Recycling...sort of...

Anyone who has seen me with a newborn knows that one of my favorite items to ALWAYS have on hand are cloth diaper burp cloths.  Up until now, we've just bought the tri-fold ones from Target (Gerber brand) and use those for burp cloths.  We're all about function over fashion here at our place!! Well, with this baby my sewing skills have come up a notch or two, and I definitely feel comfortable trying new things....and this was something I had wanted to do when we had Freddie but just couldn't make it work - my skills just weren't there yet apparently (or I just didn't care enough, not sure which it was).  Regardless, we have about 50 of these cloth diaper burp cloths left over from previous babies (before you go "ewww...gross" our kids aren't spitter-uppers, so the burp cloths stay pretty good looking, and we chuck the ones that look stained after each kid) and I decided to make good use of the extra fabric I had from the car seat I finished yesterday.

Karyl would call it recycling the extra fabric...I like that since it sounds homey and like I thought it through....

So, this afternoon since I was out of work yet again I decided to give it a try and see what I could come up with.  The results are below....keep in mind, these were done on a whim, with no patterns, or pinning or real planning as to what I was doing.  I just decided to run with the idea and see where it took me.

I really think that given time to prepare and adequately plan this out, these could be REALLY cute!!! One thing I would change though was since Freddie was napping I couldn't get to the ironing board (well, let's face it, I didn't want to deal with pressing the edges) so I just stitched them down on all four sides before using a zig-zag to stitch them to the cloth diapers.  It looks a little redundant with 2 rows of stitching....so, for the next batch I think I'll suck it up and get the ironing board out and press the edges down so I don't have to do the extra stitching first and can just zig-zag the fabric on.

What do you think?? I have a lot more of the brown with green circles on it left, but I'm not sure whether I like the stripe down the middle, or the strip along the bottom better?? My concern is that the cotton fabric being along the middle won't absorb as well as the plain cloth diapers do...therefore negating the reason for their existence in our diaper bag in the first place.  I like the stripe, but should I have it on the top and bottom, or is it OK just on the bottom??

Let me know in the comments....

Car Seat Cover Completed!!!

Well, I've done it...I've actually decided to do a project, started it and completed it all within a few days.  For anyone who knows me, this is a rare occurrence as I usually get sidetracked by other stuff or just tend to start things and then finish them months later because I either get frustrated or just lose the motivation.  I am by no means an experience seamstress...in fact, I couldn't use a sewing machines until I was married, and even then it was a learning experience (and that was only about 6 years ago!!).  So...the fact that I am making things other than square tied blankets is a type of miracle for me.  I still get frustrated with the machine because I don't always know what causes certain problems (like loose threads or things catching) but I mess around with it and can usually make it work.

Now, enough with the sad story of my sewing abilities...here are the pictures of the car seat cover I made!! It actually looks AWESOME in person, but it looks different in pictures because we have one of those rare car seats that had a "twisted" handle (it was supposed to be easier to carry....) so the handle isn't straight across, it kinda zig-zags, so I had to compensate for that in the placement of the straps.  Also, our car seat is one of the smaller ones (it only goes up to 22 pounds) so the blanket is a little large, as the "pattern" I used was obviously made for one of the larger capacity seats.  All those differences aside, I think it will work perfectly, and I am really glad I did it with just 2 layers of cotton fabric and not flannel, as we are bringing Nicole home on the first official day of summer, and by the time the weather gets cold enough to warrant warmer blankets she will be over the 22 pound mark and in a convertible seat anyways.  Yep, that's right...our first 2 kids didn't last longer than 4 months in that car seat because of the weight limit, so I'm not holding out much hope that Nicole will last any longer!!  This is why, if you look closely at the pictures, that car seat that is almost 5 years old looks BRAND NEW!!! It's great, we get the feel of having a brand new car seat without the cost!!

Please enjoy the delightfully fun monkey fabric Greg helped me pick out and stare in wonder and amazement at the fact that my cover actually looks like one you'd buy from one of those uppity Orange County Baby Boutiques!!

I also finished another project yesterday that I started a few weeks back but had to put on hold because my machine just couldn't handle the sewing without a walking foot...and apparently I have a very popular machine (a Viking HuskyStar E20)...so finding one of those feet was next to impossible!! I got one though, and put the quilt together and just had about 12 inches of binding left to sew Wednesday morning (I've learned, hand sewing binding is the only way to go...it hurts your fingers, but looks SOOO much better!!).  So, I told myself yesterday morning that I couldn't start the car seat cover until I finished the quilt...and I did!! So here are a few pictures of that too...again, I'm not a professional, heck - I don't know that I'd even call myself experienced - but I can sew a straight line most of the time and whatever I lack in official sewing knowledge I can usually make up for in creativity covering my mistakes!!!

I have noticed that sometimes the color of the pictures changes with what I can only assume is the inadequate lighting in our kitchen and office...

So, what do you think?? If you want to see where I got the car seat cover from, please check out the post from yesterday - it has the website as well as a link to the specific tutorial I used.

Baby Car Seat Cover

So I've decided to be a little more creative with this new baby and try making some of the things that I've seen friends have, but am just too cheap to buy....the first of these items being a baby car seat cover.  I have looked and found quite a few tutorials on how to do it, but the best one by far came from a website called http://www.make-it-do.com/  After peeking around this site I found myself so inspired to try all sorts of things I never would have with a sewing machine.

Anyways, I got the fabric last night and couldn't believe it...I didn't even get cheap clearance fabric, and I only spent $11.00 for the fabric and Velcro...now THAT'S a deal I can live with!!!  I told Greg that for Mother's Day I wanted $25 to spend guilt-free at JoAnn's for this car seat cover and a nursing apron, and this leaves me a whole $14 for that apron - so I'm excited about that!! 

I should note that when I told Greg that's what I wanted he rolled his eyes and told me to just go buy it...that I couldn't count that as a Mother's Day gift, but I think that since I'm planning on enjoying making it that it counts, right??

So - here's a picture of what the finished product should hopefully look like (I have different fabric obviously) and the link for the tutorial from the wonderful website!! I can't wait to post pictures of the finished product...of course, that would mean getting the carseat down and I don't know that I"m ready to admit I'm that close to delivery!!

Stay tuned!!

Car Seat Cover Tutorial

Bernat Crochet Along Mystery Afghan

For those of you out there who crochet, I would like to encourage you to check out the Bernat blog (link below) for their Crochet Along which begins September 22.

Each week they will have a new pattern for a square of the afghan for you to sew...and no one will know what it looks like until they're done and put it together!

I am excited to give it a try, especially since I have a TON of JoAnn's coupons for this coming week that I can take in there and get lots of cheap yarn!! 

There is also a contest for those who finish the afghan and send in their pictures (you don't have to use Bernat yarn).  I am probably going to use a different yarn simply because of the price, but the Bernat Soft Chunky they are using is super great, easy to work with and they have LOTS of color choices if you don't want to use the colors they are using.

Bernat Mystery Afghan Crohet Along

For any interested, here are the amounts you will need and the colors they are using...

Yarn A - Natural (Cream) - 21 oz.

Yarn B - Forest (Dk. Green) - 7 oz.

Yarn C - Topaz (Brown) - 7 oz.

Yarn D - Lavender (Purple) - 7 oz.

Yarn E - Fern (Lt. Green) - 24.5 oz.

Now, if you are going to go out on your own and change the colors....keep in mind the color scheme they have and how much they are using (Yarn A and E are used three times as much as the other colors).  And note that they have a lighter and darker green (the light being the most used) so try to pick at least one color that has a light and dark.

I would love to hear if any of you are going to give this a whirl!! I figure it might be fun, and it spans over 12 weeks, so there is plenty of time.  And, if you don't care about the contest, you can just print out the patterns each week and finish it in your own time!

Happy Crafting!!

Make sure to take a look at the previous post for information on my new adventures in quilting!!

My first REAL quilt!!!

Wednesday I decided to be daring and try something new....

I had seen the tutorial for a "Magic Baby Quilt" on a wonderful blog and fabric shop called Piece 'N Quilt

Here is the link for her tutorial -

Piece 'N Quilt - Magic Baby Quilt Tutorial

I obviously did not use the same fabric they did.  I LOVED the pattern and after reading the tutorial and seeing how easy it was decided to have a go at it.

I headed to JoAnn's and attempted to pick 14 different fabrics to make this quilt with...which is no easy task when you have 2 young kids in tow!!

I have to admit it was fun picking fabrics and trying to make sure they all go together - and I think that I did a pretty good job considering every 15 seconds or so I could be heard repeating "Karyl, would you please give Freddie his car back that he just threw on the floor."

I decided I wanted a brown and pink theme....then I realized that I had to break it up, so I decided that blue and brown would go well with the pink and brown.  I also got extra fabric to make strips for the backing to use in between the white flannel I am going to put on it (yes, cotton on the front, flannel on the back...don't judge me!!)

I can't wait to work on the backing today and maybe, if I have enough batting, I will sew it together today.

When I get the back done I will post pictures of it....

Then I will attempt another first...binding!!!  I saw a wonderful how-to video on YouTube about binding that included corners and connecting it/finishing it off.  I will post the links to the video when I do the binding for those of you who might want to see them.

I will also post my "interpretation" of the instructions for this quilt later on...like I said, it was SUPER easy and I LOVE the way it looks.  I am planning on *gasp* machine quilting this baby quilt on my little Singer machine.  I am trying to find a darning foot, but I think I will have to order it directly from Singer.  If I can't get the foot now or still need some practice machine quilting I will just use the "stitch in the ditch" technique with a walking foot.  Luckily, when my mom gave me her good old Singer (literally...it's like 30+ years old) she had a walking foot that matches my machine, so I don't have to buy one!! I can't wait to get her machine fixed and start using it...nothing beats a sold metal sewing machine!!

Alrighty....back to work....those hospital reports don't type themselves!!

I've been busy....

I've been busy...

I made this super awesome rag quilt for a friend of Greg's from work...this was my first time making a rag quilt and I'd never really seen it done or read any instructions so I just went with it and I have to say it turned out super cute...and it was SUPER easy!!

Last Saturday I attended a Chef Series class at the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Pasadena....it was on cake decorating. Seriously, these classes are the best deal for the money anywhere.  I learned more in that cake decorating class than I could have learned in all Wilton Classes combined! And I got a sweet apron to take home!!

I then went home and decided to put the skills to the test...this was my VERY FIRST attempt making a frosting rose (A Wilton rose)...I think they turned out AWESOME!!!

Now, let me preface this next picture by saying that I have had NO practice or instruction in writing on cakes, or on making and decorating sculpted cakes...AND I only had a few hours to put this together...AND I had to use boxed cake mix due to the time constraint (boxed cake mixes are super crumbly, which makes sculpting a cake even more challenging!!)  Since I was way too inexperienced to attempt anything life-like, I decided to go for cartoony and cute....I think I did a pretty good job!!

I actually much more prefer the direct from the cake pan cakes that you just have to level and frost.  I love decorating the more fancy cakes with piping and designs (shells, flowers, polka dots...), you get the picture!! But this was a fun challenge...and I am impressed that I was able to pull it together in such short notice.  I'm not 100% satisfied with it, but it will work for the situation...besides, all those FedEx guys and ladies are going to have it eaten so fast no one will have time to critique it!!

And, it gave me an excuse to by the 3-in-1 cake rectangular cake transporter I've been eyeing, it also has holders for 12 cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes!! YAY!!!

My first pillowcase

That's right, this was my first attempt at a regular old pillowcase...not bad, eh?!?!

Hubby's boss is a HUGE Steeler's fan, and we saw this fabric a while back and he decided that a pillowcase would be the perfect Christmas present for him.

His boss got a kick out of it!!

And I think I did a pretty good job...

My next sewing adventure....making our family stockings...we'll see how it turns out!!