Baby Showers

We have lots of baby and wedding showers coming up soon, and me with no money to spend. I like to give handmade gifts anyways! I just have to be a bit more creative in using supplies I already have or find a nice upcycling project.  

I have plenty of yarn, especially cotton and I love baby shoes. There are so many amazing free patterns on the internet.  These are the ones I liked.
Some really cute loafers (with video tutorial) from Crochet Hooks You for the boys and some adorable slippers for the girls from Moira Crochets.

I have been working on thinning out my fabric stash, but still have enough for some baby footwear. They use such small pieces. I also think denim for baby shoes is super cute & and great way to re-use worn out jeans.  Again, some nice free patterns. I love the pinstripes on these little man shoes from Schwin & Schwin or these nice basic baby shoes from Stardust Shoes to personalize with fabric or embellishments.

For friends I know are going the cloth diaper route, and if I have appropriate fabrics, I can do some diaper covers or inserts.  But, that'll have to be another post. I don't have pictures ready.

For weddings I like to do nice napkins.  I am striving for a greener lifestyle and cloth napkins help to cut back on paper use and they're nice for fancy dinners too.  There are lots of ways to finish the edges on napkins, I like the mitered corners shown nicely by Skip to my Lou, they look extra fancy.


PS. Need to get someone to teach me how to do picture links!!

Birthday Present

Needed a quick and cute present for my niece and was thinking something for her Nintendo DS, but she's planning on trading it for a newer one soon, so I'm not sure what size it is.

Outside front with button

Inside pockets before sewing closed

Outside back with flower.

I came across this wristlet tutorial on whipup.net that looked like it would be flexible enough to be used for whatever she needs to carry.  I had this cute flip flop bright green fabric & a pink denim. The main piece is padded and the outside pocket is also padded. It has lots of little pockets for games on the inside. I changed the button loop to elastic instead of a fabric loop so it would have a bit more stuffing room. I also thought it needed something on the back so I made a flower like this one out of the pink denim. I had a cute little green flower button to finish off the flower & a big antique grey button for the front.

Back view with safety pins

"Give me the camera, Momma"

Also I finally got a picture of this cute dress I made for S. about a month ago. The main fabric was a large flat sheet we found at Goodwill for $3 (I'm getting lots of use out of it) The contrast fabric was from Nana.  The pattern is from this cute ruffle top I was thinking of making for myself.  Making clothes for the 19 month old is so much more fun.  I followed her instructions as is. The shoulder straps are a little long so I think I'm going to add buttons on the back so I the straps can open to put on. Currently she's just wearing it with safety pins. It's floor length for her but she likes it and it's super cute so I think I'll just leave the length for now.