Sewing for Baby: Boppy Cover

It would seem that every break I have from school I am sick.  This nice long Easter break is no exception.  I have a terrible cold and pink eye in both eyes.  Oh the joys.  So since I don't feel like doing much else I thought I would write a blog post on a project I completed quite a while ago now. This project started with the purchase of some fabric that I had to have but had no clue what I was going to do with it when I bought it.  I got the idea of making a cover for my boppy nursing pillow (I don't use it for nursing anymore but it is great for other uses with baby like propping and sitting assistance).  I found this tutorial from the blog Vanilla Joy (remember the pattern weights from the last post).  I didn't have quite enough fabric for both sides of the cover so I decided to do the other side with this embossed minky from Fabric.com:

The tutorial has link to a free pattern and it was pretty easy to make.  The only difficult part was trying to sew a zipper with minky.  I am not so great at zipper sewing as it is and minky is a really tough fabric to use with zippers because it is fluffy and slippery.

It was worth it though because it is so cute!  I have a few bonus pictures with today's post.  One of my best friends (who I co-hosted this baby shower for) had a baby boy this past Wednesday.  She made his nursery have a woodland/mountain theme and even painted a mountain scene behind his crib which turned out awesome!  I decided to sew a few items for her and the baby so here is a look at what I made.  You can find the links to make all of the items as well as links on how to make the leggings and scarf bib that are pictured on my daughter at the bottom of this post.

And here is a look at the one of the changing pad covers in the nursery.  Gotta love Snapchat!

The cotton prints on the changing pad covers are from Spoonflower.   All of the rest of the cotton prints are from Joann Fabrics.  All of the minky fabric is from Fabric.com except the grey dot minky on the mountain changing pad cover.  That one is from Joann Fabrics.  The snuggle flannel prints for the cloth wipes are all from Joann Fabrics.  The snaps on the car seat canopy are from Kam Snaps.

Pattern Weights

Usually I don't write a post that only contains 2 pictures but tonight I am.  I just wanted to throw out a quick idea for all you sewists out there.  I'm sure that there are things that most people who sew detest doing for each project.  For many it might be ironing but most of the time I kind of like it as long as it isn't a large project like curtain panels.  The biggest thing that annoys me is pinning pattern pieces to fabric.  That is probably one reason why I avoided sewing projects with patterns for a long time.

About a month ago I found some hot air balloon flannel fabric while picking up some flannel to make cloth wipes for a friend.  It was one of those times where I saw the fabric and had to have it but I had no clue how to use.  After some thought I decided that making a boppy cover with it would be the perfect application (post coming soon!).  I found a tutorial that I liked and in one of the tutorials pictures I saw the cute pattern weights that the blogger had made and of course she linked them to that post.  I had pinned how to make some diy pattern weights awhile ago but these were so much easier so I knew I had to make some right away.  Here is the tutorial from the blog Vanilla Joy.

You can read the full tutorial on that blog but they are so easy to make.  You just glue a couple of washers together with hot glue and then wrap them with strips of fabric scraps to add a little color to them.  And then you plop them on top of pattern pieces and use a rotary cutter and mat to cut out the fabric.  It is so much easier than pinning and using fabric sheers.  Well it would be so much easier if I had a better rotary cutter.  I purchased the cheapest one when I bought mine because I didn't imagine I would be using it that much.  But after cutting out 100 cloth wipes with it I realize that a more expensive ergonomic model will easily pay for itself in time saved and avoided hand cramps.

So that is it.  By the way, the pattern I am cutting out in the first picture is a little bohemian top for Lyla that I plan to embroider (my newest hobby).  I also will have some *gasp* house stuff to post on in the near future since we are getting the bonus room redone because it has had water damage the last two springs.  I am excited to share many projects in that room over the summer!

Sewing for Baby: Infinity Scarf Bib

*update: the pattern that I used has resurfaced and you can buy it here on Etsy! I have edited this post to remove some of the actual tutorial because I don't want to steal someone else's work.  I only included a tutorial for this originally because the original tutorial I followed was no longer available.

Uff da, it is mid-March and I haven't blogged since mid-February.  Where did that time go!?!?  I have been doing lots of projects but I haven't been very motivated to blog about them lately for some reason.  I think it must be spring fever from the nice weather we have been having.  Unfortunately we are going to be back to winter temps later this week, boo.

My daughter will be 8 months in less than two weeks and I am finally getting around to share the drool bibs that I made for her a few weeks before she turned 7 months.  She popped out 2 teeth at the end of February/beginning of March and has been drooling like crazy.  I was at Target and almost bought some cute bandanna bibs but then I looked at them and thought "I can make these."  When I got home I started looking for tutorials and then I came across the pattern and tutorial for these infinity scarf bibs.

 I started by using the pattern to cut out 2 pieces of each part. I used some scrap jersey knit fabric leftover from other projects.

Next I placed the pieces right sides together and sewed them with a 1/4 inch seam allowance leaving a small opening close to the end.

I clipped the fabric around the curve so that the curve would lay better and then I turned them right side out and topstitched the opening closed.

Next I laid the end of the smaller piece on top of the end of the larger piece and topstitched them together just around the curve.

I then twisted the larger piece around the smaller piece so that the larger piece was on top of the smaller piece on the other end and topstitched them together.

This step helped to give the bib the looped appearance of an infinity scarf.

Finally I installed a snap on the ends of the scarf.  I have a pair KAM snap pliers and I love them so much. They have so many colors of snaps.  They are great for many projects and are so fun!  I chose a lovely coral snap for this scarf bib.

They take just a little bit of knit fabric and are so easy to make.  I just discovered that Girl Charlee Fabrics sells half yard cuts of fabric for around $3 a piece so I have been churning out a ton of these babies.  

I am so in love with the simple project! They are very effective in catching all the drool too so they are cute and functional.  

How amazing is the lime green snap on this one! 

I can't believe that this big girl is almost 8 months now!  

Here is a look at some of the other projects in the Sewing for Baby series:

Alphabet Block Craft

As promised I am back with a post on how I put together the craft for my friend's baby shower a few weeks ago.  This was a massive project that I created mostly with my Silhouette portrait so get ready for a very detailed, picture filled blog post.  I started with the idea that I wanted to create stickers for the blocks of the alphabet letters and also stickers of an animal and an instrument (since my friend and her husband are music teachers like me) for each letter.  Silhouette makes some great printable white sticker paper which you can purchase here or at Michaels.  Here is how I created the stickers in my Silhouette Designer Edition software:

1. Google animal silhouettes (you may have to make it into png file using photo editing software if it is in some other file format and has a background).  Save the images to your desktop and then drag it into your Silhouette software.

2.Select the trace area and trace your image.

3. Drag away and delete the original image.

4. Change the line color of the shape to the color of your choice.  You can change the line thickness if you desire as well.

5. Fill the shape with a pattern.

I learned how to add my own patterns to my library in this project.  You simply drag a saved background image into your pattern folder in you library.  Easy peasy!

6. Then I scaled the pattern to my liking in the advanced options of the fill pattern window.

6./7. I added an offset to my stickers and adjusted the distance to make the offset fairly close to my image.

Look at all of those cute patterned animal silhouettes!  So much fun! I printed the stickers with my printer and then cut them out with the Silhouette.

8. I traced each instrument image to add an offset.  I purchased most of the instrument clipart on Etsy or Teachers Pay Teachers but I also used Google images for some.

9. Add an offset to the traced instrument shape and then delete the traced shape.

10. Drag the offset and line it up with the instrument image.

Here are the completed instrument stickers.  I then printed and cut them just like with the animal stickers.

Next I created the letter stickers with a font from my computer and changed the line color and filled with patterns.  I made two of each letter so that each block could have two lettered sides. Once again I printed them and cut them out on white sticker paper.

I found the wooden blocks at Hobby Lobby.  They are 1.5" square.  To prep them, one of the other hosts and gave them a light sanding since some of the edges were a little rough.  I made backgrounds for the stickers with the Silhouette and cut them out in various colors of card stock.  I also made plenty of white squares for people to design their own side with another object that fit with their letter.

I also created a signature side for the blocks in the Silhouette software and cut it out on white card stock.

To set up the craft I filled a small sandwich baggy with an animal sticker, letter stickers, instrument sticker, a white background for the design your own side, and a signature background.  I labeled each bag with the letter and the name of the animal and the name of the instrument so that people knew what to write on their block. 

I placed five or six letter bags in a box at each table (we had 4 tables set up for the number of guests at the shower).  I placed the various backgrounds that I cut out in the lid of the box.  I put markers and foam craft brushes in jars on the table.  I stacked 5 or 6 blocks at each table and put mod podge in a styrofoam bowl.  

I also made this instruction sheet for each table because I thought picture instructions would be easier to follow.  

Here is how the blocks were assembled:

Choose a background for each of your stickers and place the sticker on the background.

Label your instrument and animal.

Draw your own picture for your letter and label on a white background piece.  Sign the signature background piece.

To attach them to the block, put mod podge on the block and on the back of the card stock piece. Don't make it too thick.  Then put the card stock piece on the block.  Once it has dried a little bit apply a layer of mod podge over it.  Make sure you don't put a wet side down on your work surface unless you want to ruin that side!  You will have to wait for the some of the sides to dry before you can finish all of the sides.

Now admire your creation!

It was so fun to see what the shower guests created!  They turned out so cute!  One thing to note is that I wouldn't let a child play with these blocks until they are past the stage where they have to put everything in their mouth.  Until that time they will look cute displayed in the nursery!  I have so many ideas for posts so if I get motivated be prepared for a barrage of blog posts in the next few weeks ;).