Toddler Purse

I made this purse for my niece for her birthday.  She's really into girly things, like princesses, right now.  Landen loves to carry around things in my purse, so I thought she would really love this.

I started with a pattern for a scripture case, but of course I didn't follow it. This tutorial from Make It and Love It, is a great idea for a basic bag.  Seriously, it's like cut 4 rectangles (I think mine were 12x9). Sew the bottom and sides, make the corner and add the strap.  I didn't add any pocket, just a magnetic clasp- which I think the hardest part was thinking through which directions the magnets went so they didn't repell each other!  I don't think it took more than and hour or two!

And from what I hear, she loves to play with it!  Can you think of a little girl that would love this for Christmas?  I can think of another niece that might!

Burp Cloths

So, the other day the DH had a little talk with me about FINISHING my projects instead of getting involved in too many more new ones. I guess I just see things, get ideas and then get excited to start them without finishing the one I'm working on. On my list was to make some "good" burp rags. With Landen I had a few cute ones that were totally impractical at catching his spit-up and then I had cloth diapers. I really wanted something in between for Baby Girl.

I found a few tutorials online and they all seemed pretty basic. I basically followed this one. I did make one that was shaped more traditional, but decided it was easier to just use the rotary cutter instead of cute out all the layers with a pattern.

So, here's a run-down of what I did. I bought 1/2 yard of pink chenille. So the tutorial called for pieces that were 10x16, but I figured that if I did mine 9x15 I could actually get 8 instead of 6. I cut my fabric the same size, and then decided I wanted to round the corners because I hate trying to get good squares.

Then I sewed it together leaving a gap. Turned it, pressed it and top stitched it. After I was done, I realized I wanted just a little more padding, and decided to put a piece of batting between the layers. I had some warm-n-natural laying around, so I just used that because it was nice and thin, but absorbant. So, the other 6 had some padding. I also ran a seam down the middle just to keep it from twisting in the wash, because it will probably be washed plenty!

And there they are! Hopefully they are as useful as they are cute!

Ahhh...

There is just something about getting a quilt put together. You work on all the squares individually and that's nice, but there is something about having the whole thing done (or almost done). A sense of accomplishment and excitement to get it finished!

Isn't it cute? I just couldn't resist the puffy quilt. I think I'm going to find a bright pink or purple minky fabric for the back and to give it a nice thick binding and then tie it with some ribbon?

At first, I was thinking that these squares were a pain, but I think they are totally worth it now. I wouldn't take on a full sized quilt, but a baby quilt was quite practical. Want to make your own? I used the tutorial at honeybearlane.

Bucket Hat

I followed the tutorial provided by Sew Much Ado at U Create and made this! It doesn't take much fabric, and it went quite quickly! I still need some practice sewing a cylindar together... but it turned out cute for our little man!

Here's my cut pieces. Really, all you'll do is sew the sides together to get a tube, sew the top and then the brim. You'll then put the two sides together and sew the edge of the brim together, turn it and top stitch it.

Sewing the top and brim on were probably the hardest. It helps to divide it up and if your fabric and just a little stretch to it. I think I only sewed one pleat into the top.. whoops. I want to make another soon, so this was good practice!

The finished red side --which hubby thinks is to girly-- so maybe I should have added an something to make it more boyish. Oh well.

The finished denim side! So easy to match! It also added structure, so I didn't use any interfacing. If you didn't use a stiff fabric on one side, I would definately recommend using interfacing on all of it!

I did add a step to the instructions. I added a little darn where the seams met to keep the sides from moving around and making it reverse a little bit easier. If you look closely where the seams met at the top, you can see a little more red thread. That's it. Not even noticeable.