Sewing for Baby: Crib Sheets and Tutorial

I've been gone for a long time, but I am back!  Here is another project for the nursery.  I made Stella 3 crib sheets.  They are pretty easy and cheap too.  The sheets are pretty much the only bedding allowed inside the crib, so they might as well be cute.  

I took 1.5 yards of fabric and folded it into fourths.

Cut an 8x8 square out of the corner with the raw edge.

Now you have this.

Right sides facing, match up the raw edges where you cut out the square.

Then sew or serge the edge.  Continue on all four corners.  It will create a box.

Here is a look at the outside.

If you are serging, serge all the way around the raw edge and then turn 1/2 inch toward the wrong side.

If you are using a standard machine turn under 1/4 inch and then 3/8 inch. You are going to be creating the casing for the elastic.

Then topstitch all the way around leaving enough room for 1/4 inch elastic.  Leave a few inch gap to fit the elastic in.

You will need 80 inches of 1/4 inch elastic.

Hook a safety pin on the end.

Run the elastic all the way through the casing, stitch the elastic together and close the gap by top stitching across the opening.

And that is it.  

They look just like store bought sheets.

Except they are cuter.

Here are all three sheets I made.  The fabrics are Sarah Jane Out to Sea and Children at Play.

Real Life: Pumpkin Patch, Double Chins, and Terrible Family Snap Shots

The week before Halloween, we went to the Pumpkin Patch.  We go to the same one every year and it's really fun for Alaire.  I love all of the carni food too : )  Here are pictures from our trip.  You will understand the title of this post as you near the end... enjoy!  

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.

Name Applique Baby Blanket and Tutorial

Two of my good friends that I met when i lived in Minneapolis were due with their first babies on the same day I was due with Stella.  Crazy I tell ya!  None of the kids were born on the same day, but it was fun to "virtually" go through pregnancy with someone else.  I decided to make them a homemade gift, which I am shipping out today.  I don't know if either of them read this, but if they do, here's what you are getting this week.

I made them both little blankets with their name appliqued on it.  They were a pretty quick sew and I love they way they turned out.  They have flannel on one side and cotton on the other, so they are warm enough, but also pretty light weight and can be drug around by the boys when they get bigger.

 

This herringbone cotton is from JoAnn. 

 I snatched it up the second I saw it, and when I went back for more, it was gone.  

To make your own, you will need :

1 1/3 yards of cotton and flannel 

solid cotton for name and feather weight stabilizer 

1. Cut your two fabrics into equal proportions.  I made these 44x44 .

2. Iron on the stabilizer to the solid cotton and cut out the letters for your name.

3. Pin or spray baste the letters in place.

4.  Make sure that you leave enough room around the letters to be able to sew the blanket together.

5.  Zigzag stitch around each letter.

6.  For a rounded edge, line up the two fabrics, right side together, and use a plate and cut the corners off.

7. With right sides of the fabric together, pin and stitch 1/2 seam allowance around the blanket leaving a 5-6 inch opening.

8. You can use pinking shears to cut the seam allowance off or notch out pieces without cutting any of the stitching.

9. Turn the blanket right side out through the opening and push out all of the corners. ( I use a chopstick)

10. Iron the seam allowances down 1/2 inch toward the inside where you left the opening.

11.  Then stitch 1/4 inch seam allowance all the way around the blanket, catching the folded in seams. 

12. BOOM done.  Fold that up and ship it off to the newest baby in your life.

Thanks for reading and have a great Tuesday!