun.

I just found it a bit too warm so we didn't stay out too long.

As you can see, the grass is dead where the sun hits it constantly. This was just a little opportunity for a photo shoot. He didn't much like to have the hat on in the beginning but I persisted and he got used to it.

I just finished a pair of shorts for Teemu. His cousin tried them on and they fit her so he can get them when he comes home from camping. I just have to take the basting out of the seams. I add the basting because it makes threading the elastic over the seams so much easier. This striped fabric was a little piece of heavier weight cotton that had been hanging around for awhile. They didn't take long to make at all and since the pattern and size worked out well, I can probably make a few more. There are lots of little pieces of fabric in my stash that need to be put to good use.

My Little Model

My newest grandson. Here's Teemu modelling the sweater set I made him.

Teemu is now 4 months old. Time flies.

Here he is this past weekend attending a wedding with mommy and daddy. I made him the suit and I love the little blue bow tie. The fabric has a just a bit of sparkle.

Tiny spiffy duds

I have been sewing a little suit for Teemu.

I don't know how everyone else sews and presses but once I turn something right side out, I don't just iron it, I have to baste it first so that I know that the seams are right at the edge. Even with this little 3-month old size vest, I do exactly the same as with an adult garment. The little pants were taken in because they were too wide and they were also cut down from the waist twice because it was thought that they were too big.

 
So, little Teemu has a suit now.
 

The vest, as you can see, has a little welt pocket. I could have put three on it but I thought that would be a bit too much. I haven't put the buttons on since I want him to try it on so I can place them properly. I had to go out and buy black buttons because I didn't have four that matched.

I have to work on his shirt now and then he'll be all set to attend his first wedding.

Random sewing

I made a few more baby things 'cause Maili wanted more burp cloths and more flannel blankets.

The zig zag flannel blanket is soooo soft. 

I added a couple of soother cords too for my little grandson. Those clips, known as suspender clips, were so hard to find. I finally got a package at Len's Mills. I used a little piece of thin elastic on the end to attach the soother. I had read that sometimes, ribbon has a tendency to fray over time and use. I just thought it made life easier to use a little bit of elastic.

Proof that what I make gets used. Other than his hat and sleeper, I made the rainbow blanket, the flannel blanket he's on, there is a burp cloth on the left and his soother strap is across his body.

Here's the little sweatshirt I made him too - still a tad too big.