DIY-Applique baby clothes

As promised here is the tutorial for how to do applique baby clothes. First gather the things you need here's my list:

-Onsies or kids shirts whatever you want to applique on
-lots of fabric scraps you don't really need lots because your letters or shapes aren't going to be very big.
-thread
-paper

So the first thing I do is draw or plan out what i'm going to put on my clothing for this one i'm putting the words "lil link" for my baby Lincoln and then I'm putting links leading to an anchor on the back.

Next I plan out what fabrics i'm going to use together and which letters I want out of which fabric and then I carefully use the rotary cutter and scissors to cut out my letters. I also lay them out on my clothes to make sure I like how it's going to look and fits on it.

Now you want to sew each piece onto your clothing and you want to use a zig zag stitch and sew it around the outside of the letters and if any of your letters or shapes have inner seams make sure to sew them as well like if you have a letter "b" or an "o" sew inside the letter so that when you wash it that it doesn't fall apart. You sew around the edges of all of your letters and shapes and then your done. You might want to start with an easy large shape or a small short word because this can be a tricky craft due to the small areas your sewing. Here's my finished "lil link" project can't wait for him to wear it!!! :)

Applique Thanksgiving Baby Outfit

I created this adorable lil turkey outfit for my little man to sport on his first thanksgiving. I appliqued all the pieces onto a onesie and pants that I already had. Applique means that you sew around the edges of your shape or letters to put them on your item, you can applique things on clothes, quilts, bags, or any fabric item. I will put more of a tutorial of how I went about cutting my shapes and appliqueing them in the next couple of days but until then here's what his outfit looks like :)

DIY- Changing Pad

Why can't changing pads be cute I mean I use mine all the time and the one that came with my diaper bag wasn't easy to wipe poop off so every time daddy changed baby I ended up with yellow little stains on my changing pad.. eww so I decided to make one that was cute and easy to clean up. This project is fairly easy the most difficult part I found was working with the vinyl, I found it easiest by always sewing with it on the top and using my walking foot on my machine. You need to start with the following supplies:

-1/4 yard of vinyl ( this will either make 2 one sided pads or 1 double sided pad)
- 1/2 yard of fabric for the front
-1/2 yard of fabric for the back
- 1 package of bias tape (I used 1/2 inch double fold)
- Piece of batting the size of your pad




First your going to cut your front fabric, back fabric, vinyl, and batting 12 x 24 inches cut them all out and then your going to layer them exactly how their going to be when your done I did blue fabric right side down, batting, grey fabric right side up and then vinyl.

Now your going to sew around the whole outer edge using 1/4 inch seam and it really works best if you use the walking foot to do this part if not your sewing foot will stick to the vinyl.

Now I trim around the edges being careful to not cut over any of my seams I cut about 1/4 inch from the seams so that it makes working with my bias tape a little easier.

Now your going to split your pad into thirds and mark each fold and sew on each of the marks you made this will make folding your pad up easier and give it a nice finished look when your done.

Next you are going to do your bias tape, I start half way and fold the end over to give it a finished look, put your bias tape all the way around the pad and once you get to where you started your going to fold the end over for a finished look.

Your now finished and this is your awesome, cute easy to clean poop off changing pad and you can customize it to mach your diaper bag, or just any fabric you love. If you've tried this leave a post in the comments area i'd love to see how it went for you.

Rice bag for baby

Today I made a rice bag for baby, the first week at home with Lincoln was tricky not only getting the hang of what he liked but also what worked best for all of us. I quickly discovered that he liked sleeping with us better than alone in his bassinet so before he was born I made a long skinny rice bag to lay next to him to make him feel more secure, so I gave this a try and it really seemed to work. This is a very simple project and is very inexpensive as well. The list of supplies you need is as follows..

-A piece of fabric the size you want the rice bag ( you can make these any shape or size you want- I made this one long and skinny so that it could lay beside baby and not be taking up the whole bed.)
-Rice
-Thread

The first thing you need to do is cut your fabric into the size and shape you want it to be remember your going to sew it inside so make it slightly bigger than you think its going to be. You also need 2 pieces of your shape or you can cut it along a seam and make it slightly easier so you only have to sew 3 sides instead of 4 (that's what I did with this one.) I made mine 5 1/2 x 25 inches.

After you have your piece cut out the size you want you want to sew it right sides together along all sides but don't forget to leave about a 3 inch space to turn your bag right side out. This is what it will look like after you turn it right side out and before you put your rice in. 

Next you are going to put your rice in, you want it about 2/3 the way full or a little less you don't want it stuffed because you want it to be comfortable and somewhat mold-able. 

Then your going to fold your open end in so that it gives it a finished look and sew your seam, if you want the whole thing to have a really finished look you can sew a 1/4 inch seam around the whole outside of the bag (I didn't because I didn't feel like spending the extra time even though its really only about 2 more minutes.)


This is your finished product. These make great gifts for a baby shower and if you make them shorter they make great gifts for anyone, pop them in the microwave for a few minutes and they make a great heating pad, or store them in the freezer and they make great ice packs that won't leak. You also can add lavender or scented oils to the rice to give it a nice scent when you warm it up.

FYI- make sure to test the warmed bag on yourself before putting anywhere on baby because they can get very hot!!

Rag Time Baby Quilt!!!

Today I was working on a rag time quilt for a lady my dad works with, these are great quilts for beginners, and gifts because they are simple quilts that you "quilt as you go" and they don't require a ton of fabric so they become reasonably priced. I typically create my own pattern for the rag quilts because you can customize the size of the quilt and you can make it as difficult or simple of a pattern as you want. The smaller squares  you use the more tricky and time consuming the quilt is. The quilt I made today was for a baby so it was small and the final product was approx. 33 x 33.

The supplies you need for this project are:
-thread
-1/2 yard of Hot Pink Fabric
-1/2 yard of Green Fabric
-1/3 yard of Giraffe Print Fabric
-1/3 yard of Pink Polka Dot Fabric

the first thing I do with all of my rag time quilts is decide on the size of my pieces and then cut them all out for this quilt the larger pieces are all 9x8 and the smaller pieces are 9x4.5  I cut the following
12- 9x8 Hot Pink
12- 9x8 Green
12- 9x4.5 Giraffe
12- 9x4.5 Polka Dot

Next what you do is lay out your quilt both the front and the back so you know which pieces will be sewn together and so you can see what it will look like and make sure you space your pieces evenly apart. after you have it laid out your going to take the front piece and the back piece and sew them wrong sides together this is the quilting part of your quilt your going to sew the squares at an angle and I use a zig-zag stitch because it looks cooler when your done but you can sew with a straight stitch to save thread if you want. once your done you should have 12- 9x8 sandwiches wrong side together and 12- 9x4.5 sandwiches like the picture below.

now that you have all of your sandwiches which are your front and your backing your going to sew your rows of your quilt together, your going to take your first 2 sandwiches and put them backs together and sew one side with a 1/2 inch seam. you will do this with all of your rows until you have all of your rows put together and all of your seams will be on the front side of your quilt this is how it should be.





after you have all 4 of your rows sewn together your going to sew your rows together also with the backs together with 1/2 inch seams and again your seams will be on the front of your quilt.

after you have all of your rows together your quilt should be completely put together, now you want to sew a 1/2 inch seam around the entire outer edge of your quilt, like the picture at the left.


now your are ready to clip your quilt this is what makes it "rag" your going to need extremely sharp and short scissors and your going to clip all of the seams on the front of your quilt down to the seam you sewed but make sure to be careful not to clip the seam or you will create a hole in your quilt.


after you've clipped all of the seams you can choose to wash it or not I always wash them even if i'm giving them as a gift because this frays it up like its supposed to be and finishes it off, also I don't want people to get worried when it changes so much after they wash it the first time. so that's all for how to make it my final quilt is below and please post pics if you tried this or created your own pattern to try.

Teething Necklace

Today I decided to make some teething necklaces now I know my baby won't be using them for a little while still but I thought I would be prepared and I think their really cute and might wear them just as fashion also. so here's the list of things you need:

Supplies:

-1/4 yard of fabric

-20mm wooden beads ( I used about 10-11 per necklace)

-thread

The first thing I did was to cut my fabric into 4.5 inch long strips, you should be able to get 2 strips out of your 1/4 yard of fabric.

then you need to sew your long fabric pieces right sides together on your short (4.5inch) side and then press 

the seam open 

next you need to sew the whole strip right sides together on the long side with a 1/2 inch seam. after you sew the whole piece you need to turn it so the right side is on the outside and your seam is on the inside.

after you have it turned you need to turn one end about a 1/2 inch and sew the end shut, this will finish your end                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   after you have the end finished I measured 11 inches down and tied my first knot, then slip your bead down to the knot and tie another knot as tight against your bead as you can get, you will continue doing this until you have it the length you want I used 9 beads on this one. after you have all the beads you want you need to tie a final knot and measure 11.5 inches from that bead and turn 1/2 inch under and sew again to finish your final end. your necklace is now finished and you can tie a knot in the two ends at the length you want to wear it.

and here is your final product!! enjoy and post what you've made!