Baby Shower Gift - Elephants

So I started working at a new job (which I must tell you all about at another time) and within a week was invited to a surprise baby shower for a co-worker.  I hadn't met her at the time, but knew that I would rather make something than buy something.  The mom-to-be for a second time, knew she was having a girl but was worried about the possibility of the tech being wrong on the gender.  So I planned to make a gender neutral gift. you know, just in case.

While I was in JoAnn's searching for Janet's gift for her bridal shower (yup gotta post about that one too) I saw this absolutely adorable fabric that I immediately knew I had to use for my co-workers gifts.

It was different colored lions.

I was in love.  I didn't buy it initially because I was on a time crunch to get Janet's stuff done and could not afford the distraction of cutie little lions.

So Jon and I made a trip to JoAnn's a week later to buy the baby shower fabrics.  And while I was intent on using the lions, Jon found the same fabric but with elephants!  They were super cute too!  Then the shelf the lion fabric rested on was broken and we ended up finding another fabric with monkeys!!!  Decision.   Overload.

After much deliberating the monkeys were out because their size would not work well with my "vision" of the end result.  The lions would have been perfect for my "vision" but Jon convinced me they weren't girl friendly enough to be a gender neutral fabric.

I got home and got straight to work on my plan.

I wanted the elephants to be outlined in embroidery of the same color.  A little texture and some fanciness at the same time.  With that done I went ahead and backed it with light green minky fabric.

Turned the whole thing into a taggy blanket and part 1 of 3 was done!

And it was late and I got lazy so rather than hand sewing the opening closed, I machine sewed it.  I have to say you can hardly even tell I did that!  I may end up getting lazy more often...

The last two parts I wanted to make were the ribbon outlined burp clothes I usually make.  I had found ribbon that matched the colors of the elephant fabric perfectly.  (Sorry no close up).

I have to also comment that the back of the burp clothes were perfect.  No random colored blob of "oh crap the sewing machine went stupid and I didn't realize it until I was done" thread!

I was very pleased with how well they looked together.  The mom-to-be was actually surprised by the baby shower and mentioned having never received a hand made gift like mine before.

All in all, a success.

I have several more posts planned (Julie I am going to get it together!) and hope to get them up soon.

Taggie Blankets x2!

Friends of Jon's just recently (on my bday) had twin girls!  Since I had made a cute taggie blanket for a shower my mom had gone too and had enough fabric left over to make 4 more blankets I decided that is what I would make for the girls.

Now I started this back when I went to Jackie's back in May!  I know, it took me a while to finish them.

I embroidered them on the day of mass crafting at Jackie's.  I was pleased with how quickly I was able to complete them.

Back home, I cut out the polka dot fabric to match the size of the pre-cut pink fabric.

I was going to use three different ribbons.

 I cut all of the ribbons the same size.

It took forever to decide how to line them out.  I have a problem if the pattern does not evenly work out.  I went through three or four different options before I found one that worked and I was satisfied with.

I pinned all of the way around.  I had to make sure that both layers of fabric were lining up correctly once they were pinned.  Bad cutting on my part.

I got to us my new sewing machine!!!  More on it in a later post.

I sewed it right up, making sure to leave a turning spot.

I couldn't believe how small the stitches were!  And the machine was much quieter than my other one.

I snipped the corners to make sure the opened nicely.

Once it was all sewn up I prepared to turn it.  I just recently figured out the easiest way to turn the fabric right side out.  Don't worry I will share. :)

 Take the corner opposite of the opening and place your thumb in the corner.

Push the fabric through until it starts to peek out of the open end.

Begin pulling the fabric out of the open end.

Gently pull the fabric closest to the corners right side out.

Use a chopstick or other long pointy object to push the corners completely out.

And here are the final products.

I still have enough fabric to make two more blankets.  :)

Happy sewing!

Left Over Fabric Trick #1

The final item I made for Jackie's babe was a result of having left over jungle fabric from the shirt and blanket we made.  It was the perfect size for something that rhymes with willow. :)

When Jackie and I initially talked about using the extra fabric to make a pillow I thought just a plain edges pillow.  Nope she had other ideas.

The process started very similar to how I made the blanket.  Right sides together, organize, and then pin the ribbons.  We put them in the same pattern as the taggie blanket we made.

When I sewed it closed I made sure to sew it twice.  Since we were going to stuff it I wanted to make sure that the edges wouldn't bust open.  If you look closely you can see the light blue and the light purple threads.

Then it was time for ironing.  I wanted the pillow to be nice and de-wrinkled before the stuffing got in there.

 

 We made a special trip to pick up the stuffing because we didn't plan to make a pillow in the first place.

 

Stuff, stuff, stuff.  We used about half of the bag by the time we were satisfied with it's fluffyness.

How did I stuff it you ask?  Why with a chopstick of course!

I asked how she wanted it closed and she just wanted it closed well.  Unfortunately I kinda did a messy job, but she didn't seem to mind it.

All completely finished and ready for some sleepy times with the little man!!

We got him all dressed (as you  have seen before and here) and showed him the new pillow.

We tried to get him to take a nap on it...

But he passed out on his blanket instead.

So if you ever have left over fabric from a blanket, try to make a little pillow to match!

Taggie Blanket Revisioned

Do you recognize these photos?  I sure hope so!  Notice the fabric hanging over the side of the pack and play?  I hid that from my previous post.  That's what I get to share with you today!

Since we were going to make the blanket in the style of his first taggie blanket, Jackie was tasked with picking out what ribbons she wanted to use.  We were standing in the ribbon aisle for quite some time - I have to say not as long as I would have been deciding.  This is what we finally ended up with.

We decided that the animal prints worked well with the theme of the blanket.

The blanket was going to be twice the size of the one I made before... which meant it was 2 feet by 2 feet!  We decided the order of the ribbons.  Cut and cut and cut.  Jackie helped me place them all and pinned.

All pinned and ready to go.

Then it was time to sew.  I checked each of the corners to see which would be the best to use for turning (yes I am partially paranoid that one day I won't be able to turn it through).  Once that was decided I got to sewing.  But, it was a little different than at home.  Jackie's table is very high.  To the point were my feet are not on the floor when sitting on the chair.  So that means that I got to try my hand at sewing while standing up.

Yes I am using purple thread to sew the blanket.  I mean you can't see the thread I use from the outside. :)

That wine glass was holding very delicious Blueberry Blush from The Georgia Winery

 It was all sewn and turned and ironed to look so pretty.

This was the first time I had ever ironed on a towel!

It was so BIG and jungley!!  Jackie loved it.  Unfortunately we had to wash the thing before we could give it to the cutie pie.

The little one was using it to push himself around on the floor.  It was so cute!  I will have to see if I have video of this to share.

I'm wearing a cute pink sweater at work today... I can't believe I am wearing a sweater in the middle of summer in Florida! All because the office gets cold.