Itty Bitty Boy Sewing!!

I did a few things for my new nephew this past week and boy did it bring back the memories of when Tristan was born! So cute and tiny!

First I did one of my favorite rompers from ottobre. I have modified this one from the original pattern to snap up and not use as much fabric as the original one does. Love these, sz 50! And a little knotty hat to complete the set.

Then I decided to try and modify the romper even more by making it a top and added a pair of matching pants from ottobre too! This material was from Chez Ami a few years ago and it is so incredibly soft! Very baby boy I think. Added another knotty hat too.


And a cute wraparound top with a little elephant to match the cloth diaper that I did. Preemie sized because he is only 6 lbs., we will see if it fits!

A couple of tees for his big brother! And my favorite breast pads from the pampered cheeks tutorial for the mama!


Now I am off to sew up another preemie diaper for a DSD mama and then a new tee for Tristan! I received a pair of woolie shorties last week in the mail and I am dying to do a matching tee for my baby!!

Have a great rest of the week and happy sewing!!

Girly Sewing!!

One of my best friends in the whole world is expecting a little girl at the beginning of October. I was blessed to attend her baby shower yesterday in Jacksonville. What a great time! It was so nice to see all of her family and friends that I hadn't seen in years! I wished the day did not have to end!

I managed to squeeze some sewing time in with my remodeling. Not as much as I wanted too and the cutest thing that I made, I forgot to take a picture!! It was the little ruffly dress from the summer 2011 ottobre. Too cute and tiny! I used Marie Horner's good folks and it turned out very nice. Hopefully very soon I will have modeling pics to post!

I used an ottobre lap tee pattern and made it longer and a lined to turn it into a sack gown. Added a matching knotty hat. Love this material!

Then I did a snap up romper from another ottobre issue. Used all different colored snaps and added one of my beanies. I just love these little things! They turn out so small, hopefully Ms. Tanner will be small enough to fit into it for a week or so!

And Friday, the day before the shower, I baked a cake! Decided at the last minute that it should be a carriage and went with it. Must have tasted pretty good because it was all gobbled up except for a few pieces! I never eat my cakes, I think maybe because when I am making them I sample too much!! Sadly my picture makes it look almost blue and it was a beautiful purple. I guess that doesn't speak highly of my photography skills!

Have a great labor day! I am off to cook dinner and maybe get in a little sewing!!

50 Weeks Old, Only 2 More to Go!!

I can't believe my baby boy will be 1 in just 2 short weeks. Where has the time gone? I decided to make a special set for him today to celebrate his 50 weeks and with his moods lately Monsters seemed appropriate!

I used the Babyville Boutique monster pul and the cutest little tags! One for his diaper and the other for the tee shirt. The diaper is pul outer, fleece hidden and wicking jersey inner, an ai2 with a lay in soaker, prefold of Bamboo fleece, so 6 layers and a topper of athletic wicking jersey and 2 layers of velour.

The tee is from this summer's Ottobre and features a big ole' Monster eyeball on the front that I drew, cut out and appliqued to the tee. He is a one eyed, really cute, crawling Green Monster Baby and I love him so much!!

The Sweetest Set!

Oh I am in love!! With owls, and wool shorties!! No way, I didn't knit these, I can only dream of having those kind of skills! Elizabeth over at Lizards Landing on etsy did these as a custom for Tristan.

I can not wait to get more! We love them and the fit is perfect. Her customer service is awesome and she is just all around sweet!!

These were not off the mail truck for 5 minutes before I had tackled my fabric stash for matching knits. I settled on a lap tee from the summer 2011 issue of Ottobre and a fitted knit diaper.

Love it! Can't wait to show my family this Saturday at my Grandfather's 82 birthday and my uncles 60th!

Happy sewing mommas!

The Martians Have Landed and a Simple Tute!

The Munki Martians that is! I had a pajama top that I decided really needed to be a pair of shorts for Tristan. I decided to try out the "aqua" shorts from the 3/2008 ottobre and see what I thought. Overall they are a pretty good fit, I think the next time I would add a tiny bit of rise and maybe give a little on the sides. Cloth diapers can sometimes make the fit of these patterns a little tricky! Tristan is a little over 18 lbs and I traced out a 68 adding seam allowance.

So on to my little, very simple tutorial! I love adding embroideries and appliques to boys clothing. It turns something simple into something very creative and fun to wear! One of my favorite things to do is what I call a "sketch" embroidery. It's freehand and your imagination(and your drawing skills) are your only limitations!

I start off by cutting out the tee front and creasing it down the middle so that I can center the design. Then I cut off a square off iron on stabilizer big enough for the design that I want.

NOTE HERE: I am using this outfit for our own personal clothing. IF I were making this to sell, I would not copy the artwork like I have here. I would sketch out a totally different looking spaceship or better yet a rocket!

Next, sketch out the design that you would like to stitch on the non-shiny side of the paper. It has a rougher feel, you don't want the smooth, slicker side.

Center your design and iron the paper down to your tee on the front side.

Now you are going to go right over your lines with your sewing machine and a straight stitch. For the length, don't make it too long, you don't want the paper not to come off easily. The most important thing make sure you backtack when you start and stop your stitches. The more you do this the better you will get, however, I think imperfections give the tee more character!

When you are finished will all of your stitching, CAREFULLY peel off your paper and you are done!! If you have little tiny bits stuck in the stitches, I wouldn't worry, they normally come off in the first wash!

Now finish up your tee and put it on! I think it turned out pretty cute. Besides the fact that I decided that FOE would make a great collar and sleeve edge! Why would I think it would be quicker than just sewing on cuffs?? It's not, trust me, but it's not a bad look for a baby!

Tristan's Spring Start and New Diapers!

I have been sewing quite a lot lately, just no time to show! Baby boy is now sitting up on his own and thankfully letting mommy have a little more sewing time during the day! Now if I could just get the little booger to nap on a regular schedule we would be great!

I am making my way down my list of "needs" for Tristan's Spring/Summer wardrobe! In the past 2 weeks I have gotten quite a few done. I originally showed this tee with the Japanese red/blue/yellow knit interlock. I decided it would be fun to modify the tee some for smaller scraps. I also did a vneck style on a couple and I really like the way they turned out. Very simple too do, I just looked at one Tristan had in his closet from G@p and went for it! Now I have it drawn up so many different ways, I can't wait to sew some more!

The shorts are drafted by me, based off of a pair of RTW shorts that Noah wore a couple of years back. I drafted a pattern for Noah and found he really loved them and they are easy to sew assembly style. So I went with Tristan's measurements and I think they turned out pretty well. We call them our "Junk in the Trunk" shorts, meaning they have lots of room for our cloth diapers! Super easy to sew, especially assembly style! This is why having a serger and coverstitcher seperately is so nice!

Then last week, I volunteered to be a pattern tester for 3 different ladies who had developed new diaper patterns.

The first one really intrigued me because I had never sewn with FOE(fold over elastic), never used hook/loop tape and I had never made a pocket dipe before. I have made 2 of these now and I really like them. Not sure I am crazy about pockets though, I really find AI2's to be less messy to clean up. I think I will make the next ones that I do from this pattern that way instead. Great shape though and they fit Tristan pretty well for being at the end of the size range.

This one sewed together very easily too. A pretty basic turned and topstitched diaper. Fit Tristan pretty well too for the first go around. I think I may try it with snaps the next time I sew it up!

The third one is super easy to sew up. FOE around the diaper, hook/loop and then I made it an AI2. Shown here next to a DDU bigger newborn diaper. This one did not fit us well. It was a great shape too, just needs some adjustments I think. The mama sent me the next size up so I am going to give it a whirl here in a bit and see how well it fits Tristan.

I think that is it for now! I am working on a tute for changing a pajama button up adult top/long sleeved dress shirt into a little mans shirt. It uses all existing hems, so it sews up really quickly! I have the collar to finish still. Also, have a pair of ahoy shorts cut out and waiting to be sewn together! I think I will finish those today and see if I like the fit! Happy sewing everyone!

Baby Boy is 6 Months Old!!

Yesterday, my little chunk of love turned 6 months old! The day came with a great mix of emotions. Tristan has been by far, my hardest baby, out of our 4. The colic was so bad at times, I really thought we wouldn't make it this far! But along with the joy of now having a happy baby boy, comes the sadness of never having a newborn again. So many changes in so short a time. Babies are just the sweetest!

To mark our 6 month Birthday I decided to make a tee to celebrate. My kids did not get the humor at first and now that it has been explained to them they think I am a dork! Well I think I am just fine with being labeled a sewing dork!

The tee is my new found pattern from the Spring 1/2006 Ottobre issue. I LOVE it!! Let me say it again, I LOVE it!!! Fits pretty well with a little room to grow, you can mix and match, which I love to do AND it's a great way to make use of smaller sized scraps. Not great pics, but you get the idea! Tristan has found out how to suck on his lip or tongue or something! I can hardly take a picture anymore without him doing this newly discovered trick.

I decided to do another, this time with some of my hard to find Japanese scraps. I love this print, so vibrant and fun! I picked two of the pictures from the knit and made up my own little patches to put on the tee and pants. The pants are the crawling baby pants from the 4/2006 issue of Ottobre, I love them too! Very fun to make even with knits! I see more of these in our future, but the next time I will add just a little in the rise for a cloth diaper fit.

I also tried out another pattern this week the baby sweat pants from 1/2006. They fit ok, a little baggy in the width. I used fleece and it made the seams a little thick when serging where they were topstitched. Not sure if I would make these again, but all in all they were simple to put together. The tee was a onesie that Tristan's big sister brought him this week. I cut it off and made it into a tee so it would fit longer with cloth diapers. When she showed it to me, I was so happy that I had saved this knit for Tristan!


And then one more tee tonight, same pattern! Also made with hard to find Japanese knit. I adore this fabric! I only had a very small scrap and now I have a miniature sized scrap left! I wish I had a bolt of it! So soft and yummy and cute too! I am going to search the stash tomorrow for the perfect fabric to make Tristan some pants to match, maybe shorts.


Now I am off to bed! I have found that if I go to bed on time at night, then I usually feel like getting up before all of the kids and hubby. I am really enjoying the hour or so I have of calm before the storm! Good night and happy sewing!!