Baby things

39 weeks pregnant. I am anticipating that this may just be my longest pregnancy. I am prepared and standing by, but baby seems to be comfortable and might just decide to hibernate and wait out the winter right where he is. Well, I suppose that would give me more time to invent new projects for him. Here are a few things I have completed in his lingering stay at l’hotel Mama.

Baptism outfit - All my boys have baptism outfits that I made. Too bad I don't have anyone to model this!

Quick blanket. I'm rather disappointed in the selection of boyish fabric we have these days. Of course there are countless choices for girly fabric, but the pickings are sparse for boys. 

Little layette.

Newborn Hat Tutorial

    Store bought newborn hats are laughable in their immensity, at least as far as my babies’ heads are concerned; they get lost in those hats. The smallest size hats I found would not fit until my babies were about 2-3 months old! I question the qualification, of those who came up with the hats, for their knowledge in baby head sizes. When my babies were newborns, I had to rely on the inferior hats you get in the hospital until I felt they didn’t need to wear a hat anymore. 
    It started dawning on me recently that since deciding on having a home birth, I will not be getting a hospital hat this time. So before I gave myself a chance to ask my midwife if she would know where to get one, I went all gung ho about taking it into my own hands. And thus, I wiled away 15 minutes of my time to fashion a cozy hat for my anticipated little one. After making it, and deciding that it looked awful, I improved my design, and started over. This time I am satisfied with the results, and it was so simple, I presumed it would make a adequate initial contribution for my debut into tutorials. Keep in mind that it is nothing if not an amateur and unprofessional attempt at a hat, and there are probably countless superior baby hat tutorials out there...

Finished hat

    As this is my first ever tutorial, let me know if it doesn't make sense, I'm notorious for giving complex directions for something that can be explained simply. :o)

    I used a soft, stretchy knit for this project, but being that it is a thin fabric, I decided on two layers so there wouldn’t be any drafts through the hat. Two layers also allows for hiding the seams so they don’t irritate baby. 
I cut out a piece 13x10 inches, and folded it lengthwise, so it now measures 13x5 folded.

 Folded lengthwise

 Then fold once again the opposite way, leaving an overhang (this will leave only one layer for the brim fold, so it’s not too thick.) 

Cut rounded corners on the fold so the hat is contoured, leave it connected at the top by about an inch and a half. 

Unfold the second fold of the fabric and stitch along the un-folded edges as shown in the photo

 I used a zig-zag stitch so it will stretch. 

Once both sides are stitched, you can fold the short cap over the long one, wrong sides together. The long piece will be peeking out of the bottom of the short one.

 Now simply fold up the bottom of the long piece twice to form a hem that covers the unfinished bottom edge on the top piece.

 You could stitch it in place if you would like, but I left it, hoping the hem will just stay in place. 
So there you have it, nothing professional or expert, but better than the hospital hats for those babies who have teeny tiny heads. 

Store bought NB size hat next to mine, big difference!

Repurposed dress

It is one of my ambitions to have family photos taken every year, but that achievement requires a great deal of effort on my part. One of the challenges is finding matching clothes that don’t cost a fortune! This year, I was able to find everything needed for my boys and my husband, on sale, and from the same store! My problem? I didn’t find anything I could live with for myself. Most maternity shirts I found were expensive, and with less than 2 months left for me to wear it, out of the question! My solution: Make something myself! I found an XXL maxi dress on clearance that seemed to be the right color, and figured, here’s a yard or two of fabric I could make something with! I came up with a style I thought would be classy and uncomplicated without a pattern, and after a half day of figuring, re-figuring and sewing: voila, an $11 maternity shirt! It is admittedly not as fashionable as my last undertaking, but the best I could come up with for the material composition, jersey is not the most refined fabric if you must know! I am also showing the shirt itself which is a bit too boxy for me, I prefer to add the belt and have waist. Unfortunately my illustrations are typically more attractive than the finished project. 
As you can see, the weather here is always gorgeous, and my photographer is unparalleled! 

Designing

With a belt

Plain, sans belt.

The maxi dress I used for fabric

Full Skirt

As I got ready for church last Sunday, I went through the usual routine of taking all of my skirts and dresses out of the closet to try on. Tossing each skirt aside in frustration when I couldn’t pull it over my newly acquired hips. At almost 30 weeks of my infanticipation, this seems to be the period where I can no longer fit in some of my larger skirts. I finally found a skirt I could fit into, if not zip up, and discretely hid the wide open zipper behind two layers of shirt. Sitting at a table in the basement of the church, I self consciously pulled at my shirts, speculating silently weather people could tell that I was not entirely secure.
Following my skirt charade, I determined to put my stitching skills to use and produce a less precarious garment. After all, what is the point of being a seamstress if you don’t take advantage of it when you are in need?

The skirt I ultimately came up with is a bit reminiscent of the maternity tents of yesteryear, I just hope I am chic enough to pull it off in this modern day! The style makes it functional as maternity, or regular wear, depending on how high you have the waistband. It was my first attempt at pockets, they seem to have came out well, through a smidgen of frustration on my part. But now that I have this new experience under my belt, it shouldn’t be much of an issue in future endeavors.

My own rural bliss

Sometimes I would like to believe that I live in an idyllic pastoral scene, with white sheets on a clothesline, wafting on a gentle breeze. Where the weather is always warm and pleasant, and well behaved children frolic in the lush green grass. Within this enchanted reverie I can indulge my creativity, designing and creating exquisite gowns and fun projects. 

Unfortunately, my reality is far from this tranquility: It usually involves three small, dirt-clad tornadoes in various states of undress, usually at odds with one another, turning my already less-than spotless house into a more comfortable, kid-friendly condition. And in actuality, my wind-blown sheets are more like baskets of laundry, clean or otherwise, sitting in the hallway waiting for their turn in the washer, or to be folded and put away. By perseverance and stubborn disregard, I can still invent and create in this chaos. Ignoring that niggling little thought in the back of my mind that wonders, "what would so-and-so think of my disorderly homemaking?" After hours of toiling over my sewing machine, taking brisk breaks to make sure the kids don't starve or maim each other, I can finally sigh over the finished project, modestly overlooking the faults and snagged stitches. I search for a clear place to have a little photoshoot of the finished product, and prudently settle on taking the photos outside... 

So this is what I have come to after embarking on my quest of sewing 10 years ago. I have created this blog to showcase the mediocre products of my absurd expectations. 
And thus begins my journey in documenting the talents I have accumulated in my cotton arcadia.