NEW PATTERN - Lacey Eyelet Baby Bonnet

There's a new pattern in the shop and I think it is my favorite one!  The Lacey Eyelet Baby Bonnet is a sweet, simple bonnet more decorative than practical.  Perfect for those newborn photos and introductions.  Or for those warm weather babies who don't need a hat but look so darn cute in one.  Either way, I can't wait for our own little one to arrive and start modeling it.  

    

Each pregnancy brings on a new knitting frenzy and a whole bunch of new hats and patterns.  So enjoy the first of many new patterns coming this fall and be sure to check out some of the others.  Like this sweet bonnet perfect for keeping little ears warm as the weather cools.

Mosaic Baby Bonnet

Little and Lovely Knits

Nursery Sneak Peek - work in progres

Did I mention we are expecting baby #3?  I am so out of the blogging rhythm I have no idea if I ever formally shared this news.  Well baby #3 will be joining us this fall, right around Halloween but hopefully not on Halloween.  We decided not to find out the gender this time around which has made decorating a nursery a little different for me but in a fun and refreshing way.  If you know anything about me, it's that I'm kind of afraid of color.  Just a plain jane, black and white girl.  Fortunately for me that happens to be kind of "IN" right now.  So why not have a black and white nursery?!

In fact the idea came from a blanket I knit for the baby.  It's a favorite and definite starting point for the nursery.

The room is far from done and these are photos from my phone (no editing and poor lighting - thus the yellow tone) but with all the craziness happening with the house and clean up, I wanted to share something that wasn't torn up and showed some actual progress.  Plus, I really like how it is turning out and I am so excited to finish it and bring our little one home to this room.

I painted the walls white and the trim black which was a tedious and terrible process I will share with you more in depth another time but I am really happy how it turned out.  The first few brush strokes of black terrified me and I almost regretted it but I am so glad I continued.  I also painted the dresser and crib in the same black which was also tedious but worth it.  And bonus, saved a TON of money.  This nursery, like all rooms in our home, are all low budget productions filled with DIY projects. And I will share all about them here eventually.  Hopefully others can learn from my mistakes.

Next up on the TO DO list is hanging the curtains (black), more wall art, finding/sewing a pillow for the chair, and finishing the crib and bedding.  And hopefully all that will happen before this little one arrives - still have some time.

Valentine's Day Card Making With Kids

We've been working on our valentines over here.  Our first photo shoot didn't go too well and entailed a lot of tears and tantrums and a few overzealous moments of love which then resulted in more tears.  Fortunately the second attempt was a little better.

While the kiddos may not have appreciated the photo taking, Ella did love the card decorating.  

She took it VERY seriously.

Or at least it seemed like she was until I saw her notes......

Is it just me or do these look...well...like...boobies?

I apologize in advance to whoever receives these.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Baby Hats: Boy Edition

I now have a male baby hat model thanks to our little Griffin.  Ella did great modeling all my hats but now that she is getting older and becoming a little girl it was time for her to share some of the responsibility.  I have a feeling she doesn't mind and Griffin did great on his first job.

Chevron Baby Hat

(pattern found here)

Football Baby Hat

Someone doesn't want to be replaced.

Showing her baby brother how it's done.

She still has it!

Elf Hat

Frog Hat

 And some other super cute ones.

These hats were sewn out of old shirts.  You can find the tutorial here.

DIY: the simplest cake banner

I am not a baker and I certainly am not a food stylist but I did find a super easy and fast way to create a cake banner - out of desperation of course.  I waited till the last minute to bake and decorate a cake for a party and then scrambled to find something to make it "cute" (by my standards).

Using twine and post-it flags from the dollar section at Target I constructed a banner in literally 5 minutes.

I wrote my message on the flags first and then folded the flag in half over the twine using the natural sticky back to keep it in place.  I then tied the twine banner to two wood skewers (or straws) to finish it.

So easy!

And it looks cuter in person - cell phone pictures don't do it justice.

DIY: Custom Name Baby Blanket

I'm sure most of you have seen the custom name blanket craze on Etsy or Pinterest already.  I immediately fell in love and wanted one for Griffin's birth announcement but didn't want to shell out the $100 for it, which is really a fair price considering the seller has to design and order the fabric and then sew the blanket.  Plus, the fabric is expensive since it is custom per person and you can't buy in bulk.  So if you can afford it, then I recommend saving yourself some time and energy and just ordering it from a shop.  My favorite seller is Jennifer Ann and she has some cheaper options too.

If you are a cheap, DIY'er like myself then read on.

(Note: You do not need a serger or expensive sewing machine to make this.)

I found an amazing fabric site, Spoonflower, that allows you to design your own fabric and order it on numerous different textiles, my favorite being the Modern Jersey.  It is so soft!

Using photoshop and this helpful information on the Spoonflower website I designed my pattern.  Then I uploaded it to the website and ordered the fabric.  I ordered 1 yard of each pattern on the Modern Jersey.  I recommend ordering a swatch first to make sure the pattern and color is accurate.  

If you want a large square blanket than I recommend ordering 2 yards.  I was going to fold the 1 yard of fabric in half for a small square but once I got the fabric decided to leave it as is and have 1 large rectangle blanket.  I bought basic white jersey fabric from Joann's for the backside to make a nice thick, double-sided blanket.  I toyed with the idea of having their first names on one side and then coordinating fabric with their middle names on the back-side.  Or fun fabric like polka-dots, stripes, etc.  Just some other fun ideas for you to consider.

Sewing with jersey is a little different than other fabrics due to the stretch but anyone can successfully sew jersey with professional results.  I am a total amateur sewer with basic equipment (an old free sewing machine gifted to me from a friend) and I didn't have any complications thanks to this website:   The Prudent Baby.  Check it out for lots of great information and tips.  And if you don't have time then I'll share what worked for me.

I bought two items for my machine to help sew jersey:

Even-Feed/Walking Foot

Jersey/Ball Point Needles

The even-feed foot moves both the top and bottom layers of the fabric to prevent too much stretching to give you a nice, even and smooth stitch.  This foot is worth every penny.  I also used ball point needles which are a little more rounded than universal and prevent the fabric from tearing slightly at the stitch.  You can read more about the benefits of this needle in The Prudent Baby post.

With these two items in place I then set my machine's stitching.  To allow for some stretch in the seam which you need with jersey fabric I used a zig zag stitch with the length set low, about 1.5 for my machine.  I know every machine is different but this is what mine looks like.  I also set the tension to 3.

 Once you have your sewing machine set up the rest of the project is just like any other sewing project.  Make sure to pre-wash your fabric and practice sewing on scrap jersey.  This really helped me get the hang of using the even-feed foot as well as ensured my machine was set correctly. 

Ella helped me pin the fabric together, right sides facing each other.

Then I sewed it together leaving a 6 in. gap so I could turn the blanket right side out.

I finished the edge with the same zig zag stitch. 

And just like that you have fun, cuddly blankets.  At least Griffin thinks so.  It was a little harder to get Ella's opinion.

 

Eventually I was able to catch one photo of them in their blankets on my phone.  

**UPDATE**

I just caught these adorable photos of my babies snuggling in their blankets while watching Frozen.

So much better.