Changing Pad Cover

I was given a contoured changing pad by my brother and sister-in-law.  It only needs a cover to make it complete.  I have seen a cover pattern on Pinterest.com but it was for the changing pad that only has contoured sides, not the ends as well.  So I made my own by taping together advertiser pages to make a big sheet, then wrapped the paper over the changing pad like wrapping a present.  Where the corners overlapped I traced the folds to make the shape of the piece.  To make it an official pattern I had to retrace it onto another piece of paper adding a 1/2 inch seam allowance on all sides.  I will try to make a downloadable pdf file for my adoring fans and fellow DIY-ers, but someone will have to teach me how first. 

 

For the love of God, I finally finished.  I was stalled - out of frustration.  The fabric I was going to use got cut in half - by me - prior to making the pattern.  I thought I would get two covers out of it, but then made this nifty pattern and found that none of my fabric was large enough to use with the pattern.  TWO LARGE DRAWERS OF FABRIC, AND NONE LARGE ENOUGH FOR THIS PATTERN.  I'd had enough, so I waited and waited, for no reason at all it seems.  Then I just sewed the two pieces back together and finished the project!  Victory is mine!

 

The top view has the slightly noticeable seem going across it.  On the bottom I used elastic 3/4's of the way around and in back where the straps secure to the changing pad to the dresser, I removed a portion so that the straps can get through.  The fabric is a soft-fuzzy-white.  The fur made it hard to be precise in the cutting and sewing, but also hard to see the imperfections, so it was a draw.
I still need to make another and I'll choose a soft fabric with a shorter pile, like minky fleece. That will make it easier to follow the pattern and sew.

Another Blanket!?!?!

I've made another blanket. "Why?" you ask. Because I'm a crazy-nesting-pregnant woman.  This blanket is a little more "quilty" than the last.  I had a lot of scraps left over from the last blanket but none large enough for one of the other projects so I decided to make another blanket, a back-up for wash days.

I cut the pieces into 3 inch strips, and then arranged them in a pattern I liked.  Then I had to figure out how to move them to fit the sewing machine back on the table.  Oops!

As I was adding the cotton batting and fleece backing the dogs stared in awe.  It's not only a nice baby blanket, but also a chihuahua magnet.  Now that its done I don't blame the dogs, its really warm and comfy.  I wore it on my lap the rest of the night while watching old Columbo episodes.

Nursing Cover-up

I started and almost finished a nursing cover up today.  The fabric is so cute and was given to me by my grandma the other day while I was visiting.  By visiting I mean I brought all my online patterns over to her house so she could help me cut them out and assemble the little puzzle pieces into a full pattern.  We all like to put her to work : )

I found the instructions on a Pinterest link (where all things can be found).  The instructions are on the site Prudent Baby: DIY Nursing Cover and are very easy to follow.  The only things I had to buy were D-rings and boning.  With a 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby, they cost only a couple bucks.
Those three pieces are the cover and the two pieces that make the strap and buckle.

The finished cover has a piece of boning in the front that allows it to remain open to mommy's view of what's going on below.

Faux Boppy Pillow

My newest project is the faux Boppy and Cover.  I was able to find a cover pattern for free on the internet.  I figured that since its the same shape and size as the pillow itself, I'l make use that for the pillow pattern.  Easy enough to cut out and sew together.  Then I used the stuffing from an extra pillow I had around the house.  The pillow itself was easy to assemble.  The pattern on the other hand was crazy difficult to put together.  Oh sure, it looks easy now that you can see the numerical order.  There were no instructions on how to put it together.  Now I can't decide which fabric to make the cover out of.  I'll let you know what I decide.

Crocheted/up-cycled rug

There was a rug on my registry that cost over $100. All I really needed was a soft place to put the baby down for tummy time or play. So I looked up DIY rug on Pinterest.com and found this idea to make a crocheted rug from old sheets. There's no precision involved and the results are a unique and shabby-chic rug. Right now I'm about a third of the way done.   I ran out of sheets so I'll be heading to the Resale shop this weekend.  I think I'll look for some orange and green next.  I also need to keep in mind that I'll need large sheets or multiples of the same so that they colors make it more than one row on the blanket.


Finally done.  I did make it to the thrift shop for more sheets and found a multi-colored striped sheet and a set of lime green--my favorite color.  I bought everything else in lime green while I was there.  I'll use those for other projects.  


























I figured out to wind the torn sheets on a box to keep them straight while I crocheted.  Otherwise the fabric got very twisted and tangled.  Then I figured out to use a lazy susan to release the fabric as I needed it.  The last few rows of the rug really flew by.  I did find that the fitted sheet was difficult to tear.  I had to tear the top and bottom of the fitted sheet off and work with the middle only.    Overall I like the color combination and size.  Its about 3 feet across and should fill a lot of the space in the middle of the baby's room.

Crib Bedding

The first project to tackle is the Crib Bedding.  I started this idea without even thinking of being thrifty.  I just wanted to make it.  So I went out searching for a gender neutral woodlands animal fabric to use.  I found one at JoAnne's and bought all the complimentary styles to create the front of the blanket.  I also wanted the middle to be applique's of the theme.

The front is done!  Now I just need to add the batting and a complimentary fabric to the back to finish it.  Next will be the sheets and crib skirt.

To make this blanket I drew up a diagram using a comforter sizing chart I found online and then fit the pattern of fabric pieces into the overall size.  I made sure to leave a larger area in the middle for the appliques of the woodland animals scene. I added 1/2" to each piece that would be used to assemble the blanket as a seem allowance.  Then I made patterns for each piece to cut them out. It's assembled like a quilt.  I worked on the center applique first since the edges of the scene would be sewn into the seams at the edges.  

To make the applique:

• Draw the tree on my diagram first and copy it to fusible iron ons.
• Cut out the tree design on the brown tree fabric and iron it onto the center piece.
• T-shirt material in two colors of green were used to make the grass along the bottom.
• Draw a grid on the diagram to determine how large to make the animal appliqué's. 
• Scan a piece of the animal fabric into the computer then crop, copy and paste each animal onto a word document.  Stretch and shrink each animal picture to the desired size of each animal.
• Print the animals document, then copy the shapes onto the fusible iron ons.  I had to use my small light table to make out the animal shapes through the papers.
• Stick the patterns onto desired colors and styles of fabric. Then cut them out.  Use felts, fleece or other fabrics for the animals to give them texture.
• Iron on the faces and other pieces that attach to the main body of each piece.  Then place and iron all animals to the applique.  Cover any acrylic or man-made fabric with cotton fabric before ironing or it will melt.  I used a cloth napkin.  Iron the front first, then carefully flip the whole center piece over and press again to adhere all pieces permanently.  
• Finally, add the leaves to the tree.  I cut mine out with my Sizzix die cutter and Leaves Die, by placing the fusible iron ons and the fabric together when cutting.  They were easily placed and ironed onto to the scene. 

Sew together the pieces for the top row, middle row, and bottom row.  Then, assemble the rows top to bottom with the strips of fabric between each row.

Welcome

Much like my last blog-Summer-2011, the theme is making practical, useful, or decorative items on a budget.  This seasons theme is the arrival of our new baby.  The gender is still unknown, so I've chosen a woodland animals theme, because its what I like.  It had to be woodland animals--not jungle, ocean, or prehistoric--because I'm a science geek and I wanted it to be geographically accurate to my region.  It's not the hormones, I'm always like this.

To get started preparing for the baby, I created a website to let friends and family know how the pregnancy's going.  I also included a wish list/registry, rather than registering at one store.  Seeing how much we would need for our first child, I realized that we'll never get all these items for gifts.  I don't want to have to shell out too much money for remaining items (back to my thrifty theme).  I also realized that many items can be home made instead of store bought.  I made a list of these items and removed them from the registry.  This leaves the remaining items, like car seats, strollers, monitors, etc. on the registry.  These are the things I can't make.  Well, actually, if I really tried, I could probably put something together, but...


The list of items includes: 

1. Crib Blanket
2. crib sheets (4)
3. Crib skirt
4. Sling/baby carrier - there are a few patterns I will look into
5. Diaper bags (daddy/mommy)  we each need our own so daddy doesn't look like he's carrying a purse.
6. Boppy slipcover ( I will also look for a Boppy Pattern)
7. Changing pad cover (2)
8. Nursing Cover up
9. Wet bags (2) - These carry the dirty cloth diapers home.  I'll make two in case one gets stinky and is in the wash.
10. Pail Liners (2) - This holds the dirty cloth diapers at home. A washable, waterproof bag.
11. Diapers (30) and Covers (12)
12. Pee pee tee pee's (3) - In case of a boy, you pop these on before getting peed on.
13. Nursing Pads - I'm not explaining this.
14. Rug/Play mat (1)
15. Swaddle blanket