Pretty Pretty Tutu

I remember when Toby was just a wee little thing (ok he was never that wee, but smaller than he is now anyway), and the moms of girls were making little tutus for their girls. I thought they were just darling and decided if I ever had a girl I would most definitely make her one when she could sit up! Well since she started sitting up a week or so ago, I got started :)

It was so easy to make. 4 yards of tulle...2 yards light pink and 2 yards white, and a piece of elastic cut to fit her, sewn to make a circle. Cut the tulle in 2 inch strips, hold 3 pieces together and tie around the elastic. Viola! Super cute! I'm going to use it when I take her 6 months pics (it will be another month so I'm putting it up until then - she was already chewing on it this morning, lol).

I also cut out fabric to make her a hot chili pepper dress! Can't wait to get it sewn!

The Super Duper Girly Soaker

Can't get much girlier than this! This is DD's newest soaker, size medium, knit with Malabrigo on size 4's. I added the ruffle of my own design since I couldn't find instructions for what I wanted. I'm so pleased with it. I've lanolized it and it's drying - will update with pics once I get to use it!

A seamstress by day..

Knitter by night. And I've had more time in the day lately with dh between semesters (he finished finals last week and his summer session starts next week). I've been taking advantage of a little extra time to get the sewing machine really humming!

First off, I finished the Pretty in Pink outfit. This is a baby shower gift for a cousin's shower I'm going to in June. I was so pleased with how this turned out. It only took a few hours for the bonnet and the dress was two days, including cutting and all. I was able to use my snap press for the crotch snaps...the pattern uses snap tape, but why use that when I have a handy dandy snap press here and a gazillion snaps? :P I love my snap press. I reinforced the edges with bias tape before applying snaps.


This dress is for the store. I made this in a matter of hours, and I LOVE the pattern! This is a size large...I am going to make one for my little model in a smaller size so I can see how it wears, but it just looks so sweet with the criss cross back. Instead of buttons on the shoulders, I again pulled out the snap press!

I made this bow holder for DD last night (took about 5 minutes). I had hung her footprints with this ribbon and had tons extra, so I handsewed this last night to match. It looks great in her room! (Can you tell I'm a total bow addict? There's one particular style I LOVE and I'm waiting for the local store to get more in. I really ought to learn to make these on my own since I love them so much...but I figure that I have a to-sew/knit list a mile long already so I will help stimulate the economy and keep purchasing these).
I am half done with a pink/ purple soaker for DD, and then I want to try my hand a tutu making. It's something that I think is just darling on little girls and I vowed a while back that once she learned to sit up I'd make her a tutu. It looks really easy, and they sell the tulle at WalMart...I need to pick up some interfacing and a liner fabric for the dress I'm sewing DD anyway, so what's a little tulle added in, right? :P

The Great Photo Update

Ok, I finally sat down at the computer with the intention of getting some pictures on here!

First up is the partially finished orange baby blanket. It is seamed together, but I don't like the way the seams still have a tendency to roll. I'm not sure what, if anything, I can do about this...any suggestions? I am still knitting the lace edging, but it has actually been put away for awhile while I work on other projects and take a much needed break from this one. Oh, and this is Caron Brites, btw :)
I sewed this baby bonnet yesterday. I am working on a matching romper dress, size 7-13 pounds.
This is one of the blankets I sewed a month or so back - this one is single layer, pink stripe, hemmed around the edges and nice and large to use as a swaddling blanket.

This one is still big enough to use a swaddling blanket. It is double sided...love this one!
This one is double sided as well, though I used the same fabric for both sides. I'm not sure if it would match most people's taste, but I hope to find someone with a retro baby theme!
This is a medium soaker, embellished with bumblebee on the bum!

This is a dress and shorts set, size small (0-3 months)
Here is a newborn size soaker in bumblebee stripes.

A red medium soaker
An orange sherbet size small soaker

Whew! How's that for a picture overload? I hope to work more on my romper dress today and I wound up 3 skeins of yarn on Saturday so they are ready to knit.

Ok, fussy baby, must run!

Progress Report

I really ought to get the camera out but I've been lazy.

So what's going on here? The orange baby blanket is pieced together. I still have the lace edging to do but I've set it aside for a bit to get a break. I don't know why I ever tried to make a blanket I have to seam. I HATE SEAMING. It always looks like trash when I do it! I just wanted to cry after doing all that work and now the blanket is just awful looking. I'll finish it...not sure why, but I've put this much time into it I might as well.

I've done 2 new soakers - 1 medium/ small red and 1 newborn bumblebee. They aren't completely done, as I want to embellish the red and I still have a cord to knit for the BB. They are for the stocking of my store - HauteTot - hoping for a grand opening the end of May.

As I type I hear my DS, aged 2 years 1 month, desperately avoiding a nap. He needs to nap. Heck, I could use a nap. This has been the 3rd day straight without a nap. I can not - I will not - do away with the aftenoon nap. I need my downtime in the afternoon! ARGH! Plus I will never get crafting done midday if he is awake...he has a way of making a mess of things. Like most 2 year olds.

But on the plus side, the 4 month old IS napping. In her crib, no less, which is a pretty major feat after all the sleep battles we've had with her so far. And she is the needier of the two, so if I can get a few nap breaks out of her, that's fabulous!

Ok, I promise I will get some pics up soon!

On Blocking Acrylics

I must raise my hand in confession that until Friday, I had never attempted to block.

I apologize to the knitting goddesses out there.

My first attempt was blocking my squares for the orange baby blanket. I wetted them down and painstakingly pinned pinned pinned...let dry for 2 days...pull it up to reveal...still curling edges! I turned back to my trusty internet source to learn that the validity of blocking acrylics is widely debated. So figuring why waste my time, I am not blocking the rest of the squares.

In my research however, I happened across this blog entry and I loved it and wanted to share:

http://www.islandofmisfitpatterns.com/2006/07/11/how-to-felt-with-acrylic/

Just in case you ever want to felt acrylics...lol...

10 Squares Down...

10 Down, 11 on the needles. I finally feel like I'm making some real progress on this blanket! 6 more and we're ready to piece together. I also need to block the pieces prior to seaming since they edges are rolling quite a bit. I think I'll try dampening them and pinning to my ironing board, so I'll have to do that about 3 at a time...better start on that soon.

Over the weekend I finished 3 flannel blankets - will update with pics once I get them taken. 1 is pink and white stripes hemmed around. One is a double sided shades of red and pink, and one is a majorly retro teal, green, and brown giant flowers. Totally rad :P DH hates it, but I think someone out there will like it.

I cut out pieces for 2 baby outfits. One is a dress and shorts set and one is a tie-back top and shorts, but from the same material. The dress is simple and ok...don't think I'll use the pattern again. I have high hopes for the tie top though.

I also made a trip to the LYS this weekend and found some AWESOME malabrigo that's just dying to be made into a soaker!

LOVE it - doesn't it just scream SUMMER?