Henrik's First Birthday Quilt

I really wanted to make a quilt for Henrik's first birthday since I didn't make him a true quilt for when he was born.  We threw him a red, white and blue vintage-style train party for his first birthday so I wanted the quilt to go with the party.  I saw a pennant quilt on EmmyLizzy's Blog and thought that would work well for incorporating all of the fabric without it looking too dense or busy.  So played around with the layout for a while:

Then sewed them down for the top:

I didn't take any more process pictures because I pulled a couple VERRRRRRYYYY late nights in order to get it finished before his 1-year pictures.

Karianna Photography did an INCREDIBLE job capturing the details of his quilt.

As a backdrop for his cake smash

So BIG!

And she captured the back side where I embroidered a note to him!

Sewing Put to Work!

So back in my Lesson 6: Let the Fabric Inspire the Project post I put in some pictures of the fabric I was using to make the flat sheet, the "quilt" and some pillows.  I also made the crib sheet.

Here is a picture of them in use in the crib for my little guy who's due at the end of April!

Once I found out he was a boy I also made the changing pad which was one of my most challenging projects to date!

A LOOOOONG Hiatus from Sewing

So I took a looooong time off from sewing because of a certain (adorable) someone:

Henrik Born May 5th 2013

But after a long break my return to Sew Ann Arbor, after about 7 months off, prompted me to get back into it.  I finished up a pair of pants I started before he was born:

I finally have a model to show my creations off with!

And I also sewed the Kimono Style PJs from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones in Made by Rae's Fanfare flannels for Cloud 9 Fabrics!

I used my bias tape machine to make the bias tape for the sleeve and top edge seams.  This adorable outfit has me DYING from cute!

He opened his Christmas presents at home in it!

For actual Christmas we met up with my family in Pennsylvania where my dad rented us a really beautiful house to stay in in the Poconos.  I worked on starting another strip quilt, this time for Henrik!

Feels good to be back!

A Quilt for Quinn

Earlier this year I found out (via Facebook) that a friend who I had lived next to for the early years of my childhood was having her first child, a baby girl, and was naming her Quinn.  I decided to try my hand at a basic quilt and after doing a lot of searching, and if I'm honest a lot more Pinning, I decided that a strip quilt sounded simple enough and like something I could put together quickly enough to get to her before the baby arrived.  I found this tutorial from a cuppa and a catchup and was optimistic I'd be able to do it.

I picked out a Jelly Roll of Wooster & Prince Printed Fabrics for Robert Kaufman which I thought was beautiful for a little girl quilt, but would also be mature enough to be loved for a long time:

The quilt came together very quickly and I was in love:

I wanted to personalize it so before I finished sewing down strips I hand embroidered her name onto it:

And finally bound it:

And threw in a giraffe onesie that I had freezer paper stenciled:

The only thing that drives me nuts about this is the crooked name embroidery, but I love it all the same.  It was a very sentimental project, it was crazy that someone I knew as such a little girl was having her own baby girl.

Lovely Vintage Finds

I have this real love of all things vintage.  I have a desire to go back to when toys were simple and wood and baby clothing was simple and adorable with small wonderful details.

The first one I found was this adorable little lightweight dress at an antique store right in my hometown.  I love the soft yellow, little cap sleeves and the trim on the bottom but my favorite is the little embroidery details and the itty-bitty pintucks along the neck.

I found this jacket at an estate sale.  It was clear by the woman's collection that she hand sewed a lot of her children's clothes.  She also embroidered and appliqued quite a bit.  I loved the style of this jacket and the little appliqued kitty.

I have a few more items I got from this sale but I'm reworking them so that will be a future project (and post)!  Does anyone else get nervous when reworking something vintage?  Does it ever feel to you a little like you're violating the original creator's plan?

Well I love vintage items and will continue to add to my collection as I find items I love.  What I've found to be key is being very picky with these items so I don't wind up hoarding them!

Trying out a New Option

I wanted a hobby that would be easy to travel with.  I am generally a machine sewer so I didn't want to take my traditional sewing projects on the road but a book inspired me to start embroidering, that book was: Doodle Stitching.  I bought the book and had a long flight upcoming so I read through, printed a bunch of the outlines and prepped a bag of embroidery materials.

First was this puppy, since I have two dogs this was the one I went to first!

 I also made a Onesie with a Mermaid and a Merman on it.  I especially love her hair!

Then I made the hedgehog because, well, hedgehogs are adorable!

This is a fun traveling hobby and the outcome is adorable but I don't think I'll put down sewing to do this as my primary hobby.

Head over Heels

You may remember my First School Days Jacket + Coat well since it made me fall in love with sewing I knew I'd make it again!  I thought I'd try a completely different fabric so I decided to try my hand at a raincoat.


I fell in love with this green apple oilcloth at Haberman Fabrics.  I've since learned that Oilcloth can off-gas for quite a while and isn't ideal for Children's clothes.  To say I was bummed would be a huge understatement!  I may make another out of laminated cotton.

The oilcloth was quite challenging to work with but my New Machine handled it like a champ!

Ahh, in love all over again!