DIY Crinkle Ribbon Baby Blanket Toy

A friend at our church is having twins.  It is so exciting because it took a lot of work to get these babies, and we are so happy for this family!  I always like to give a something hand made when I give gifts so, I made these crinkle ribbon blanket toys.  They are great because they can loop to a stroller, carseat of swing  or come along with the baby.  The crinkle adds another sensory aspect that babies love!  

Here is how to make your own. 

Easy Personalized Baby Blanket Tutorial {Fake Quilt DIY!}

My mother-in-law makes amazing quilts... me - I totally fake it! 

 I FINALLY made my son his personalized blanket.  I mean he is 9 months old!  I did make this for Christmas.  It was my only handmade gift this year.  Have 3 kids under 5 is kicking my butt so, the handmade gifts were out this year... but this was easy so it sneaked it's way in!  If I can make this... you can too!

I have made this kind of blanket before with the help of Modern Parents Messy Kids tutorial.

Our son's name is Evytt (pronounced Ev-it)

 and I made sure to get all the important birth info on here too!  

It looks like a quilt...but really it is one piece of fabric that I got printed from Spoonflower!  

I made the print with PicMonkey.  (I will show you how below.)

I backed it with minky because it is so soft. 

Easy Burp Clothes {Tutorial}

I am working with WholePort - they sell a bunch of crafting supplies!  This month they sent me some fun baby print flannel fabric!   So I got to work making some things for our baby boy due April 7th 2013!

First up were Easy cute burp clothes:

Here is what you will need:

Cloth Diapers (I got my 5 pack at target)

Cute soft fabric

Sewing Macine with sewing supplies (like thread, scissior, etc)

1. Cut your fabric so that it is about 1/2 longer then the sids and wide enough so that you can fold it around the end of the cloth diaper.  I make my about 6 inches wide so that it would be a 3 inch wide stripe.

2. Use an iron to press a 1/4 inch fold on all four sides.  This will give a finished edge.

3. Fold in half and pin around the botton of the burp cloth.  Sew on all 4 sides as close to the edge as you can.

4. Repeat for the other side.

Make as many as you want... they make a great baby shower gift! 

I also make a blanket for the crib with the cute fabric and some soft minky.  I just cut out my crib size blanket (I used one I had from before... about 45X60 inches).  Sewed with right sides together leaving an opening to turn right side out.  Then turned it right side out and top sewed all around the edge closing the opening and done! 

I also made a Crinkle Tag blanket! 

Hooded Poncho Beach Towel Tutorial!

I wanted to get this project ready so that you have lots of time to make it for summer!  This is such an easy way to make a beach towel into a hooded poncho so that your kiddies stay warm at the beach and pool!   This hooded poncho beach towel will fit kids 1 -4 years old.

Here is what you will need:

1 Beach Towel

sewing machine with sewing tools

I got my towels from Target.  They have some cute ones for boys and girls!

***Note: I use a zig-zag stitch on all my seams for this project and my seam allowence is 1/4 inch***

1. fold your towel in half horizontally with RIGHT sides together.  Cut off the top part so that you have 21inches left on the bottom part.   Save the top part for later when we make the hood.

2. Finish off your edges either by using a surger or a zig-zag stitch.

3. We are going to create the opening for the head.  With your 2 bigger bottom pieces right sides together fold it in half vertically.  Mark with a pin at 5 inches from the fold.  Make sure that you make both sides of fold by pinning the top 2 layers together and the bottom two layer together (see picture below).

4. Open your towel up and pin out to the ends of the towel on both side... leaving the middle part open for the head hole.   Sew on both sides where your pinned but leave the head hole open!

Now it should look like this when you open it after you sew.

5. Now we are going to make a hood out of the part we cut off earlier.   fold the piece so that the finished edges are on the end.  Cut out a hood shape (use a hoodie sweatshirt or other hood for a template).  Pin and sew around the curve of the hood. 

6. Pin your hood to your head hole, lining up the middle part first and pinning out from there.  Make sure that you have RIGHT sides together.  Sew all the way around leaving and opening where the ends meet. 

7. Optional V-neck.  My son has a HUGE head (90th percentile) so I always create a v-neck to make sure the head hole is big enough (obviously this is NOT for my son... I just do it for everyone!).   Cut a slit a couple inches down the middle of the neck line of the front layer of the towel.  Fold over and sew for a finished edge (I used a zig-zag stitch).

Sew on a monogram applique and add some matching swimsuits for a cute gift!

Here is my son modeling the girl towel because I forgot to get a picture of the boy one before I gave it away!  Oops!  

My son is 4 years old and is average height and weight (50th percentile for both!) for a reference for size.

These two were gifts to two special and cute 1-year-olds!  I need to make some for my own kids now! 






Linking to:

Baby Mat with SpoonFlower

Have you heard of Spoonflower?

They let you design fabric and they print it out for you! It is SO COOL!

I had first heard of Spoonflower from Made when she had Modern Parents Messy Kids guest post on how to make a Custom play mat for a baby

{Click here for the FULL tutorial from Modern Parent Messy Kids}

When I saw this play mat, I knew that I was going to make it for my Sister-in-law, who was expecting at the time.  What mom doesn't love a personalized gift?!  Especially with all the important information of the birth?!

I followed Modern Parents Mess Kids Tutorial and made a Play Mat for my new Niece!

I made this design on PhotoShop

 Sent it to Spoonflower and created this play mat:

I changed a few things from the tutorial...

I decided to stitch around the circles of my pattern to create more of a bubble look to the mat.

{She used a grid pattern}

I also used HIGH loft batting... the most cush I could get! {she used low loft} 

 I wanted a SUPER soft mat for my Beautiful little niece!

This was my first time working with batting...

 Does this count as a quilt?

I added flannel fabric (from Joann) for the back... The tutorial shows how to create your own fabric for the back {as well as the front}... but the custom fabric is a bit pricey and to save money I found some cute fabric at Joanns... it is the back after all!

All rolled up and ready to go!

How to make a Tutu shirt

Can you believe I am doing 2 tutorials in one week??  Well, there is another one coming tomorrow too! {along with a HUGE giveaway!  You don't want to miss it!}

Have you seen those ADORABLE tutu t-shirts out there in stores?  Too CUTE!  I know that I am not the first blogger to make my own... but here how I made mine. 

Today I am just sharing how to add the tutu to the shirt... I will make a tutorial for the shirt design later this week!

Ok- Here is what you need:

T-shirt

tulle (I got my roll from Joanns)

Sewing machine with sewing supplies

1. Cut a strip of tulle that is at least 1.5 times bigger then the circumference of your shirt.  fold your tulle in half and turn your shirt inside out.  On the WRONG side of the shirt sew the tulle to the hem... PULL and STRETCH the shirt hem as much as you can while sewing.

{In this picture I am only using one hand b/c I am taking a picture with the other, but I use both hands and pull from both sides to stretch the shirt hem while sewing.}  This will create a natural gather for your tulle.  Go all the way around your shirt and over lap at the start and finish. 

Here is what it looks like so far. 

For the next layer of the tutu I decided to ruffle the tulle.

I set my tension to the highest setting and my stitch to the longest stitch length.

My machine made ruffles automatically...  your machine may work differently... but you can always pull on the thread to gather it too.  

Make sure to leave a LONG thread at the end!

This is so that you can lengthen your ruffle if you need to. 

Sew the ruffle tulle to the RIGHT side of your shirt hem the same way you did the other layer... by stretching the shirt hem.  

You now have a BEAUTIFUL shirt fit for any princess!   

Tomorrow I will show you how I made this rhinestone #1 tutu-shirt for my daughter's 1st birthday! 

AND we have a HUGE HUGE HUGE giveaway too...did I say that already?

Well- it is true and worth saying again!

This post sponsored by:

  brair.claire specialize in fun, fresh and fabulous hair accessories.

Easy-Peasy Burp Clothes! A great baby gift!

The Baby Boom Continues around here!  Here is a quick and easy baby gift!  Burp cloths... every new mom needs them!  I used a hand towel to give it extra absorbency!  I also added a little pop of the cute baby flannel on the front side!

Here is what you will need:

1 hand towel (I got a pack of 4 at target for $3.99 in the kitchen section)

Flannel fabric (I often times will use a receiving blanket)

Sewing machine and sewing supplies (scissors, thread... etc)

Cut you fabric and hand towel into a burp cloth shape.  I used the template from Homemade By Jill (she also has a cute and easy way to make burp cloths!).   

On the towel piece cut off one of the ends about 4-5 inches from the bottom. 

Use the towel piece you just cut off as a template and cut out a flannel piece.  Leave about 5/8th of an inch extra on the bottom for a seam allowance. 

Sew the flannel end piece to the bottom of your towel piece (right sides together) to re-complete the burp cloth shape. 

 Now put your 2 pieces  right sides together and pin.  Sew around leaving a 4-6 inch opening so you can flip it right side out.  I like to mark my opening with 2 pins on either side.

Snip the fabric around the corners making sure not to cut the seam.  This will help your corners look nice when we flip it right side out.

Now flip it right side out and pin your opening closed.  

Top sew around the whole burp cloth as close to the edge as you can, closing your opening. 

 Now make a bunch to keep on hand for when you have a baby shower!