felt & valentines

Happy February! Today I’m re-posting the Valentines I shared at Clever Charlotte last year. If you’d like to learn how to make some mini felt Valentine envelopes, read on….

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Hello Clever Charlotte readers!

I’m Gail from probably actually, and I’m happy to be here to share a wool creation for the Winter Wolle series! I love to make things for my daughter, and a few of my favorite past projects have been made from wool or wool felt. There’s something so satisfying about working with wool, and I especially love felt – it has such a nice texture, and cutting and sewing with it is always such a pleasure. For me, felt and Valentines go hand in hand (I cut out loads of felt hearts for a garland last year), so I made tiny felt Valentine envelopes to house some mini Valentines.

My mom and sisters and I have a tradition of exchanging valentines, so these are for them (and one for Lila, of course).

The envelopes were cut using a Paper Source “baby” envelope template – the finished size is 2 1/8 by 3 1/2 inches (the size of a business card). Before sewing them together I added a little felt heart in the stamp corner and an “address label” that I rubber stamped on twill tape. If you crease the envelope flaps with a hot iron it leaves you with a nice rectangle on the front, making it easy to get these additions in the right place before the whole thing is assembled.

I secured everything with a running stitch using embroidery floss. Whenever I can get away with it I sew stuff by machine, but working with felt is the one time I actually prefer hand-stitching, and the embroidery floss can add a nice pop of color.

The envelopes close with two little buttons. After sewing the button to the top flap, I pulled the thread (I used embroidery floss here, too) to the inside and left it about six inches long – that remaining length of thread is used to secure the envelope shut with the bottom button, manila envelope style.

Tucked inside are little Valentines – just a felt heart stitched on by hand and a stamped message.

There you have it. Thanks so much for having me, and happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

divided baskets

Ever since Anna of Noodlehead posted her first divided baskets last month, I’ve been a little bit obsessed. Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long to make one – she got right to work making the pattern, and I even got to test it!

A good friend of mine had a baby girl last week, and this one is for her.

I made the pocket version of the basket, and divided it off-center to house a board book and a card.

These things are so much fun to fill up, it’s hard to stop once you get going. I filled this basket with diapers, wipes, a couple of my favorite board books, a little sleep sack, some TJs red licorice, and some patchwork washcloths.

The idea for the washcloths came from this pin, and I loved them so much that I even used the same elephant fabric! I also discovered a lovely new blog in the process, A Cuppa and a Catch Up, and I even ended up buying Nova’s Nesting Fabric Bowls pattern, which I hope to post about soon.

I wish the Ikea washcloths were a little better quality, but I guess you can’t expect too much at 10 for $3.99. And I do love the colorful little loops.

But back to Anna’s pattern…the fabric covered handles are one of my favorite parts. Mine ended up wrongside-out on my first basket, oops. The handle fabric is a Moda Sweetwater Reunion print and the main fabric is an Andover print from the Frippery line.

Here’s my second basket. More Daiwabo Tip Top elephants.

This time I lined the front pocket, and I also managed to attached the straps correctly.

I love how Anna designed the basket with a divider – I had no clue how she did it before reading the pattern, but it’s really easy to construct with her directions.

I think these baskets will make lovely new baby gifts, but they’ll also be great for storage around the house. Toys, books, patterns…endless possibilities!

Get your Divided Basket pattern right here, you’ll be glad you did.

a little serendipity

Before I tell you about this coat, a little back story. Two years ago, while doing what I do best (a.k.a scouring Flickr for sewing inspiration), I fell in love with the Uptown Girl jacket, a Make it Perfect pattern. I obsessed over it for awhile, then ordered the pattern, having no idea if I had the skills to make the jacket. I was totally thrilled when it all came together – it was a huge undertaking at the time, and one of first real garments I ever sewed for Lila. The pattern gave me a serious sewing confidence boost.

And look at mini Lila in her jacket! It’s a size 1.

This, on the other hand, is a size 4. The Serendipity coat – another great pattern from Make it Perfect.

I had every intention of making this coat during fall KCWC, but the pattern wasn’t for sale in the US at the time. I was finally able to buy it from Pink Chalk Fabrics in December. I do wish she could’ve gotten some wear out of it this fall, because the size 4 ended up fitting a bit more snugly than I’d anticipated. The pattern calls for quilting cotton and I used velveteen, so I wonder if the thicker fabric had something to with that. The sleeves were looking pretty narrow when I made the exterior, so I went back and let out the seams out by 1/4 inch. But it still won’t be fitting in the next cold season like I’d hoped.

But back to the Innocent Crush velveteen…it’s pretty irresistible. So soft, and such a nice sheen. That Anna Maria Horner really knows her stuff. I dislike most everything purple, but I really do love this fabric.

Kristin picked up the velveteen for me at a Bolt sale over the summer, and I knew it was destined for this coat.

I picked a raspberry shot cotton for the lining.

It’s a warm and cozy coat – double-breasted, cotton batting sandwiched between the layers, and side seam pockets to keep fingers warm. And don’t let the sun fool you, it’s been cold around here.

Now you’d think a gal might like a cozy coat like this, right? Much like most of what I make for her to wear, she’s not too jazzed about it. She had a whole list of complaints – not comfy, the pockets are in the wrong place (?), blah blah blah.

See? Skeptical.

Nevermind, she’s sold!

But yeah, seriously, she’s not a fan. Oh well. I’m sure Oscar will look mighty fine in purple velveteen when he’s four.

a new year’s facelift

Last Christmas Lila got a set of very pink doll accessories. Some of it went the way of the Goodwill, but the bouncer had good play value and has been well used all year. I always meant to recover it with something less…pink, but as we all know, there are only so many hours in the day. Anyway, when I finally dismantled the cover, the empty frame caused all sorts of tears, so I had to work quickly and get it put back together.

Here’s the before:

I’ll admit there are far more offensive prints out there, but I knew we could do better.

Elephants = better.

I wasn’t ambitious enough to do anything about the hot pink plastic part of the frame, so I chose fabric, bias tape, and webbing that worked with the pink. The elephants are a Japanese print by Daiwabo – it’s the orange version of the fabric from Lila’s elephant pants.

Such an easy fix. Lila doesn’t care either way, but it sure does make me happy.

There’s even room for two in there:

I’m glad she still plays with her babies sometimes, even if she is almost four…

the year in sewing :: 2012

Shall we recap?

I love looking at everyone’s end of the year mosaics, so I decided to do a second annual year-end round up.

First and foremost, some Oliver + S. Apparently 2012 was the year of blue and gray over here. Maybe I should shoot for a little more color in 2013?

And while it doesn’t happen too often, once in awhile I branch out and try other patterns…

and some non-clothing goods:

And last but not least I made this little yawner, a task that consumed the better part of 2012 and has kept me away from the sewing machine for awhile now…but I’m really hoping to get back to it in 2013!

Hope everyone has a very happy New Year!

crib sheets are easy

There hasn’t been much sewing going on around here, that’s for sure. These crib sheets are all I have to show for myself, so I’m gonna show ‘em.

This is a good sewing project if you’re sleep deprived and can’t tackle anything remotely complicated just yet. One rectangle with the corners cut out, four seams, and an elastic casing sewn around the entire thing. I used Dana’s crib sheet tutorial from MADE. I had every intention of making these before Oscar’s arrival, but I fell in love with this fabric from Birch Organic’s Camp Modern line, and it wasn’t available until mid-November, so I waited for it.

In the meantime I made another sheet from a Moda Sweetwater fabric (also used here). It just looks gray from a distance, but I like the subtle print.

I love seeing pretty fabric every time I walk into the room…

And this baby, of course.

burp cloths with binding (& gratuitous baby photos)

Yes, this post is mostly just an excuse to put up new photos of baby Oscar, but I did make some burp cloths I can show you, too. You’ll have to sift through the baby pictures to find them, though…

Awhile back I ordered some cloth diapers online to make burp cloths and had intended to sew a panel of fabric down the center, but I ended up with the kind that wash up to be very quilted and bumpy, so I had to come up with another plan.

The diapers are super soft and absorbent, and I wanted to maximize the surface area that could be used to mop up the spit, but still add a little pop of color. I know there are already plenty of ways to make a burp cloth, but here’s another one for ya.

To make these I just cut 2-inch strips of fabric and folded them like bias tape to bind the edges of the diapers – I cut the strips on the grain, since I was binding a straight edge. Then I sandwiched each end of the diaper in the binding, tucked 1/2 an inch in on the ends, and sewed across.

A pack of six diapers is less than $12, so they come out to about $2 each – not bad at all.

Oh, and hi from Oscar…he slept through most of his first week, but he’s much more alert now. And kinda cute, or so we think.

And Lila is still his #1 fan…