Tote Bag

I have a friend who is an amazing photographer. She has done pics of Claire a couple of times now and they are always so wonderful.

See some of her work on her blog.

She recently did some one year pics of Claire. So I decided to make her a tote bag as a little thank you.



My thinking was that she could use it for a reusable grocery/shopping tote. I'm all about the reusable tote now. I hate those plastic bags. The only problem is that I feel a little silly carrying one into Target with 'Kroger' emblazoned on the front. Hence the need for a pretty green 'green' bag!

I didn't use a tutorial or pattern but I had read a bunch of different tote techniques online and then kind of made my own pattern.

I hope she likes it.

Baby Shower Cards

It seems like everyone I know is having a baby!

Well, not really but several friends are having babies soon. Hence the need for a couple of baby shower cards.

I had a gift bag that kind of had this square motif so I used that as inspiration for a card design.

They turned out pretty good. On the first one I didn't print out the IS FOR ahead of time so I wrote it with a marker. I'm pretty unhappy with my pathetic handwriting.



For some reason I wasn't as happy with the color combination on the second card. I don't know what it is but something seems off.

Baby Shoes

Ever since I saw this tutorial on Stardust Shoes, I have been wanting to make my own pair of baby shoes.

Claire is pretty much beyond the stage of wearing shoes like this. And, let's be honest, she is barefoot most of the time anyway now that it is summer.

So now is the perfect occasion since I am attending a baby shower. I have to say I love making baby stuff and these shoes are no exception.





These were not too hard to make. The directions were very clear. I couldn't find any bonded fleece though so I used two pieces of craft felt since I have a ton of it from when I went on a felt shopping spree earlier this year.

The hardest part was sewing around the edges when attaching the front and back to the sole. But, I managed to get it done and the results were pretty cute.

These just might become my standard baby gift.

Baby Gifts

I have a baby shower to attend next Saturday so I've been trying to make up a couple of things for the new baby.

I don't think the mom-to-be is going to read this before the shower because, well, I'm pretty sure nobody is reading this.

The baby is of an unknown gender which was a little difficult for me to find a fabric that I was happy with. I had this ABC flannel in my stash so I decided it would work.

First a bib, the front is the ABC flannel and the back is a very light blue terry cloth.





Then I found a tutorial linked from Sew, Mama, Sew for a little diaper and wipe case. Here is the tutorial.






I made it a little different from the tutorial in that I added batting inside all the pieces so it is a little fluffier and has a little more weight that way. I used fabric from my stash for this as well.

I did have to make each of these items twice before I got them right. The bib had a way way too small neck opening. It wouldn't fit around Claire at all. I tried to modify it, but it just wasn't working out so I made it again.

The diaper case I had almost finished when I went to rip open the button hole and ended up riping all the way through the fabric. I had used a red piece of fabric for the pocket the first time which I actually thought was cuter but I just didn't have enough left to make the pocket the second time. I tried to fix the thing but it was just not happening. Oh well.

It seems like I'm always having to do things a couple of times before I get them right.