Baby Blankets

Baby blankets are one of my favorite things to make. I think the joy that is involved with making it for a new bundle of joy mixed with the satisfaction of a relatively quick project is what I like best. Don't get me wrong, you can make baby blankets that take FOREVER, but you don't have to spend hours, days and even months making a blanket to have it turn out absolutely adorable.

There are lots of tutorials on the web for making blankets, so I'm not even going to go there, But there are a few things I've learned I will share:

1. If the fabric stretches or is slippery, use a walking foot to keep your edges lined up and pin like crazy.

*I never pinned a thing before, but I realized just how much time I saved myself from fixing mistakes if I just took the time to pin things.

2. My favorite batting for baby blankets is natural cotton batting it's not as lofty as polyester batting and is so much easier to work with. It makes the blanket less stiff and better for wrapping. Besides, when you are bundling up a baby, they can really get lost in those thick and stiff blankets. The cotton is still super warm and even better, it's made out of natural fibers.

3. Find fabrics that are washable and durable but soft and cute. My absolute favorite baby blanket fabrics are minky or minkee (which is relatively new to the fabric market) and flannel backed satin which I like using better than just any satin because it's a little bit thicker, warmer, and doesn't slide quite so much when sewing. I love to bind my blankets with flannel backed satin.

4. When choosing a size, you might want to consider what age the blanket is for. Crib size is 45" X 65", however this will totally drown a newborn so 45" X 45" or 35" X 45" might be better suited. I like to make bigger blankets because I personally love blankets and love my own kids to have blankets that they can claim as their own and acutally use as todlers and young children.

5. If you are afraid of binding ( I know... it can get scary) don't bind it at all. How? Cut your front fabric, back fabric the same size. Cut your batting just slightly bigger (1/4" or so) so it doesn't pull your blanket in funny dirrections. Then with the fabrics right side facing each other and the batting against the wrong side of the back fabric. Sew them all together, leaving a 8 inch opening along one side for turning. Once it's all sewn, just turn it right side out and hand sew your opening closed. Then, you can just sew 1/2"-1" from the edge on the right side and voila!

Anyway, I just finished a blanket for our newest addition out of minky fabric and satin binding. It's heavenly and although rather expensive to make (minky can be more than $15 a yard), I LOVE IT! He will have no choice but to have sweet dreams when wrapped in this blanket.


Happy blanket making!

Cloth Diapers

I've been cloth diapering my baby part time since last fall and I have to say that I really like it. The reasons? Well, I would like to do my part to cut back on garbage, especially the kind that takes so long to decompose. Plus, they really are quite cost affective. So when fuzzi bunz went on clearance last fall before they changed their design I bought 9 of them. Just enough to get me through almost two day times. I've really liked them, but they are rather expensive.

Now that we are about to have another baby I'm thinking more seriously of getting some more diapers. The problem.... I don't want to spend as much. A much cheaper option is prefold diapers. However, I'm not really wanting to go the prefold diaper route or even the fitted diaper route with covers. I like the convenience of having the diaper come on and off pretty much like a disposable diaper. I don't mind the laundry but my kids hate having to slow down for their diaper changes so I want the changing process to go as quickly as possible.

Anyway, to my original point. I wanted something similar to the fuzzi bunz but with a smaller price tag. I thought.... I can sew these things if I just have the right materials. But I was nervous because I've never tried to sew a diaper before. So I did a little research and there are a lot of places on the web to buy everything you need to sew your own cloth diapers.

I found this website for diapers that are all cut out called diaperkit.com and all you have to do is sew them together. I thought I would give it a shot and just get my feet wet and WOW I was so surprised at how easy it was. I sewed this one diaper from start to finish in under an hour.
So a quick review... the diaperkit diaper was awesome to make and I recommend them to anyone who can sew even just a little (it really wasn't hard) .


There are some design features that I want to change to fit my own personal likes/dislikes and then I hope to buy the materials and make at least 10 more diapers so that I can have two little ones in cloth diapers saving us even more money. Now who doesn't like that?!
What I will change in my own personal design:

1. I bought an All in one kit (the whole diaper from the absorbent inside to the waterproof outside is all sewn together and never comes apart). I think I would prefer a pocket diaper. They dry in at least half the time of the AIO.

2. I would prefer a fleece lining instead of the flannel lining that came with my kit. It seems like it wicks moisture away a little better.

3. I'm going to use an s-hook design similar to TK cuddler diapers for the closure instead of velcro. I don't like velcro much anyway, but it seems to make a stiff "belt" around my baby's belly it looked uncomfortable although she didn't seem to mind all that much. I would really like snaps, but I do not have a snap press and would really need one for this big of project. And to pay someone to insert my snaps just brings up the price tag even more.

Sewing this diaper was really fun and so exciting to have a project finished in a day!

Sewing for me

So, I finally did a little sewing for me. The pile of things that needed repair was starting to get quite big and the pile of half finished projects for ME have been sitting there for months!
I used to only sew for me and I was starting to forget why I liked sewing so much. This was a great reminder.

I wanted some new pajama pants for quite a while because the few pair that I have are either cold weather pants or are starting to get holes in them. Just buying them at the store is not an option because of my freakishly long legs, and they are always made of the cheapest fabric that seems to fall apart after the first washing.

Pants really are super easy and are one of the things that they teach you to make in 7th grade home economics class. If you are not a big sewer I wouldn't be intimidated by them one bit. The hardest part is cutting them out. If you take your time and measure and mark your pieces accurately and follow the pattern instructions, you will have no problems.


For my pants, I picked some fabric by Free spirit (one of my favorite fabric brands on the market) called swimming fish by Heather Ross It is such a cute fabric and just perfect for something relaxing like pajama pants. I liked this fabric because it's a light cotton but it's not flimsy or weak like something you would find in the clearance section at walmart or JoAnns. I've worn them every night so far this summer and they don't make me hot one bit.


To add a little cute touch to them I added a coordinating dot fabric to the bottoms. I thought about even adding a small stripe of a solid in between the two prints but I didn't want to spend the extra time that would involve.

If you are a little more familiar with sewing clothes, another nice addition is a pair of pockets. Sometimes I really like to have pockets in my pajama pants, especially if they are cute enough to wear to the grocery store or gas station, but again, I was in too much of a hurry to have these finished and on my legs so these particular pants don't have any pockets. I guess I could always add a back pocket if I find that I really wish I had one.

So... sick of those pj pants that are just too cute that you HAVE to buy them at the store only to find that they don't fit well or they don't last very long? Try making them yourself, they may end up being your favorite.

Fun with Dye

I've only dyed fabric a handful of times But I nearly doubled my fabric dying experience yesterday when I dyed a whole bunch of nylon chiffon for some pettiskirts. My biggest challenge was the peach because RIT does not make a peach dye nor does it recommend any mixture of colors to achieve peach so I was on my own. First, I bought an antique peach RIT dye pack which turned out quite orange (this is the fabric on the left). Too orange for what I wanted so I first did a search on the internet to see what colors would make peach. I found answers ranging from peach mixed with tan, Pink mixed with yellow, red mixed with orange, red mixed with yellow and so forth but since I wanted a really light peach I decided to go with pink mixed with yellow. I went to JoAnns where Dye's were on sale (lucky me) and got 4 different colors to experiment with. As well as a small piece of fabric that was the color I was going for.
I started with yellow and gradually added pink until I achieved my desired color. I'm VERY happy with how it turned out. You can see in my picture how the colors gradually turn from yellow to peach in my little swatches. My final peach is on the right with my "control" color along the top. What fun! My next adventure might be trying some acid dyes since they are supposedly better for nylon fabrics. I'm not too worried about the RIT since the problem it posses is fading, but since the pettiskirts don't get washed much it works and is easily accessible.
I also dyed some fabric yellow, pink and orange however they were not as difficult as the peach. It's nice to know that I can just dye my own fabrics when I'm in a bind and can't wait a week for a fabric order to come in.

Pettiskirt Sale

I'm starting to finish up a batch of pettskirts in a a variety of sizes and colors. Come take a look as I have them listed in etsy for now. (see sidebar add) As time passes they may end up in my webstore or on ebay. They are beautiful and full so take advantage as I have them listed below my regular price right now. They are ready to ship and ready to love!

Fabric for Sale

I've got a TON of fabric for sale on Ebay this week. Excellent deals! Come take a look :)

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZlittlecreekboutique

Summer in Spain

Here is another design from my summer line up on ebay right now. Absolutely adorable and comfortable. My baby wore it for a few hours and received compliment after compliment at the store and doctors office.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=180231529691&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=008