Owl burp cloth tutorial

You know how when you're pregnant, you're not really supposed to say if you want a boy or a girl? The correct stance is: as long as the baby is healthy, I'll be happy. As a mom of a baby who was decidedly not healthy at birth, I get this, totally. That said, I'll admit: the first time I found out I was having a boy, I felt disappointed. I think to some degree, we ladies all want a baby girl, a daughter who will grow up and share things with us that boys just can't. I'm totally happy with the way things worked out for me with two adorable, sweet, smart little boys. But the wanting-a-girl thread is still in there something deeply buried. I know this because when I found out my sister-in-law is pregnant with a baby girl, I squealed and basically skipped around the room in excitement. A girl! A niece! My first. I'm so very excited. 

It's fun to make little girl things at the sewing machine. Here's my first project for my niece, due in May.
An owl appliqued burp cloth! I guess some people never use burp clothes because I suppose their children are perfect little creatures who never regurgitate anything. Mine were quite the opposite. I went through at least one a day. I suppose I hope it runs in the family!

For this project, first I cut three rectangles of fabric and sewed them together with about a quarter inch seam. Iron those seams flat and then fold the new long piece of fabric down the middle. I use another burp cloth I like as a pattern. I love burp clothes in this oversized bone shape. They fit on your shoulder well and cover a nice portion of your back, which is nice when the adorable baby really lets it fly. 

After getting the top done, I turned to the owl applique.

I freelanced a pattern by cutting and play with the pieces. For mine, you need an ovalish body, a smaller oval for the belly, a half-circle for the face, two oval-shaped eyes and the wings. I cut the shapes and then ironed them onto medium-weight interfacing and cut them out. The interfacing makes the applique process a little sturdier and also, I hope, will prevent from fraying of the ends.

First I sewed on the body around the edge with a straight-stitch. You could also use a zig-zag, but I went for straight stitch with everything on my owl. After the body, I sewed the face on top, overlapping the body slightly.

I then placed the wings and sewed them only along the inside edge. You'll sew the outside edge down when you attach the owl to the burp cloth. 

 

Finally, I sewed on the eyes. The left one looks better because I took it really really slowly, hand-cranking the stitches for the most part and rotating the fabric every two stitches.

Here's how our little owl looks ready to be appliqued on!

Then it's simple. Place Mr. Owl in the middle of the burp cloth and sew around him using an edge stitch. And the top is done!

I backed my cloth with white terry cloth. I used my top as the pattern, placed the two pieces right sides together and sewed, leaving a hole for turning on one end, with a quarter-inch seam. Turn right-side out, iron very well, and then top-stitch around, being sue to close your turning hole. And you're done. One cute owl burp cloth for one, I'm sure, very cute niece.

A mid-winter tank

We ave been having a heat wave here. Are you enjoying this, too? For about a week and a half, it has been at least 60 degrees. Now, we're into the 70s, and in the next day or two, 80s! I know, I know, I'm blathering on about the weather and you're thinking, why do I care what the weather's like there? You probably don't. But it's SUMMER in the winter! It's literally my dream come true.

And so, this tank top is totally appropriate sewing for March. That's the bottom line.

 

It started as this pretty polyester fabric, the same one I used for my infinity scarf. I saw it made into a maxi dress at the fabric store and just loved it. I thought about turning it into a skirt, but I also wanted to try something new. Enter, tank!


 I don't have photos of the process, sorry. I used Anna's "Sewing with knits" tank tutorial as a guide. A tank on hand with a similar shape served as my pattern. I tried my best to match the pattern up on the sides, and honestly, it turned out really well. It's worth the time to try and get that one right!

After that, it was fairly straight-forward except for two things. My needle broke on my very first stitch, which seemed like an ominous sign. And I burned a hole in my fabric with my iron. Oh yes! I did! I didn't realize it was polyester until I heard the sizzle. The hole was on the back near the top. I thought the entire thing was ruined, and then, light bulb! Darts! Darts can save the day! And so, if you look back at the top back, you'll see two darts coming now from the neckline. They make the tank slightly more racer-backish, which I like.

The whole thing only took about an hour. I left the hem untouched. The bias tape closures for the neck and holes was the most time consuming part. When you add them, you cut the strips to about 75 percent of the area they're covering and have to stretch them a bit to fit. It's a little tricky. When I can I leave myself more bias trim and then trim it to fit near the end.

All in all, for an intermediate sewer, someone who is a bit familiar with knits, it's not a hard project at all.

I'm getting lazy with my self-portraits. One of the things about making something to wear -- it's funny when no one notices it. Is that good or bad? They think it is a run-of-the-mill store-bought item, I'd guess. So do you focus more on the fact that they think it is run-of-the-mill or that they think it is something mass produced? I guess I will leave you with that deep thought for the day.

Easy infinity (circle) scarf

Easiest project ever! This is a polyester knit. I used Maybe Matilda's tutorial as a reference, but made a slight deviation. Cut long, wide piece. Fold wrong sides together. Sew using ballpoint needle and zig-zag stitch along long side all the way until a few inches from one end. Turn right-side out. Take two short ends and using the side that you left unstitched a few inches, match it up with the other side, wrong sides together. Sew together. Turn end back right-side out. Then you'll have a small hole -- fold the edges in, place two sides together and sew with a zig-zag stitch (this will be visible, but once you're wearing your circle scarf, that little stitch will be lost in the folds of the fabric, I promise).

Ta-da!

So easy.

The really exciting thing: I also made a tank with this fabric. Will be sharing that soon!

A first birthday party for JJ

JJ's first birthday party was Saturday. I did not sew a stitch for it. I had big plans to make him a shirt, or a softie or... something. But you know, it didn't happen, and I am OK with that. He had a perfectly cute party without something hand-sewn by Mama. I did a few crafty touches, made a lot of food, cleaned my house (with a huge huge helping hand from my mother-in-law) and called it a day. Parties are a lot of work. Yes? We can agree on this? Every time we have one, a couple hours before the party, I think to myself, I am never doing this again.  But then once everything comes together, and all the people are there, of course, it all seems worth it.

I was a lovely time. I'm just having issues lately about what's too much. Don't mind me.

Anyway, thought I'd share a few photos.

I found the "My First Birthday" shirt at Marshall's a few days before the party, and for $5, I was sold. It was cute. It took one thing off my to-do list. Check, check.

I did a photo timeline, strung on twine, around the basement, where we held the party. I found the mini colored clothespins at Jo-Anns, and they were really cute. I used about 45 photos -- almost all of the clothespins! I loved how this looked, and at the end of the party, I told everyone they could take a photo or two as a party favor.

I made the cake the day before, using the recipe from my inspiration post. I made two layer cakes, so the cake ended up pretty enormous. But he really only ate the little section right on the top of one side. I really wanted to make him a cake from scratch and really REALLY wanted to see him make a mess with it. Mission accomplished there.

For the adults, we got a chocolate peanut-butter cake from Pinwheel Bakery in Ferndale, and it was so delicious. I highly recommend. This thing was gone in an instant!

One fun thing we did was have everyone complete a time capsule for JJ to open on his 18th birthday. This was a big hit. Now the only issue... keeping track of the responses for 17 years!

For the door, I did a fairly simple wreath. Yarn wrapped a wreath form and then stuck these adorable mini-pinwheels into one side to make a cute arrangement. I stuck a "Happy Birthday" sticker on top because I ran out of time to do what I really wanted, which was make a little flag banner that said those words. Ah well. I think it's pretty cute.

I am a bit in disbelief that my baby is one. It's bittersweet. Babyhood is the best. And this little guy... he is the sweetest, most cuddly little one. It's been a most fabulous year with him, it really has.

1-2-3 Sew Craft Tote

My best friend turns 32 today. We've known each other since we were 18. That's 14 years, apparently. Fourteen years! We've seen one another grow up, fall in love, get married and start careers. We've supported one another spiritually. We've run half-marathons together. We've done a lot of laughing together. And I've received too many hand-made gifts from her to count. She's a knitter, and a fine one, and at least once a year for the last seven or eight years, she's gifted me some wonderfully hand-knit item. It was about time I returned the favor!



I saw this craft tote tutorial in the book 1-2-3 Sew and decided it'd be great for her to carry her knitting supplies around. The fabrics are from Amy Butler's new "Lark" line of fabric. They're home dec weight. The tutorial calls for canvas, so right away, I had a problem. But it was not too hard to solve. I lined all the outer pieces, the inside bottom piece and the compartment dividers all with fusible fleece. That seemed to do the trick, and the bag sits up nicely and holds its shape.

 I did have to go back and readjust my seams on the lining pieces multiply times, because when I went to fit it inside the shell, it was bunching up. I don't know why -- I swear I cut accurately this time. But what can you do? Taking the seams in a bit here and there worked well, and for the most part, the inside lays nicely in the shell. I love all the divided areas, perfect for stashing different crafting tools!

It also has three divided pockets in the front, for extra storage options. And while the tutorial called for straps made out of webbing, I decided to make my own from the fabric. They also have a bit of fleece inside. Saved me a trip to the store more than anything, but I think they're cute, too.

This bag took me about a week to make, but only because my sewing time is so limited to little bursts here and there. It was a very straight-forward project. A great first project to try from his new book!

Happy birthday, Kelly! Hope you love it!

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A potholder for a friend

I made this extra-large potholder for a friend this week. On New Year's Day, hanging at her house, she brought out a Calaphon Dutch oven and an indoor grill pan, both of which she was no longer using. She said I could have them. I was thrilled because those are two pans missing from own kitchen. Score!

I decided to make her something to thank her and landed on this potholder thanks to a new email rolling into my inbox each day. It's called the Sew Can She Newsletter. They deliver one sewing tutorial to you each day. Free! Not bad, right? The tutorials come from all over blog land, and you can submit your own to be considered. It's just another easy way to find inspiration and tutorials you might otherwise miss. So last week, the email include a potholder tutorial that used this exact same coffee cup fabric! I had it in my stash awaiting some sort of inspiration, so I took it as a sign and whipped this up. I didn't use fusible thread, as the tutorial calls for, but that's a good idea I'll have to look into. And I just did some straight-line quilting with a zig-zag stitch thrown in.

Hope my friend loves it! The finished size is about a 10-inch square, which is really large. Nice for use as a counter-top hot pad, too!

Oh and hop over to the blog Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy! Stacey is gearing up for a year-long Sewing for Boys sew along! Fun! They featured one of my Henry Shirt posts this week. Thanks for the invite, Stacey!

The saga of the apron. And I do mean saga.

Is there an award for being the last one on Earth to finish a handmade Christmas present? If so, I win! I win!

This is the finished apron I finally gifted by mother-in-law today. Months and months ago, she mentioned that she'd like if I made her a holiday apron. We're always struggling to come up with good gifts to give her, so I was happy to have the inspiration handed to me. I knew from that point on -- maybe sometime in October -- that I'd make her her holiday apron for Christmas.

I started thinking about fabric and patterns. At Jo-Ann's one day, I put this in my cart, 40% off. McCalls 6177.

I thought that third look was it. Cute, right? Then I read the instructions and sort of freaked out. I began to worry that it was too difficult a pattern in the time I had. And then I noticed that I bought sizes 18 wide and larger. Rookie mistake. My mother-in-law is basically the same size as me. So I had to go another route.

At that point, I opened up the book One Yard Wonders for inspiration, and I decided to make the Cottage Apron.

Kind of cute, right? Kind of.... sexy? I liked this a lot, I just felt like.... Is a woman in her 60s really going to like this? It didn't seem like her. I also started questioning having straps made out of ribbons. Is that really going to hold up in the wash?

As you can see, I was second-guessing everything.

On Christmas Eve, at 10:30 p.m., my mind scrambled in a haze of last-minute present wrapping, I decided there was no way I could give her Apron A. So I set out to make another.

I had a yard of fabric in a festive print. I had red linen. I quickly cut out an apron, using another I had as a pattern. I cut straps, including one very wide and long strap to go across the middle. I hemmed all the sides, made some straps, and voila, before you could say Merry Christmas, I had a new apron!

But wait!

So I gave it to her. She said she loved it. It was all fine. Except I put the sash on way too low, so it hit around the hips, and so the sides of the back hung in a sad droopy manner. I had stitched the strap right to the top of the apron, so I told her it would be no biggie for me to take it home and move it up higher. I was disappointed that it wasn't perfect, but hey, I still think I made the right call and made an apron more suited to her. And I could fix it.

And then. And THEN.

Do you feel the drama building?

If you're squeamish... Maybe you will want to skip this next photo. Because I am sure I am about to break all sorts of blogger rules in posting this photo.

What happened AND THEN is that I brought the apron home, and when all the holiday fun cooled down, I un-stitched that baby. And then the next morning I laid it out on the floor to pin the sash back on. The clock was ticking. She was coming to babysit soon.

I walked upstairs to get more coffee. And when I came back.... I saw this.

I won't enlarge it more than that, because ew, gross! Ladies and gentlemen, that's what it looks like when your cat decides your unfinished sewing project -- a project for your mother-in-law --  looks like a great place to barf.

My husband was all: "Just wash that spot off!" Oh darling. No. That sucker had to go in the wash. Which meant it wasn't done by 11:30, when she came over to babysit. Which meant it was another week before I'd see her again to have a chance to give her her apron.

So finally finally this week, I finished her up. And presented a fully finished, non-barfy, non-teeny-bopper apron to my mother-in-law. On Jan. 10! Only 16 days after Christmas!

I had to make my husband model after his wipe-the-barf-off-the-corner comment.

 Hahaha.

Here it is on me, looking ladylike in my pajamas.

I

Moral of the story: don't leave your sewing projects near a barfy cat? Don't wait unitl 10:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve to attempt a sewing project that is actually a good fit for your recipient?

That's for you to decide. All I know is this: my mother-in-law seems pleased enough with her new apron (and yes, she knows about its sordid past) and bonus, my friend Evelyn was so taken with my first apron, she bought it from me! I am now contemplating what to make her to thank her. Irony! Whatever I decide, I'll try not to let my cat near it.

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