Mini Photo Dump; A Little Sewing

First, a little Target snoop shopping...I love their jackets and think they're reasonably well made but can't do the $35 price tag. Especially since Target puts their clothing on sale so quickly. I'm sure it'll be marked down 30% soon and maybe even 50%...

Perfect piece for spring!

Ignoring my dirty entry way (hey, it's still winter!)...My daughter's distressed jeans went into fully ripped at the knees. If you look closely at her right leg you'll see a vertical seam where I repaired them before! I think she's going to have to hang these up soon :) But in the meantime; she got a cool polka-dot patch job.

I was being a total hooligan and had a couple of completed items that needed hemming. My mom's cardigan is one of them. M6996 in an animal print jersey from Fabric Mart. 

We're pretty close in size and I've gifted her 2 of my M6844 cardis so this one should fit just fine. I have some "unselfish sewing" in the works for her to round out my February sewing.

What do you do when your husband asks you to make a blanket for a pending new baby in his extended family...and then tells you the baby is due "this week"?

Fleece! lol!

I took a yard of fleece and the JoAnn "minky" (it's called cuddle dot or something or another). I cut it down to 34" x 52" (FYI Husband: babies grow and still need blankies when they are no longer tiny) and put wrong sides together and bound it with the polka-dot fabric (I am getting major mileage from this cut of cotton!) 

The burp cloths are from the Cloud9 free pattern & tutorial (here). I love this little pattern. You can get 2 'faces' from a fat quarter which makes it really easy! I buy solid white flannel to back mine. I saw a great tip about backing it with terrycloth but that was WAY too thick. 

This cute little set is heading west! On it's way to California :)

Finished Items: Baby Bibs and Burp Cloths

My family is done. Complete. Finito. We're a blended unit with 5 kids total, 14, 13, 12, 12, & 7. "Mine" are 14 and 13. As I like to remind friends, I'll be 39 with the 13 year old turns 18. Yessssss! ;-)

However, at 33, many, many, MANY in my circle are having babies left and right. Plus, I'm getting old enough that "little" cousins and such are having babies. Oy!

When I saw Joyatee's post featuring these adorable bibs and burp cloths, I was sold. My tendinitis makes me unable to crochet as much as I used to and I think a blanket would be out of the question, unless I started it months in advance and could work on it over time. So I've been looking for alternatives for cute baby gift items. These fit the bill.

CUTENESS!!!!!!!!!!

Shown with velcro closure on bib.

Bibs courtesy of Purl Bee (Free pattern download!)

Burp Cloths courtesy of Cloud 9 (Free pattern download!)

What makes these so awesome:

1) They're functional AND adorable!

2) They need like next to no fabric! You can get a set from one Fat Quarter. Seriously!

3) They are FAST to make

I scored little fat rolls from Hancock yesterday for $.99. My daughter picked the fabrics out. I got a yard of white flannel for $2.50 so I made 4 sets for a total of $6.50. I had the Velcro on hand but even with that, you can make a set of 4 for under $10. Another option (which I'll be doing for a friend) is making a stack of burp cloths. Half yard of fabric (from the bolt) or 2 fat quarters will make 4. That's perfect!

With the first one, I took such great care to cut out the fabric around the template. My daughter and I were heading to the movies and I must have been in deep contemplation because she asked what I was thinking about. I was thinking - duh! - why not just trace it! So I put right sides together and traced the pattern onto the flannel (white) and cut it out. YES! The rest were cut and ready to sew in short order. Sure there are some rounded edges so sewing isn't completely a breeze...but using nice slow and steady sewing works. I also left the smallest opening ever to turn them out. I'm such a glutton for punishment :)

Can't wait to send these off to the moms-to-be!

Next up: Adorable baby booties, using my serger (!!!), and M6572!