More Odds & Ends

I've been working on lots of little projects in these final days before the new baby arrives...

A drawstring knitting project bag, using heavyweight vintage cotton/canvas. I made it very boxy with a large opening at the top so it's easy to see everything that's inside.

Inside is... yes, another knitting project!

A VW Bus applique to cover a ridiculous duckie on a baby outfit.

And a tiny dog in a teacup applique to a newborn wrap shirt. Dog fabric by Heather Ross.

An amazing narwhal calendar gift from a dear friend! Fabric she acquired from Spoonflower.

With assistance on a safety chain and magnetic clasp from Talisman Beads, this beautiful birth bracelet, featuring beads from my loved ones.

And last, a simple reusable fabric gift bag. Phew!

Catching up...

Last month for a kids gift exchange, I made a few things for Sasha to give to a friend.

First, legwarmers made from women's socks. I didn't actually use this tutorial, but it's the same idea.

And, from the adorable pre-printed doll fabric I got at Scottie Dog Quilts, a fabric doll.

Knit Pants + Bonus

Before we began a long drive to Portland to visit dear friends, I had a crisis thinking of all that time off with no crafting. So I quickly used a gift certificate at Fabric Temptations in Arcata to get yarn for this project: Knit baby pants/diaper soaker. I got about half-way through the project on our trip, and then they sat around for a few months. Until lately, with that nesting urge, I finally finished them up.

Here are the details on Ravelry, if you're a member. The pattern is Pear's pattern for longies and shorties. The yarn is Mission Falls 1824 wool. Since the pattern is to make a custom size of one's choosing, I am hoping mine turn out to be about newborn through three months. And in the two nights that followed that project...

I decided to make Sasha's babydoll a matching pair. Yes, I have officially lost it. Ravelry details. Same yarn. The pattern is Sally's Longies. I think I created a monster though, the first thing Sasha said was "Can you make a matching shirt? And sweater?" Oh boy.

Odds & Ends

A few things I've been working on...

Binkie clips for the new babe, if she decides to use pacifiers.

I found the adorable ribbons on Etsy and the suspender clips at JoAnns. These came together super fast.

Our dear friends are letting us use their amazing custom-built co-sleeper, complete with a natural latex mattress. I made an extra fitted sheet for the mattress.

Sweet pea flannel fabric from JoAnns.

We've lived in this house for five years and never had a kitchen curtain. I had ordered a panel to match our living room curtains for this very purpose from JC Penney, so I finally hemmed it to size. Unfortunately, I had a case of pregnancy brain at the time and cut it exactly to size, leaving myself no fabric to hem the bottom! Bias tape to the rescue.

Then I added an aqua-colored cotton tie, sewn to the middle of the backside of the curtain. Every morning, we pull the sides of the curtain together, tie it once, and voila! A functional kitchen curtain.

Baby carseat

We had saved Sasha's baby carseat but I truly didn't think I could look at this awful fabric for the next year:

So I used a tutorial from Etsy's Puking Pastilles to dismantle the old cover and make it anew.

Sasha helped me select a sweet bird fabric I had gotten from Fabric Depot about a year ago from my stash.

This was a fairly fussy project, but not difficult, and it went much quicker than I thought it would. I had some trouble with the pieces that wrap under the seat to keep it in place and had to do some hand-sewing to fix it up. A very pleasing project because it's such an improvement!

A quilt for Christmas

I decided to make a quilt for Sasha's bed a few months ago, something large enough to tuck in around her in her toddler bed and hopefully stay put through the night. The final dimensions turned out to be 44" by 64".

If there's one thing I've learned about crafting for Sasha, it's that she needs to be involved in the project and fabric selection or she won't like (or wear or use) the final product. So I let her pick all the fabrics she liked from my stash in only blue and purple. The result is quite the eclectic array of fabrics, from Dora and princesses to vintage flowers and Amy Butler. But you know, somehow it works.

For the back, I used a big piece of bird-themed flannel from Fabric Depot in Portland. I also embroidered a little label for it.