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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

WIP Wednesday #21

Happy Wednesday, everyone! It's time for another update. (In case you've missed out, I'm following along with Freshly Pieced's W.I.P. (Work In Progress) Wednesday series as a good way for me (and you) to keep track of what's going on around here.)

Completed this week: 
It was a very productive weekend for nursery sewing. I've already discussed the finished projects in a couple different posts, so I won't go into too many details here. Here we go (just follow the links for more detailed posts):

Basket liner for the changing table

All of the nursery fabrics are from Dan Stiles's Marine line, purchased from Fabricworm.

Started this week:
Trying to figure out what fabrics to use for my bag project

In progress/On the "to do" list:
Stocking for Biscuit
Other (possible) Biscuit-related projects: whale softie, Texas A&M onesie, and a lot of other things I haven't even thought of yet
A new bag
Mug rug for me
Christmas gifts?

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week. And be sure to click on the button to check out other great WIPs for more inspiration! GO RANGERS!!
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Burp cloths for Biscuit

The first thing I made when I started sewing was a set of bibs and burp cloths for a friend. Using an idea I found online, I sewed a strip of fabric down the middle of a hand towel to make the burp cloths.
The technique works well, and I think the outcome is cute, but sometimes the towels can be a bit bigger and thicker than what you really want in a burp cloth.

So, when we were registering for Biscuit and found these cloth diapers from Gerber, I thought I'd add them to the list, not for use as cloth diapers (which we are using, but these got bad reviews for actual use as diapers), but for use as burp cloths. They were last on my list of things I wanted to spruce up for Biscuit (because, of course, I could use them as-is if he showed up before I finished), but I was glad to get them finished up this weekend along with everything else.
I used the same process as the hand towels, adding just the strip of fabric down the middle, and I really like how they turned out. They're very soft and a much better size than the hand towels.
I used some leftover Marine scraps for two of them, and then pieced together some other random scraps for the other two.
I also decided to use a couple of the cloths to make "cover-ups" for changing time (basically a cloth to throw over Biscuit while we're changing him to avoid getting sprayed). :) For these, all I did was cut the cloth in half and then hem the cut side with a zigzag stitch. I made four cover-ups out of two cloths, which still left me with six cloths from the original package.
Okay, Biscuit, everything's ready for you!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Thankful Mondays #34

Hello, Monday! Each Monday, I'm writing about things I'm thankful for. This is week 34. Read more about it here. 


496. sweet cornbread
497. finishing everything for Biscuit's nursery
498. big wins for the Aggies, Cowboys, and Rangers
499. vacuum cleaners
500. trying out Range, a new burger and shake restaurant in town
501. figuring out a way to hang Biscuit's crib mobile
502. awesome friends who were willing to take some maternity shots for us this weekend (don't worry, I'll be sharing plenty more of these)
503. red beans and rice
504. finally getting a new battery for my laptop
505. a happy birthday for my mom
507. wonderful priests at our church
508. donut holes
509. that my sister's awesome holiday CD is ranked in the top 20 holiday CDs on Amazon (along with a strange variety of artists that includes She and Him, Justin Bieber, Josh Groban, and Michael Buble)
510. video chats

Biscuit gets a home

This weekend, I finished up all of the sewing and hanging for Biscuit's nursery, so he finally has a proper space to come home to (whenever he decides to make his appearance)!

And here it is!
First, I finished the third crib sheet (the other two can be seen here and here, along with the dust ruffle).
I love the little birdies. And so does Henry the Elephant. He's going to be Biscuit's buddy.
Next up was the mobile. I've been brainstorming how I wanted to do this one for a while. It started with the idea of making three-dimensional characters from the fabric, like little whales, birds, and starfish. I eventually decided against that because it was going to be a lot more work, and I was afraid it wouldn't actually look all that great by the time I was done.
Then, I saw this mobile over on Pinterest, and after consulting Matt, we decided that was the way to go. I used this tutorial on Sew She Sews, and I love the way it turned out.
The shapes are attached to white ribbon, which I also used to wrap the embroidery hoop from which they're hanging. The entire mobile is hung using craft fishing line, so it's very light and twirls just enough to catch your eye.
Biscuit's Hide and Seek Spectrum Quilt is hanging on the back of the crib for now.
As I've mentioned before (I think), we currently rent a house that's not big enough for Biscuit to have his own room, so his space is really just a wall of our bedroom. To make things worse, we have these crazy hard plaster walls that basically make it impossible to hang things unless we want to risk tearing a whole in the wall, which we don't (it would be nice to get that security deposit back). I hate having blank white walls, so it's been killing me that we don't have anything hung in the rest of the house, and the idea of Biscuit's little corner being so drab was just too sad, so I wanted to come up with something we could hang that wouldn't cause too much damage.

I loved the look of the fabric-filled embroidery hoops I kept seeing on Pinterest (like these), and I thought that would work perfectly. They're light enough to hang with just a pushpin, they can be easily switched out later, and it would allow me to incorporate more of the fabric I had from the collection (throughout the nursery, I used a variety of fabrics from Dan Stiles's Marine collection, along with a few coordinating Kona solids, purchased from Fabricworm).
I also made a new lining for the storage basket on the changing table.
To finish off the look and add a bit more color, I used cardstock to add labels to the drawers on the changing table.
And the final corner is filled with the diaper pail (with its blue liner from Planet Wise) and the vintage rocking horse that my cousin Savy bought for Biscuit.
For the space we had to work with, I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Hopefully, our plans to buy a house in the spring will work out, and then we can upgrade Biscuit to his own room (with paint on the walls!), but for now, I think he'll be happy here.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

A basket for Biscuit

This weekend was all about finishing up the sewing for Biscuit's nursery. His due date is Nov. 11, but our doctor's pretty sure he's not going to make it that long, so I've definitely been wanting to finish and make sure everything's ready.

It started with fixing this basket we bought to hold supplies on the changing table.
We liked the look of the basket (which we got at Target), and the lining was nice enough, but it didn't match the any of the colors in the nursery, so I wanted to switch it out. I decided to use some of the solids I'd bought to coordinate with the Marine fabrics that fill most of the nursery.
It came together really easily. I measured the basket and cut a teal piece for the long ends, which continues across the bottom. Then, there's a yellow piece on each end. It's all sewn up with a 1/4" seam allowance, and then I hemmed the edge for a clean finish.
Changing table goodies!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Thankful Mondays #33

Woohoo! I made it on Monday this week (which is way better than last week, when I didn't make it at all oops)! Each Monday, I'm writing about things I'm thankful for. This is week 33. Read more about it here. 

481. learning how to say no
Photo courtesy of ESPN
482. the Rangers making it to the World Series
483. seeing babies smile
484. finishing washing all of the Biscuit's clothes, linens, blankets, etc.
Photo courtesy of LA Times
485. the Cardinals making it to the World Series (though I'll be rooting for the Rangers)
486. a great doctor's appointment at the end of 36 weeks, I'm already dilated 2 cm and effaced 50-60%, which means I probably won't make it to my due date, but more importantly, I almost certainly won't have to be induced!
487. my husband waking up early to make me pancakes
488. finishing two more crib sheets and a dust ruffle for Biscuit
489. cord blood donation
490. good bagels
491. homemade applesauce
492. finishing our shopping for Biscuit (well, at least for now)
493. hospital pre-registration
494. getting an unexpected (and unasked for) extension on a project
495. getting an unexpected raise and bonus!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Food for Biscuit

We're planning on making all of Biscuit's baby food, and after our successful apple-picking trip a few weeks ago, we decided to get a head start by making our own applesauce. We canned the applesauce so it'll last for a long time (which is good, seeing as how Biscuit's not even born yet).
We modified the simple applesauce recipe from America's Test Kitchen by leaving out the sugar and cinnamon. Also, because the apples we picked weren't organic, we decided to peel them beforehand.
The applesauce turned out perfectly. It's just the right consistency and super sweet, even without adding a lick of sugar. I'm confident Biscuit will love it (and if he doesn't, he has a momma who will be happy to eat it for him).
The nine jars of applesauce also officially finished off our apple supply, which was a bit sad. We did get to enjoy two amazing apple crisps, though, plus we ate a lot of apples on their own. Still, it's amazing how quickly you can go through 30 pounds of apples!
Since we're planning on making all of Biscuit's food, we decided to register for some storage options at Amazon (all photos courtesy of Amazon). Aren't these freezer trays from Oxo so cute?
They come in several bold colors, and since Oxo products are almost always a sure bet, I went for it. We also registered for these containers:
These spoons
These dishes
And these bowls
I want to eat out of them. :) Does anyone else make their own baby food? Any suggestions on good storage containers?

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

WIP Wednesday #20

Happy Wednesday, everyone! It's time for another update. (In case you've missed out, I'm following along with Freshly Pieced's W.I.P. (Work In Progress) Wednesday series as a good way for me (and you) to keep track of what's going on around here.)

Completed this week: 
After Matt and my dad were awesome enough to put together Biscuit's crib last week, I made some good progress on the linens for the nursery "area." We're looking at moving to a bigger place in the spring, but until then, Biscuit will be sleeping in our room, so after a little furniture re-arrangement, his crib and changing table took over one wall.

Anyway, after I successfully made my first "trial" crib sheet, I started in on the real fabric. And it turned out so well that I had to dive right into the dust ruffle, too, both of which were finished on Sunday. The crib sheet was made using this tutorial from Dana over at MADE.
The dust ruffle was modified from this tutorial. I decided against using the side pleats for fear they would overwhelm the little crib, but I'd planned on keeping the end pleats until my husband helpfully pointed out the metal bar that lowers the bed level was going to get in my way.
 
Instead, I had to rig up my own pattern, which included two side panels and a separate front panel. It worked out well, and I don't think the split is all that noticeable. It's certainly less noticeable that the storage under the crib was, which is now nicely covered. :) 
All of the fabrics are from Dan Stiles's Marine line, purchased from Fabricworm. The crib mobile is first on the list for this weekend's projects.
Started this week:
Brainstorming the design for the crib mobile

In progress/On the "to do" list:
Nursery bedding for the biscuit: crib mobile, a couple more crib sheets, wall art, and fabric basket liner for changing table
Other biscuit-related projects: whale softie, Texas A&M onesie, and a lot of other things I haven't even thought of yet
A new bag
Mug rug for me

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week. And be sure to click on the button to check out other great WIPs for more inspiration!
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced