Roses Are Blue...

Newborn Snowdrop Hat

I have had the happy occasion to make a couple newborn hats lately (yay!). I love to make hats for newborns and I usually use this pattern from Crochet Me that I found a couple years ago. It has earflaps that makes it even more practical and really pumps up the cuteness factor (OH MY GAWD, newborn in earflaps!)

I really like how this last one, made for a friend's brand-new niece, turned out. I was inspired by the snowdrops I saw peeking out in the backyard right after I heard she was born. 

I used Blue Sky Skinny Cotton in Sprout for the main color. The white was also fingering-weight cotton. To make the top I crocheted a cord with the tail left from the start of the hat and then crocheted the flower into it. I sort of winged the three petals of the flower. I think I did a single and then triple crochet into a magic circle and then did single crochets down the side of the triple crochet to give it the triangular shape. That last sentence makes almost no sense, so if you want to make a similar flower I'd say just wing it until you get the shape you want. (I think this now qualifies as an anti-tutorial - "aaaah, just figure it out.") 

It turned out so sweet though. Give it a go for any spring baby who might need a cozy hat.

Oh thank heaven...

Guess what we have for Christmas this year? Go on, guess! Give up? Ok, I'll tell you. We have not one but TWO little girls! And guess what else? (You don't have to guess, I'll just tell you.) They are each the perfect age! Mary Jane is still a teeny tiny baby which means A.) I get to eat her up and B.) she'll wear whatever I make for her! And my sweet Iron-Willa (Little Miss NO-I-DON'T-YIKE-IT!) is finally three (!!!) which means A.) she has HAIR! and B.) for those of you not in the know, three = teeny tiny toys!  Polly Pockets, Playmobil, tea sets AND barrettes and bows...I can barely contain myself. There are buttons, barrettes, fabric, tulle, and ribbons knee deep in the studio. I'm in heaven...

So the first project was for baby Mary Jane. The tutu ties on so it is a very simple project but I think it's going to look so cute with a pair of ballerina tights...*swoons* I cannot wait to smush her into this and eat her up!

If you'd like to make your own Tie-on Baby Tutu, I have put together a quick tutorial (I hope you all appreciate that I resisted the pun there):

First you want to cut a sash out of some nice wide ribbon. It needs to be long enough to go around the waist with enough left over to tie the tutu around the waist with a big bow. I cut mine 34" long for a 14" waist so my bow would have nice long tails. Then you want to cut a rectangular length of tulle. I cut mine about 12" x 42" but you can adjust this to any length and width depending on the size of your child and how long and/or poufy you want your tutu to be. You will be folding the tulle in half lengthwise so make sure you cut it twice as wide as you want your skirt length (waist to hem) to be (for example, my finished skirt is 6" long so the raw piece was 12" wide). The waist measurement is also variable. I made mine 42" (3x as long as the waist) so it would be super fluffy.

Once you have your tulle cut you need to add a stitch down the center lengthwise. Keep a nice long tail and tighten the tension on your machine as high as it will go and make the stitches as long as you can. You can also hold onto the thread at the spool to add extra tension (but don't hold it too tightly or it will snap which is kind of a pain). The high tension and long stitches will gently gather the tulle. You'll still have to make adjustments but this gives you a nice headstart. The center stitch can be done by hand as well. Just make a nice running stitch down the center with a long piece of thread.

Once you have your stitch in place just grab a thread tail and hold it as you slide the tulle towards the center, gathering it as evenly as possible until it reaches the pre-determined waist measurement (again, mine was 14").

Now take your ribbon and fold it in half to find the center (you can also measure but this method is way faster). Add a pin or a mark to the center and then center your gathered tulle on the mark. Pin if you'd like, making sure to adjust the gathers to your liking. I only pinned the ends so I would be able to adjust the gathers as I went along.

Now stitch along the edge of the ribbon making sure to get all the tulle as you go. Move slowly, tulle is squirrely! Once you have it all stitched into place you can go back and cut all of the long thread tails.

And that's it for the skirt! Super easy, right? I had originally planned to fold the ribbon in half to hide the rough edge of the tulle but i liked the look of the wide waistband so I kept it open. You could do either. It's really a very flexible project.

For the onesie, find some matching skinny ribbon, tie a bow, stitch it on and add some Fray Block to the ends of the ribbon. Even easier!

And so cute, holy cow. I'm dying to see it on her!

Ok, moving onto hair accessories now...stay tuned.

It's been a long drought...

...but it's raining babies now!  Ok, maybe not raining babies.  Just isolated baby showers (bu-dum-bump!  Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week).  Sorry.  Moving on.  So, there is one little baby boy baby on the way, expected by my dear friend, Jennifer & her hubby, and I got to co-host the shower here at my house.  It has been about 7 years since I last hosted a baby shower (that sweet little baby is in second grade now) so I was very excited to hang up the baby clothesline again (yes, I still have the 7 year old clothespins).  And luckily, one of my co-hosts, Azure, went a little overboard with her buying so we had TONS of adorable clothes and stuff to hang.  We pretty much decided to forgo a formal theme and just decorate with clothes, food and sweets.  We did have a few flowers and balloons but the cupcakes stole the show (yum!)

I have also been wanting to make a reusable felt banner for years now to use for birthday parties and such so I decided this was a great excuse to finally get it done (plus, I was really trying to keep paper and plastic waste to a minimum).  But then I started thinking that I should make the banner as a room decoration/gift for the baby instead of keeping it for myself (how unlike me!)  And since the Daddy-to-be is a huge (rabid) Cubs fan I decided to go with that.  (My own children are rabid Cubs un-fans so I got a lot of grief for hanging this up...Cubs?!  Are you kidding?  Mom!  Take that down!  I'm calling Papa & Sue right NOW!)  The baby's name will be Maston, in case you couldn't figure that out from the photo...(in which case you might want to put the malt liquor down).

The last gift I made for baby Maston was a little embroidered onesie (done mostly in the stem stitch for those who care to know).  I altered the traditional Cubs colors to make it look a little more babyish and sweet but I think the Dad-to-be will forgive me.  It's hard to tell how small this 0-3 month onesie is from the photo but I'll post a picture of the little munchie inside it come November so y'all can see.  I can't wait to hold him and kiss him and smell him and love him and call him George.

Measure twice...or not...

My friend here in town had a little baby girl about a week ago and I am hoping to get to meet her this week.  She is a tiny little thing, only 6 lbs at birth!  Can you imagine how small and yummy she will be?  I can't wait to hold her and nuzzle her and smell her sweet little head...I'm actually drooling.

Anyway, I don't want to show up for my visit empty-handed so I embroidered her monogram on a little onesie and made a teeny tiny itty bitty little skirt to go with it (it looks like it's for a babydoll).  I have no idea if the skirt will fit because I was totally winging it on the measurements...and the um, pattern for that matter.  But I wrote down all of the raw measurements and seam allowances and took photos of the whole process (nothing is spontaneous anymore!) so I can make a little tutorial if it works out.  And if it doesn't, I can send the skirt to Willa for her babydoll and I have lots of that cute pink fabric to try again.  With the measurements this time...and maybe a pattern.  Or wait, maybe I'll just do a tutorial for a doll skirt...

Opa!

If you've been playing along at home then you know how much I love to make baby blankets, especially now that the opportunities are becoming fewer and farther between (and especially when they are for baby girls!)  This one is for my college friend, Kristin, who just (ok, 6 months ago) had her second daughter, Olivia.  She is about the sweetest little baby you have ever met and has a super girly pink room full of butterflies.  Lucky girl (Kristin, I mean).

Anyway, many years ago, I read somewhere that people with initials that spell something cool actually live longer than people who have either boring initials or really bad ones (like my brother-in-law who is DUM).  I'm not sure who paid for that study...or who even thought of it...but if there is any truth to the idea then I expect sweet little Olivia will live a good long time.

Finally! A baby shower!

I can't believe I'm actually saying that.  For several years there I could barely keep up with all of the babies.  It seemed like I was making a blanket-a-week and embroidered onesies were coming out of my ears!  But now, it's been at least a year since any of my local friends or family have had a baby shower.  Or a baby for that matter.  I have had to carefully and purposefully avoid the flannel aisle at the fabric shop forever (there is always so much cute blanket flannel when I don't need it!) 

For actual baby showers, I prefer to give an embroidered onesie along with something practical.  I wait to make the blankets until after the baby arrives.  That way, if I have an opportunity to buy super girly and/or pink fabric I can take advantage of it.  And more importantly, I can add the baby's monogram in order to comply with North Carolina statute 6413 (which states something along the lines of "anything that can be, shall be monogrammed, preferably in hot pink but other colors shall be permitted on a case-by-case basis such as when the item to be monogrammed is hot pink and then chartreuse shall be permitted"). 

Anyway, the new baby is a boy and his parents are big into sailing.  You might not know this (I didn't until we moved here) but there is a nautical flag alphabet.  Since the parents-to-be will not disclose the name of the baby-to-be I used the last name for this onesie.  This was supposed to be a very simple and easy project but like most of my projects I found a way to make it incredibly frustrating and time-consuming.  I'm not thrilled with the result but I am thankful that their last name is only 4 letters long.

Have I mentioned my niece's initials?

No?  Well.  Here they are.  For real.  I decided this year I should start having a little fun with this.  I mean, the little old ladies won't even get it so who am I really going to offend?  I might catch a few people off guard...but that's funny!  Right?

I also made this hat for her.  Could you die?  I came *this* close to asking Alana to open it early because I just couldn't wait to see it on...unfortunately Willa has the GIANT Reynolds noggin and the hat didn't even come close to fitting.  Soooo, I guess I'll be making another one...

Welcome baby Charlie!

Err, I mean, Happy First Birthday!  Boy, I'll tell ya there is nothing like a looming craft show deadline to motivate me to start a totally unrelated project that I have been procrastinating about for 11 months...

If you've been following along at home then you know that one of my favorite things to make in this whole world is a baby blanket.  I don't even know if I can count how many I have made at this point as I have incredibly prolific friends and family.  Although I admit I have missed a few blankets here and there, mostly for second, third and in one case fifth (!) children.  But I think it's because by the time the second (or fifth...) baby comes around most families are drowning in baby blankets.  They are a very popular gift (just ask Willa).

So this blanket is unusual because it is for a third child, baby Charlie.  Charlie is the third of my cousin's children (remember Ann & Kurt?) and both of his older siblings have blankets already.  Lincoln got one for being the first of Ann's babies and Claire got one, even though she was the second, because I rarely pass up the chance to make a blanket for a baby girl (and honestly, I thought Ann & Kurt were done having kids...)  So now Charlie gets one because I set a precedent.  And because I found this awesome camping fabric and my cousins love to camp (and canoe.  Yes, with their three kids.  And their dog.  I told you they are crazy.)  Now if I can just some time to get to the post office, Charlie should have his blanket by his second birthday.

An Alien Blanket for Baby Wheel...

When we first moved to The South, I was standing out on the soccer fields with a group of mothers watching my oldest son, then 7, practice with his teammates.  One of the other mothers turned to me and asked which child I belonged to.  I pointed out my son, the redhead,  and then asked her which child was hers.  She pointed to a clean cut, athletic looking 7-year-old and said, "That's my son, Wheel."  I said smiling, "Oh, what a cute name!  Is that a nickname for something?  Does he love cars?"  She looked at me, not like I was crazy, but like I was an idiot, and said slowly, so as not to confuse me I reckon, "Yes. It's short for William."  Because I am an ambassador-type and wanted to be careful not to offend my southern counterpart, I handled the situation appropriately and with great tact.  While wiping away tears and in between snorts, I tried to tell her how funny it was that with her southern accent I thought she said, "Wheeeeeeel"  *snort*  "Like a tire!"  *snort* "On a bike!"  *snort*  "Not Wiiiiiilllll..."  carefully annunciating it properly for her (which she no doubt appreciated.)  Well, the two of us clearly did not share the same sense of humor.  At all.  In fact, she visibly scooted away from me and I'm pretty sure never spoke to me again for the whole season... But, like I said, I am the ambassador type so I'm used to this kind of thing.

Anyway, fast-forward 5 years and we are welcoming the newest baby Wheel into the world.  Our dear friends (we have managed to make some friends here!) had their second child, a little baby boy, William Joseph.  Actually, he was born many months ago... but this is his Alien Blanket.  I make a lot of baby blankets as you will soon see.  My pattern, for lack of a better word, is very simple but they are hands-down my favorite thing in the world to create.  Especially since I started embroidering a couple years ago (thanks to Alana & Jenny) so now I can add all kinds of cute embellishments!  On Baby Will's blanket, the UFO is a pattern from Sublime Stitching (that Jenny Hart is so clever!) and following North Carolina statute 6413, I added his monogram.  I hope he is dragging it all over the place as we speak, the little munchkin!

 

The Pinwheel Mobile Goes Round And Round

Pinwheel Mobile, originally uploaded by Alana.

About a hundred years ago I got married. (It was actually less than 5 years ago, but man, it seems a lot longer.) We decided to have pinwheels as our wedding favor. We were getting married at my mom's house up on a hill where it was always very windy and it seemed like the perfect little thing. I got excited about the idea but I couldn't find any pinwheels on the market that were right. Kara then got the idea to make them out of origami paper, pins, and wooden dowels. It was a good idea except for the fact that they were VERY labor-intensive. She ended up making every single one herself. Like 125 of them. Each one more beautiful than the last. It was the most lovingly insane thing she has ever done for me.

Fast forward a couple years. While I was flipping through a back issue of Martha Stewart's Baby magazine I saw an article on making baby mobiles out of paper. It included an adorable one made out of pinwheels. I was a little sad because my son was already well past mobile stage and it would have been so perfect and at that point we were not sure about having another baby. Well we did. And from the second  "pregnant" showed up on the digital test screen I started thinking about making this mobile. Being the procrastinator that I am I left it until right before my due date. Willa decided to show up a week early so it didn't get done. When Kara came up for Christmas this year she not  only distracted my kids (and hers) so I would have a solid hour to work on it, she also gave me a self-healing cutting mat and a rotary cutter as a present. (Score!) And now Willa has a little pinwheel mobile above her crib.  And all is well.