More Vanilla House Samples - Patterns for Babies and Girls

Day 2 of the Vanilla House Samples I sewed for my mom:

I sewed a couple of these Bopple Balls (the picture does not do them justice).  The arms take a while so do it in front of a movie.  The actual construction is very fast.  I'm keeping one of these for myself too.  Babies love 'em.

Third...my favorite (I've made almost ten) is the baby girl bib called Diva Babies.  I wanted to call it Breakfast at Tiffany's but I suppose that's not very original.  These are so so cute.  When I first started sewing baby bibs, I felt like they were a lot of effort when you can buy them for cheap.  But I love being able to use really neat bibs because I take lots of pictures of the baby in the high chair!  And they make great gifts.  Now I wish I had a girl....


Speaking of girls, I made these doll dresses and went over to two little girls' house to put them on these American Girls:  Kit (from the 30's), and Julie (from the 70's).  You know, I was worried they'd look squarish but they were pretty cute on the dolls.

Big Swaddler

I had to make our baby a new swaddler.  But being 9 months when I made this...now 12 months old, I think we will call it a "sleeping bag."

The pattern for the swaddler isfrom Craftzine, found here.  To make the big one, I increased the length by a bunch of inches and everything else by about an inch.  If I did it again, I would make the "flap" be able to fold down more because it's hard to get his legs in sometimes.

Amanda's Baby Girl Quilt

Well...I finished the quilt and fitted crib sheet and crib skirt.  I only took pictures of the quilt though.  The back middle is the fitted sheet fabric and back border is the crib skirt.  

The fitted sheet was 42"x69" with 7" squares cut from the corners (possibly a little too small but my fabric width shrunk in the wash!?!).  After sewing the side seems, I used my hankercheif edge foot to finish the edge, then turned it over 1/2", sewed, and sent 1/2" elastic through the edges. 

The skirt was two 13"x29" (cut. Then turn under 3 edges with my special foot) sewn to the short sides of a 28"x52" white rectange, and the long sides had two flaps 13"x55" (cut.  Then used 2" in the center to make a pleat - I would suggest doubling that in the future - and finish three of the edges).

The quilt was my first loopy free-motion.  See my other post for a description of the quilt top.

Thanks, mom, for doing my binding for me over Thanksgiving!  Good luck, Amanda, with your new little girl coming at Christmas!

Umbrella Quilt Top

I am making this for my high school friend (okay, I did have two) who is having a baby girl in December, along with a matching bedskirt and fitted sheet.  And maybe a wall hanging.  Or a diaper holder/laundry thing.  Well, we'll see and I'll post the whole set when it's complete. 

How I made this quilt top:

2 fat quarters of Riley Blake Umbrella fabric - each cut into six 9"x6.5"
2 fat quarters of other Riley Blake that matched - each cut into twelve 4.25"x4.25"

12 grey strips, 4.25"x1.5"

I swapped out a couple of my dozen 4.25x4.25 blocks with other fabric and placed these randomly.

I placed the umbrella fabric rectangles in four rows of three, and made sure that every other rectangle was upside down, and space them for the small rectangles.

I sewed twelve 4.25x4.25 squares to each other with the light grey in between, resulting in my small rectangles, which I placed in between the umbrella rectangles.

The sashing is grey - 2.5"x35" on the sides (trimming extras) and then 3"x36" on the top and bottom. 

I'm using a polka dot binding.

Riley Blake umbrellas for Baby Girl

My Little Stinker

 

Baby Ribbon Blanket

I whipped this out last week - it's a ribbon blanket! It is so soft and fuzzy and the perfect size for some baby's lap. The baby loved it! I had to pull it away from him before he drooled all over some baby girl's ribbon blanket. Unfortunately I don't know any upcoming baby girls right now so I'll have to hang onto this one to give away later.

Here's how to make one. Cut 3 strips of two coordinating fabrics (A and B). Each strip is 6"x18". Sew the front together in the order A-B-A and the back in the order B-A-B. Baste loops of ribbon onto the front, then sew front to back with right sides together. Turn inside out and topstitch all the way around, closing your hole. All done!

I made this with the nanny who has been helping out twice a week. She's such an angel....I feel so lucky to move somewhere new and find someone I can trust the baby with.

Baby Boy Bibs

My favorite two were He Did It! -> and <- He Did It! for a set of twin boys, but I forgot to snap a picture before giving them away.  Here are other bibs that I have made.  I sort of made up the pattern myself.  I used a store-bought bib for a rough idea, as the first bib I made (a couple of years ago) was too big for an adult.  Sometimes we don't have a feel for how small kids really are.

Gifts From Clara Freidman

Thank you Claire for the beautiful handmade and tied blankets and crocheted booties.  They are fantastic!

Swaddlers

I have learned how absolutely essential this baby item is.  I always wanted to make one just like the one my sister-in-law Kristy made for me!  Actually, I hadn't thought of using something so cuddly and soft for the lining.

Two Topsy Turvey Quilts

I picked these fabrics up because I wanted to try a "quilt in a hurry" to match the brown and turquoise PackNPlay that I bought. Turns out they are never done quickly if you quilt them yourself.

 

Baby Quilts

I was surprised to receive these two pieced quilts because they came from out-of-town: one from my junior-year roommate Lisa and one from my sister-in-law Sandy.  I want to especially feature the different bindings on these quilts.

On the first, the binding was sewn onto the front and then turned to the back, where a decorative stitch was used to tack it down.  The width helps to fix the problem that your stitch will never line up just perfectly if it's in the ditch on one side with the edge on the other side.  The other feature of this binding was a "secret embroidery" of the baby's name into the binding.  Stay back!  This blanket belongs to this kid and only this kid.


The second binding technique is featured by this quilt from my sister-in-law Sandy.  You just make the back enough bigger that you turn it to the front and stitch it down.  Since it is not pieced on, it doesn't matter where the stitch lands on the back.  This is very clever and easy. 

Both quilts use a great technique to make quilts easier - you sew several strips together and then cut them into blocks.  Now it is as if you individually sewed on those blocks together.  Fancy....I'd never actually thought about trying this before.  I learn so much from my friends!

Baby Changing Pads and Pouches

My own invention is how the changing pad folds and velcros onto itself, so you can fold it up with one hand.  I made two so that one can be in the wash at a time.  The green is by Joel Dewberry (just like the diaper bag).  I couldn't figure out what else I could do with the green.
















The blue is a scrap from Sentimental Sorbet and it is my first quilted item.  I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Receiving Blankets

I now have a collection of receiving blankets and burp cloths, in part thanks to my sister-in-law Michelle (the fishes with red crocheted edge) and mother-in-law Elaine (the dot with turquoise crocheted edge).  I'm highlighting the crocheted edges below.  The blankets I made are a sew-around-the-edge and then turned inside out and I put a decorative edge along the outside (the green monkeys and the red-and-beige dino ones). 

Soft Book Baby Gift

This soft book was made from a fabric panel for a friend when she had her first baby girl.   Congratulations on your second girl Heidi!

Baby Girl Gift Basket

I made this blanket and baby girl dress a couple years ago for Kristy. 

 

Then I packaged it in this gift basket with hair clips, a bib, an ABC book, socks, lotion and cookies.  The idea came from the floral design class my college roommate and I took together.  Only I don't think I had a floral arrangement in this basket.

Doggy Carseat Cover

This car seat cover was my own invention as well (though it's kind of lame to say you invented a rectangle).  It is 45" (top-to-bottom) by 30" (side-to-side).  The dogs is cotton.  I sliced it in half, and sewed my tabs in at the middle seam as well as turned the print around so that "up" is the where the handle is from either direction.  Therefore, even though the print has a top and bottom, the cover is symmetrical.

Anyway, I did snaps on the tabs and put them 10" apart but here's how I would do it next time:

(1) Cut 4 peices 4 1/2" by 4 1/2".  Fold in half and sew, move seam to middle and sew along one short edge.  Turn inside out and iron flat.
(2) Sew velcro onto each of the four peices.
(3) Space along top center seam about 6" apart.
(4) Sew cover top together at top center seam.
(5) Sew cover top to cover bottom, leaving opening.
(6) Turn, iron, and decorative stitch around.

I came up with one other useful feature, and added it last minute.  I made four little ties so that instead of throwing the blanket over the handle, you can just tie half the blanket up to see the baby.

Socks and a Beanie

Knitted Socks

This sock pattern is Bluebells from "Booties, Booties, Booties."  I used sock yarn, which is weight -1- and a size 3 set of knitting needles.  But it turned out too small so hopefully it will fit for the first week or two.  I'm going to make another set of socks that are much larger.

Crocheted Beanie

I made up this pattern for a crochet-thread beanie.  I'm going to line the inside rim with something soft.  The bottom rim is a puff stitch.  It's still not long enough but I ran out of thread.  This is 18" round, which according to growth charts should fit in the 9-12 month range.

Crocheted Edge Burp Clothes

This is a "double post stich" meaning you do a double crochet, then do it in the previous stitch, then go foreward 2 stiches to start again.  I realized that there is a difference in crochet threads.  Next one I'm going to use the heavier brown like the beanie.

A Couple of Baby Projects

Here are a couple of things I made over Christmas in preparation for The Kid to come.  Since we don't have a name, we just call him The Kid.  I'm told we're not going to put that on the birth certificate.

Diaper Bag from Simplicity 2924 (it's a good pattern for all those things).

Boppy Pillow: Made up myself by using a belt for the inside and about 9" wide all the way around.

Mittens from some not-so-good pattern and a motif I made up.