Little Projects

Sewing is a great way to distract yourself while you are waiting for a baby. Today is the baby's due date, but technically I am 41 weeks pregnant, so I have one more week before I get induced. In any case, I thought I would show you guys what I've been stitching to keep myself busy and close to home.

First, more fabric baskets. I love this pattern, courtesy of maya made . I had a couple of fabric baskets in use here, but one was actually originally from the change table, while the other was actually an Easter basket. So I decided I needed some new, kitchen coloured baskets. One side is the grey (courtesy of Ikea) while the flip side is the blue peacock pattern, courtesy of Art Gallery fabrics (don't remember the name, sorry). These are the biggest square baskets I've made so far, and I like the size - I might made some for Emma's toys, now that she's starting to have little - bits toys.

Next up is actually a re-working of something I sewed a while ago. This was originally a soft laundry basket, theoretically for the boys' laundry. However, they never used it. This basket was twice as long, with red canvas and no lining. I basically cut it in half, cut another circle for the bottom, and added some heavy duty fusible interfacing in between the layers.
 I love blocks, because they are open ended and all our kids can play with them at once, despite being 2, 5, and 7. So I wanted them out where the kids could see and use them, instead of in a closed bin, where they were before.

Next up is a pattern I've wanted to try for a while from Lotta Jansdotter's "Simple Sewing for Babies". It is a basic diaper bag. I made the bag as the pattern requires for me, out of blue canvas (this is a medium weight organic canvas - the same as the red in the last post. It is from tonic living . The other is a lined variation I made for our daycare provider, as it is our last week of daycare, and I wanted to make her something to thank her for all her work.

I put the pockets on the inside of the floral bag, as I thought it looked better with a clean outside to display the big print on the fabric.

I didn't add any interfacing to this bag - just a strip of flannel in the bag handle - but the Kona cotton is pretty tough and tightly woven, so hopefully it will stay together.

My version is simpler, with the pockets on the outside. I thought it might be nice to have a fairly gender neutral bag for diapering stuff, so Dave can use it, too. I might get some fabric paint and stencil something on the outside - I haven't decided yet.

Next, I wanted to make a little light stroller / car seat / travel quilt for the new baby. As baby #4 will have to come along with whatever the rest of the family is doing, I thought he should at least get a snuggly blanket for cool days.

This quilt was really quick - I have hoarded two charm packs of Funky Monkey fabric for several years now, and I decided I would use it for something for me.

The back is a 1/2 m of yellow flannel sock monkey fabric that was leftover from a quilt I made for the boys' cousin. I put a border of charm squares along the edges to make it a nice size for baby. The front is charm squares stitched together, and some brown flannel I picked up at Fabricville (the local big box fabric store). I sandwiched it with another layer of flannel, pillowcase flipped it, and tied it with red embroidery floss. The ric-rac ties are handy for tying the quilt to strollers or car seats, so it can't get kicked off. One of the best things about this quilt is that is is heavy enough to keep baby warm, but light enough to roll up and tuck in your bag.

Finally, I finished these change pads. I actually cut these out for Emma, but I didn't ever sew them together.

These are also from "Simple Sewing for Baby". I don't know why I didn't finish them, because they are, well, really simple to make. They roll up and velcro together so that they fit nicely in any bag, and they took me one night to make.

The outside fabric is an Amy Butler Nigella print that I bought on sale a couple of years ago. The inside fabric is something I picked up at the fabric store in Melfort. It is really old-lady ugly, but I love it. In polyester it would be the kind of thing my grandma would have made a house dress out of. There is something about it that makes me smile. I always dream of it being mixed into a quilt with aqua blues and silvery greys, but I've never been able to find enough co-ordinates to make it into something pretty, so here it is in all its ugliness, ready to hide stains instead.

Next up (barring baby actually deciding to show up) is a big pleated hobo-style bag. For some reason, it makes me really nervous and I've been putting off making it. I've never made a "real" bag with interfacing and pleats and really nice fabric, so I'm kind of anxious about messing it up. It is all cut out, so I just have to not mess up sewing it together (and hope I cut it properly). Wish me luck with both the bag and the baby!