ONE {DIY Birthday Shirt}

My baby girl is turning ONE in a week!  I can hardly believe it.  Time has gone by WAY too fast.  But, I must say, I am getting excited to celebrate, and to start things off, I made her this little birthday shirt.  I am going to do a "Pinwheel" theme party--so here is what I came up with for the shirt:

 Do you want to make one?  Here's what I did:
--Grab a shirt (I used a cute little tank from Old Navy)
--Print out your number & then cut it out.  Pin the pattern to your fabric, and cut your fabric out.

 --Iron some double-sided Wonder-Under to the fabric.  **Make sure you read the instructions and iron the right side, or you may iron the paper onto your ironing board (not that I would make that mistake personally-haha).

--Cut the shape out now with the Wonder-Under

--Peel the other side of the Wonder-Under off your shape.  

 --Place onto your shirt into place and iron on.

 --Now you are ready to applique it on.  I used a small zig-zag stitch all around the 1.
--For the pinwheel, I used this great tutorial.  I used a 2" square of fabric.  This was SUCH A FUN TUTORIAL!  I made SEVERAL that I will use for the party.  So cute!

Then, to finish things off, I made this fun matching headband.  I am hoping she will leave it on longer than 2 minutes (She has discovered that she can pull bows/flowers/ headbands off her head).  I made the headband like I made THESE.

I am so excited for her big day!  Happy Birthday baby girl!

Easy Baby Blanket Binding

Okay--here is a non-Valentine post.  I made a quick receiving blanket the other day for my son's Kindergarten teacher.  I remembered seeing a blanket edge sewn this way, and decided to try it for myself.  It was super easy--by far the easiest way I have finished off a blanket!
(sorry for the poor quality pictures.  I was in a hurry & so you get bad lighting and iphone pics)

 Here are the steps I took:
1--Cut two pieces of FLANNEL fabric the same size.  I find it easiest to cut the two at the same time.
2--Put right-sides together.  PIN.  Sew using a 1/4" seam allowance around the blanket.  In the middle of one side,  leave about a six inch section unsewn.
3--Through the section not sewn, TURN the blanket right-side out.
4--TOPSTITCH around the blanket, using about 1/8" seam allowance.  This will secure down the section that was previously not sewn.
5--STITCH around again using a bigger seam allowance--either 1/2" or 3/4".
6--STITCH around a 3rd & 4th time in a wavy pattern, so that your lines cross each other.  Don't worry if the lines aren't even, perfect, or exact.  It adds CHARACTER!  I think it is so cute!

Doesn't it make you want to have a little baby to wrap up nice and tight!

Pajama Pants {Make Your own Pattern-TUTORIAL}

I hope your Christmas was merry and bright.  Mine sure was.  Now I am just trying to get back into the regular swing of things.  I have a tradition to make Christmas Eve Pajama Pants for my kids each year.  They really are simple--and you can EASILY MAKE YOUR OWN PATTERN!  Here is a tutorial:

Supplies:
Flannel (or other fabric of your choice)
Thread
Pins
Sewing Machine

Step 1:  Take an existing pair of PJ pants that currently fit.  Fold them in half.  Fold your fabric into the center.  Place the folded pants on the fabric, with the straight side lined up with the fold of the fabric.  Pin in place.

 Step 2:   Don't cut along the folded side.  Cut the fabric.  Along the top and the bottom, add 1 1/2" for your hem and elastic casing.  Along the side opposite the fold, add 1/2" for the seam.  Make sure you stretch the elastic out before cutting around the top, otherwise the waist will be too small.

 Step 3:  Fold in the other side of your fabric to the center.  Take the piece you just cut out.  Line up the  folds and pin in place.  Then cut out the 2nd piece of fabric.  It is important to use the piece you cut out rather than the existing pants to assure your pant legs are exactly the same size.

Step 4:  Take each leg piece and fold right sides together.  Pin from the crotch down to the bottom.  Sew a 1/2" seam where you just pinned.  Repeat with other leg piece.

 Step 5:  Turn one of the pant legs right-side-out.  Then place that one inside the other pant legs so that right sides are together.  Pin the 2 pieces together around the crotch line.  Make sure your center seam lines up.  If your fabric is a little off up at the top, that is okay.  Sew using a 1/2" seam.

 Step 6:  Separate the pant legs.  Hem each leg.  First, fold up about 1/4" of fabric, and then fold again about 1".  Pin this in place and continue folding and pinning around the bottom of each leg.  Sew close to the edge so that your stitch will catch both folds.

 Step 7:  Sew your elastic casing.  This is done basically the same way you did the leg hems.  However, make sure you leave about an inch gap where you will feed your elastic through the casing.

 Step 8:  Measure your elastic.  Measure your elastic to fit comfortably.  The feed it through the casing. This is most easily done by pinning a safety pin on one side.  Insert that end into the casing.  Slide the safety pin around.  Once you get back to the opening,  Overlap the two elastic ends.  Zig-Zag stitch several times over the elastic (only sew the two elastic sides together--don't sew it to the PJ pants.

Step 9:  Sew over where your inch gap was.  And that's it!  You're done.

 Now for fun, you can add a little detail to your PJ shirts.  Love it!  Nothing like a comfy pair of jammies!

A Taggy Blanket {tutorial}

A friend came to my house awhile ago, and her baby had the cutest little taggy blanket.  I loved the small, square size and decided my little Reese needed one of her own.  So, I dug out some fabric and ribbon scraps, found a little time (30-45 min-but you could probably do it faster!), and this is what I ended up with:

 And here's how to do it:

 1-- Cut your fabric.  You could easily just use one solid fabric per side, but I wanted to use up scraps, so I made mine quilt-style.  My brown square started out about 8 1/2".  My small squares started 4 1/2".

2--Sew your small squares together.  I used a 1/4" seam. (Ignore this step if using single piece of fabric).

 3--Cut ribbon, lace, or ric-rac (about 2"-4" each).   I used 16 total-4 per side of the square, but this totally depends on you.

4--Pin the ribbon onto the right side of the fabric (either the front or back).  The ribbon needs to be pointed in toward the center of the square.

 5--Sew the ribbon in place by sewing a 1/4" seam around the square of fabric.

6--Now take both squares of fabric.  Pin right sides together.  Sew around with a 1/4" seam.  Leave about a 3" section so you can turn right side out.
**Sorry, I didn't take pictures of these steps.

7--Turn right side out.

8--Sew a topstitch all around.  This makes a nice finish, plus it closes up the hole you used to flip the fabric.

Ta-da.  You're done.  Easy, easy, and your baby will LOVE it!

Baby Beanies

Another quick baby project--a great tutorial from Make It and Love It. 
I bought a cheap (25 cents) XL turtle neck from Old Navy's clearance section and threw two of these hats together one morning--one for my little babe, and one for a neighbor's.  The tutorial was really easy to follow, and I am really happy with how they turned out.

Don't you want to make one now?

Ruffled Binkie Clip

Okay, as I said before, I have baby on the brain.  I decided to make a binkie (or pacifier) clip.  My other two kids used binkies, but I never had clips for them.  I am loving all the RUFFLES out there, and I thought it would make for a perfect binkie clip.

Supplies needed:
-Scrap Fabric
-Clip (I used a name badge clip.  A 20 pack is about $2 at Walmart in the office section).  You will need to remove the plastic piece that is attached to the clip

Step 1:  I started off with a long strip of fabric.  Mine was about 22"x2 1/2".

 Fold it in half (right sides together).  Then sew along 3 of the sides, close to the edge.  The side that remains open needs to be a short edge.

Step 2:  Turn right-side out.

Step 3:  Sew a basting stitch (your widest stitch) down the center.  Make sure you leave plenty of thread at the beginning and end of the strip.  

Step 4:  Gather your fabric to make your ruffle.  Do this by pulling the bottom thread.  You have to pull the fabric and play with it until you reach your desired ruffle.  Once mine was ruffled, it was about 12-13" long.  Change your stitch length back to normal and sew down the same stitch to secure the ruffle.
Step 5: Sew a quick rolled hem on your unfinished side.

Step 5:  Take the side with the rolled hem and push it through the hole in the clip.

 Step 6: Sew this flap down.  It doesn't have to look pretty because it will be covered.

Step 7:  Make a button hole about 1-1/2" from the other end of the fabric.  If you need a tutorial for button holes, here is a great one.  Then sew on your button.  Make sure you sew it on the right side so when it loops around, it will go up through the button hole.
Step 8:  Make a fabric flower.  Hot glue it to the clip.  This should cover that seam.

 And there you have it.  All done!  Now I just need to buy some binkies!

A Little Love for a Little Baby

My good friend just had a baby, so this past weekend I put together this little gift:

Consisting of:

 The best bibs EVER.  They have sleeves and cover everything, which means clothes stay clean.  They are easy to clean and care for.  Plus, the little applique detail adds something a little fun and personal.

And this light-weight flannel blanket.  Pretty easy, but I am happy with how they turned out.  Oh the fun of new babies!

**I can't wait to hold my little one in just a couple months!!