Placemats!

The ruffly, pre-quilted kind!

My mother-in-law has decided to trust my ability to sew (even though I doubt myself sometimes), and is putting me to the test! She hasn't been happy with any of the place mats she's found or used in the past. Either they've shrunken when washed (all-cotton) or they just don't go perfectly with her decor and plates. I can understand the frustration. She's asked me to sew a total of 24 place mats from her choice of two difference pre-quilted fabrics and coordinating broadcloth (for the edging and ruffles) from Jo-Ann Fabrics. I accepted the challenge and am well on my way to a WIN!

I hemmed and hawed over how I was going to construct the place mats. And after cutting out all the quilted fabric, cutting strips of broadcloth and using my ruffle foot to make ruffles (so easy and fast - way better than ruffling by hand), I finally finished one. I think it looks great.

I only have one done, but as soon as I can finish another one or two, I'd be happy to post pictures.

Hair Clip Holder

So easy. So cute. I got the idea for my hair clip holder from Little Birdie Secrets, but I did mine a little differently.

I have LOTS of scrap fabric, and since the hair bow holder was for Katie, I decided to use some scraps from the crib set that I made for her. I think it turned out perfectly!!!

Like I mentioned before, I made my hairbow holder a little differently than the fabulous ladies at LBS. First, I headed over the dollar store and picked up an 8x10 document frame. And I can tell you it was darn cheap. There was no paint or finish on the wood at all and I was kind of surprised that it actually had a real piece of glass rather than a piece of thick plastic. Not that it mattered. Instead of using the glass, I decided it would be safer to use a piece of poster board cut to size, backed with the original cardboard backing. In hindsight, I would probably use a thicker piece of cardboard, or even track down a piece of plexiglass, to use since the poster board didn't really provide as much structure as I was hoping.

I covered the poster board with some of the fabric scraps left over from Katie's bedroom coordinates and used some other scraps to make the fabric flowers and the fabric ribbon (I don't really keep ribbon around so I usually just end up making whatever I need). I attached the ribbon to the covered poster board, glued the fabric flowers to the ribbon, and viola!

The only thing left to do was the paint the frame since it was just plain blonde unfinished pine. To do this, I just took some recently purchased Crayola Washable Kid's Paint (it's not the best choice, but it's non-toxic and washable and Katie painted some pictures while I painted the frame) and covered the frame in white paint. Then I used a sponge brush to add pink and purple dots.

After it was all done, I simply replaced the glass with the finished poster board and added the clips!

Umbrella Stroller Recover

I have these two umbrella strollers that. are. hideous. period. One I've had since Katie was a baby - it was gifted to us for her baby shower and was bought at a garage sale. It wasn't all that bad, I guess. Just not what I pictured for Katie. The second stroller was bought from Savers, a for-profit thrift shop. I used the stroller once and decided that there was absolutely no way I could cope with the fabric. And not only was the fabric bad, but the stroller itself was painted to match the fabric. Ugh! Check this out:

Yikes. There are no words to describe how ugly this is to me.

So I decided to recover it. And since I was recovering the hideous one, I decided to recover Katie's, too (the one with the okay fabric). I have to thank Laura Thoughts for inspiration and confidence I needed to get the project started...and finished :o)

I headed over to my local Hancock Fabrics to pick out something a little more...stylish. I ended up with some cotton fabric that was less stylish, but fun, cute, and not remotely as offensive to my eyes (with coordinating bias tape and strap material). I got the fabric home and started my project. First, I took all the screws out that held on the fabric, about 8 screws on each stroller. One had to be drilled out. I took the original stroller seat fabric and ripped the seams that I needed to rip. I used that to trace on my new fabric (and some fabric for the backing for strength). I marked where the folds were supposed to be, as well as the straps.

Then out came the sewing machine. First I basted the cute fabric to the backing. Then, I followed my marks to fold the fabric so it would bend and form a seat. I sewed those seams. After that, I needed a place for the metal frame to slip into the fabric, so I copied each from it's original and sewed. Once all my folds and creases were folded and sewn, I used the bias tape to finish the edges. Then I added the straps.

I happen to think they turned out terrific! So cute, and now they MATCH! Here's the finished product (of the really ugly stroller, anyway):

I'm still planning on spray painting the ugly greenish stroller frame white. Seriously. That previous fabric...gag me.

The Critic Disapproves

So, Liv didn't really care about the crinkle paper. When Katie was her age, she couldn't get enough of her crinkle paper. I was kinda bummed since I got all excited about making it.

I used two pieces of baby flannel and the plastic from an empty travel wipes package for the middle. I thought it worked great; was easy to sew and was a crinkly as I wanted it to be.

Oh well, maybe someday some other baby will like it!

Crinkle Paper Done!

Okay, folks. I'm back. And I found the camera stuffed under the seat in the truck.

I found a tutorial, but didn't use it. Here's the link if you need a good tut.

I chose to make a circle crinkle paper instead of a square. Just for fun. Here it is!


And when Liv wakes up in the morning I'll try to get a shot of her playing with it. Come back for an update.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my birthday. The big 3-0!

To celebrate, I'm planning on making some baby paper! And if I can find the camera, I will take a picture!!

So I Lied.

I did get the bumper done, installed and pictures taken. But then I got lazy and didn't post. I did, however, finish the dust ruffle. So that's done, too! But now I can't find the camera so you'll have to wait (again!). But I will show you the bumper!

Here's the bumper with Liv's blanket (made by Gramma) and a pretty rainbow sheet.

A close-up of the outside design of the bumper.

Here's the whole thing.

Livvy enjoying her new bumper.

And then this weekend, we did some family pictures in our beautiful fall yard!