Recent Sewing Completions

Lately I've been finishing sewing projects. It's nice to be able to mark things off my list. My main priority was getting Peter's monkey costume finished in time for Halloween. Last year I finished with less than an hour before it was time to go. I really didn't want to do that this time around so here's the monkey with no little monkey in it. :) He likes to play with it more than he likes to wear it. Hopefully that will change this Friday at the church party. 

I took a pattern for footie pajamas and left the feet off and just added the hood, tail and front spot. It's actually the same PJ pattern that I used last year for his dragon. I'll be sure to post pictures of him wearing soon.

Monkey front

 Monkey back

The next project that I finished is this nursing cover. I actually cut out all the pieces LAST October and finally got around to putting it all together after I finished the monkey. I modified the tutorial I used for the other nursing covers to make a lined nursing cover. The piece of flannel I wanted to use wasn't quite tall enough so I added the green to the top and the bottom and the back is the same green fabric. I think I'm really going to like using this cover.

The nursing cover

Last but not least is the fitted crib sheet for Peter's bed. He was using the neutral sheets I made for the nursery. I have only finished this one but I've got the 2nd one cut out and ready to go. I was having a few issues with straight lines and it being late at night so I stopped while I was ahead and will finish the next time Peter's sleeping. I modified my friend's tutorial since the mattresses we have are half the thickness of standard crib mattresses. I think I may go back to this sheet and tighten it up a bit.

At first I was looking for a larger sheet set to cut up to make the sheets but the ones I bought I returned because they weren't quite the right color I was looking for. So one day I happened to be at JoAnn's and found the perfect color fabric in the quilting broad cloth section.

The sheet on Peter's bed

Lauren's Baby Stuff

My friend Lauren commissioned me to sew some baby paraphernalia for her because she liked what I did for Peter's nursery. She has a blanket that her husband's grandmother crocheted for them for their wedding and she wanted the colors of the blanket to be the colors for her nursery. We went up to JoAnn's and found fabric and all the bits and bobs for the two quilts and two nursing pillow covers. She actually asked me a few months ago and then I went on two vacations and it took me a bit of time to get back into the swing of sewing again. And then I got the invitation to her baby shower and decided that that was going to be my personal deadline. The shower was held on September 19th and I made my deadline. Hurray!!!

I used this picture as a status report to Lauren when I got home from my first trip

1st nursing pillow cover on my pillow.

2nd nursing pillow cover on my pillow.

Unfinished layout of quilt #1. I did finish the quilt I just forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

After seeing the above design Lauren questioned what happened to the blue fabric. I said all that white you see is actually blue. I ended up going back to JoAnn's on my own and found the new blue fabric. It looks much better.

This picture was used to determine white or gray yarn to tie the quilt (white it is). I used pictures on facebook a lot to get opinions and decisions made about the quilts.

Finished quilt #2.

A view of the back against the front. The same backing fleece was used for both quilts.

Bumper Issue Solved!!!

I finally decided how I was going to tightly secure the bumpers to the crib. I took some leftover fabric from the dust ruffle and sewed it into a tube and then secured the ends together to make a loop and then I just tightly tied the bumper pads to it on each side.

Hurray for finishing projects!!!

Former To Be Pillows are Now Wall Hangings

Ta Da! The wall hangings are complete and up on the walls in the Baby's room. What I did was I took some of the extra squares from the quilt and sewed them together. Then I edged them in the same bias tape that I used on the dust ruffle (pictures to come... eventually). I did the bottom 3 sides first and then used a separate piece of the bias tape on top to get the pocket for the dowel. The hangers are yarn, the same that I used to tie the quilt with and also to make the frog & duck blankets with. Hurray for projects getting completed!!!

The blue picture is directly above the head of the crib and the orange one is above the dresser.

The yellow and green pictures are both above the long end of the crib.

The Baby Quilt

Originally I was going to self-bind this quilt, but I did 2 sides and didn't like the way it was turning out. Specifically since the back is fleece and it was stretching in funny (bad) ways. So I undid the self-binding that I had done and cut off the excess and instead sewed on the the silky baby blanket binding. It looks kind of shiny and white in the picture but it is a pale green. I am really glad that I finally finished the blanket. Hurray!! Now I'm on to other projects on my list.

Here is the front of the quilt.

Here is the back of the quilt.

Baby Bumpers

Along with the 2 fitted crib sheets I have also completed the bumper for the crib as well. They were super easy especially since they make padding specifically in the shape for bumpers. I had instructions that I was following but I basically winged it since the crib is wider than a standard crib. I ran into a snag or two but it all worked out in the end. I sealed the pads in using bias tape on the top and the ties all around the edges are the same bias tape.

The main issue that I have with the bumpers is really not with them at all but with the crib. Since the head and foot are solid pieces we still haven't devised a way to be able to tie the bumper to them yet. I've got a couple of ideas but haven't done anything about it yet. Perhaps that will be Andrew's task this weekend. :)

The crib with the fitted sheet and bumpers on looks like a pond.

What it looks like on the outside.

Crib Fitted Sheets x 2

I found this fabric online while Andrew and I were waiting for our house to be finished. I fell in love with it and decided that I wanted to make all the crib bedding with it. About a month after we moved in to our house I finally started & finished the first fitted crib sheet. Once I saw how good the first one turned out I started in on the second one.

I am using Andrew's laser level to cut a straight line since my quilting ruler had gone MIA during the move.

The underside of the completed crib sheet.

The crib sheet on the actual crib mattress.

The finished sheet on the mattress in the crib.