Jenny Lind

My imaginary child thinks I should get this for his next little imaginary baby brother or sister.

Baby Afghan

I can finally reveal what I have been working on for 3 months!



My best friend of 17 years is having her first baby! There wasn't a gift on her registry that could show her how much she meant to me. I had to make her and her baby something. Something that required weaving as we are woven to one another. So I asked my MIL to teach me how to crochet. She taught me some basics and within 30 minutes I had it down. Using a baby afghan pattern, just follow the row by row steps. Anything that I questioned, I just googled and there were tutorials with pictures.


It took me a long time to finish a row at first. As I progressed, I got exponentially faster. I finished around Christmas time and had to keep it a secret until recently.


Basil even liked it. He was jealous that I was working on this and not spending time with him. The yarn and afghan were taking up precious real estate on my lap.


Me and the momma to be.

Alphabet Crib Bedding

Oh, my imaginary baby needs to have this!


I also love the gray walls. I would have never thought to do that.

from MiGiStyle.com

DIY: Nursing Covers

Finally! I can post about these! (I didn't want to post till mommy received them first) When my bloggy pal Tiff posted about these nursing covers, my sew-happy little heart lit up to give these a try. She lives in Europe and doesn't have Etsy, so I told her I would sew them for her. Especially since they retail for $32+Shipping for what is essentially a square piece of fabric with a strap and it would be nice to have more than 1.

I made a casual, neutral gray one for her husband (when he gives a bottle) and a fun polka dotted one for mommy. She says it helps keep baby from being distracted while feeding which is why her husband uses it too.



I eyeballed the dimensions and laid the fabric on my chest/shoulders to gauge the size of the cover. I've met mommy and daddy in person before, so I had an idea of their frame and marked the strap to go from edge of collar bone to collar bone.

The nursing covers have a stiffer piece around the neck to allow you to look at the baby while you nurse. I went in search for something and the ladies at JoAnn's suggested boning which they use to make big hoop skirts (think Gone with the Wind). I sewed a little piece into the top edge.


Using 2 D-rings, I sewed a little "tab" through them on one end and the strap to the other end of the boning.



The strap took more trials than expected. I sewed 3 different straps and lots of ^&*($%^^ before I settled on one that I liked. I'm getting better at the seams now too. Then, sewing the strap to the actual cover was frustrating. Next time, I'll have to think about a better way that will make it look neater. I checked out aprons and straps on bags in stores and they were all sewn similarly which I didn't like. It's a "box" with an "X" in the box. Whatever.



With the fabric scraps, I was able to make a few wipes. The white fabric is a fuzzy soft wash cloth fabric. It's so soft like a puppy I kept rubbing my cheek on it. :)



Oh and meet my new pincushion "Pokey". I cut the elephant out of the fabric I used for my GF's baby shower gifts and stuffed him with pillow filling. Viola!

Showers forcasted for Saturday

What am I up to?



More to come...

DIY Baby Bouquet

To use as centerpieces for a baby shower, I volunteered to make these bouquets using baby onesies and cloths. It was my first attempt, so it was a real experiment. Next time, I hope they come out better.

Materials:

• Baby socks, cloths, onesies, etc.
• floral wire
• floral tape
• silk leaves
• ribbons or tulle
  

I picked up a pack of baby onesies (the smallest you can get) and a pack of baby cloths. I was looking for socks, but the colors didn't match. I think socks are more useful and easier to make. ACMoore was having their Fall florals sale so I bought a bouquet for 75% and just cut the stems to reuse and took the flower heads off of them.

Making a Rose: Using the same technique as you would with origami, I rolled this rose out of a baby cloth. I did the same with a onesie, but it was much heavier.

1. Fold the cloth into a 1.5" strip or whatever works.



2. Holding the cloth in both hands, fold the corner down. Begin to roll across horizontally.



3. Fold the other end of the cloth back just like this and begin to roll while spreading it out like a rose.



4. Keep folding it back to create the look of "petals", roll, fold back, roll, fold back, roll.



5. When you reach the end, make sure you get a good hold on it and wrap floral wire tightly around it to hold it in place. Tape might work and so would a rubber band if you have a heavy onesie.



6. Using the stems from the bouquet I bought, remove the flower head. Stick it into the flower and wrap the floral wire around the stem to hold it in place.

7. Wrap floral top around the bottom to conceal the floral wire. You don't have to do this, but it makes it look nicer.



Tadaaa! We have a rose! I also experimented with making other "types" of flowers.



Making a Butterfly: I thought it would be really cute to try to make a butterfly. It came out super cute and was really easy.

1. Roll the onesie from both ends, but rolling one end more than the other to create the front and back wings. Secure with floral wire.


2. Fold it in half and secure tightly.



3. I made antannaes using the remainder of the floral wire but just rolling it.


4. Stick a stem into the onesie and wrap the floral wire to the stem.


5. Wrap with floral tape to make it look neat and pretty. Then I wrapped it with the rose.



I thought the results were really cute!


6. The floral tape is sticky and to make it prettier, I wrapped tulle around the stems like a wedding bouquet in a criss-cross pattern.


7. Start at the bottom and work your way up to the flower. Using what is remaining, tie a bow. Tie several bows and fluff it up.


Here are the other 2 bouquets I made for centerpieces. The one above is just a little extra something for the mommy to be's place setting.


My model.


I don't know if you can tell but the one in the upper right corner is supposed to be a Calla Lily.




This is a different butterfly I experimented with and 2 leaves.

More from Sam Simon Project

Just to clarify, NO, we are not having a baby and I wouldn't make that information public anyway. This is just some room inspiration to my friends who are having babies.

This is my favorite. I used to have a canopy too. I do believe that these canopies, namely the ribbons that were attached to them as decoration do act as a choking hazard.



We saw this peacock at ABC Carpet Store and it's gorgeous. I love it. They even adhered little crystals to the "eyes" of the tail.


I like how this one draws your eye up to the ceiling.

I have an affinity towards elephants. I loved elephants!



I really love this floral vine. It really draws the eye up.



My office (spare bedroom) has this bay window just like this. I was actually considering painting the walls a differnet color than the rest.


We like this dark wood furniture.