Christmas Pajamas

Now that it is after Thanksgiving it is probably okay to post about these cute Christmas pjs that I made for my daughter right?  I purchased this Red and Green Fairisle Deer fabric from Girl Charlee Fabrics last year.  I had already gotten one good use out of the yard I ordered by making these cute leggings for Lyla last year

Here is my little cutie sporting her Christmas leggings at around 5 months old.  By the way the pattern is called Baby Got Back Leggings which you can read more about in this post.

I still had a significant amount of the Fairisle Deer fabric left and I thought that Christmas pajamas would be the perfect use for it.  I found a pattern called Movie Night Pajamas from Sew a Little Seam which I was excited to try.  I like this pattern a lot and I will be getting a ton of use out of it. The pattern includes options for shorts bottoms and long bottoms, short sleeve and long sleeve tops, and the option to add gathered sleeves to give the pajamas a more feminine touch.  It is also a layered pattern which is nice because you have the option to only print the pattern for the size you are making.

The size options are 12 months-12 years which is yet another reason that I will get a ton of use out of this pattern!  I made 2T for Lyla even though she is mostly wearing 18 month clothes.  They are a little long in the sleeves and legs since I made the 2T size but otherwise the fit is awesome!  I had just enough of the Fairisle Deer fabric for the pants and the sleeves of the shirt.  The other fabrics that I used were a grey interlock from Joann Fabrics for the rest of the shirt and white rib knit also from Joann Fabrics for the sleeve and leg cuffs.  

With this project I also use a double needle for the first time to hem the shirt.  I found some good tips on using a double needle here, here, here, and here.  Your machine needs to be able to do a zigzag stitch to accommodate a double needle and you need to have somewhere to put a second spool of thread.  I actually have a place to attach a second spool holder but I have lost the attachment so I just dropped the second spool into a small mason jar that I placed behind my machine.  I checked in my sewing machines manual for tips on how to thread the two needles.  It was quite easy actually and I liked the professional looking results.

 I used my Silhouette Portrait to add the Merry and Bright lettering with gold glitter heat transfer material.  

Hopefully you enjoyed this post and found some helpful hints.  Oh and if you like that bokeh light effect in the background of some of these photos check back for a post on how I did it in the near future!

Sewing for Baby: Cloth Wipes

I have a nice quick post for you all tonight. It is the first in a new series that I have titled Sewing for Baby.  I have had my sewing machine for about 3 years now and I am proud of all that I have accomplished with it.  I don't consider my self a professional seamstress by any means but I definitely think that I have moved up from the status of a novice.  Last summer I decided that I wanted to add to my skills (and tools) and so I asked my husband for a serger for my birthday.  That serger has sat in the closet until recently when I finally got up the nerve to give it a whirl.

I decided that cloth wipes were a good place to start since they are very simple.  We have decided to give cloth diapering a try at least part time so it only seemed natural that we use cloth wipes when cloth diapering.  Joann Fabrics had a sale on their flannel prints not too long ago for $2.80 a yard.  I bought a half yard each of 5 different prints.

I pre-washed the flannel and then I used my rotary cutter and mat to cut 8 1/4" by 8 1/4" squares.  2 and a half yards yielded 40 wipes.  There are tutorials out there where people made double layered wipes but I didn't find that necessary.

My perfectly cut squares sat for quite awhile because the serger was still intimidating me.  I finally got up the nerve to thread the thing and then used a scrap piece of fabric to test it out.  The test run didn't go so well so I had to walk away from the serger again with a little bit of frustration.  A few days later I came back to it and discovered that I had made a few errors in the threading process. Once I fixed it, the machine worked like a dream.  I got to work serging the edges of my wipes.  I don't think that I would of been successful with this project if it weren't for the plethora of blog posts on serger tips, so thank you internet!

It took me no time at all to blast through that pile of 40 wipes.  I am pretty pleased with my first serger project.  The next one that I have in mind looks a little more complicated so I think I will have to work up some nerve again before I tackle that one!  I hope to be back later this week with a post on more art for the nursery wall.