Khaki Maternity Skirt

I was finally able to make something for myself again last week. A new maternity skirt! This time I used Simplicity 2366, view C, with only one major change.
The skirt went together very easily, (for the most part) and very quickly. The only problem I had with it was my fault really. I used a khaki twill fabric for it, not one of the recommended types, and it was too thick. Not too thick that I wasn't able to make it work, just too thick to allow the flounce points to lay smoothly. I actually resewed each point and was able to get them to lay better, but not still not ideal.
The major change I made to the skirt was to substitute the yoke and drawstring for a knit maternity band. The knit was a little thinner than I would have liked, so I doubled it to make sure that it would be strong enough to hold up the skirt.
This skirt is very comfortable, and I really like that it's nice enough to wear for church, but also causal enough for everyday use. And I do believe it's going to be getting a lot of use in the next 3 months. :-)

Here's one last picture of me with both my babies. ^_^

Homemade Diaper Covers

Hello long lost sewing blog! I'm so sorry I've neglected you so much, but I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to do any personal sewing for a very long time. But I'm back now and have something fun to share!

I had always had a thought in the back of my mind that we'd probably cloth diaper eventually, but that seemed like it'd be a long way out, and I was content to use disposables. However, fiances got in the way and it was getting increasingly hard to buy diapers for my little Angel Cakes. But because of the money issue we couldn't afford to buy a bunch of cloth diapers either.

Then I heard about a new company getting started called Babyville Boutique. Not only do they sell cloth diaper patterns for those of us who like to sew, but they also sell all of the supplies you could possibly need. My mom was wonderful and kind enough to buy me all the supplies I needed to be able to make my very own diaper covers! All we had to do was buy the pre-folds to go inside them.

Here they are! My first 5 home made diaper covers. The bright pink at the center top was the first one I made, and the cupcakes on the bottom left was the last one I made.
The diaper covers are made out of PUL, (I can't remember what that stands for). Basically it's a waterproof breathable fabric. The edging is FOE, or fold over elastic. That stuff is awesome! With it I was able to finish the edges and gather the legs all in one shot. The first cover I made is the most basic kind, after trying it on for size, I was able to see that it fit just fine without any extra adjustments. However, I thought I could see just a tiny bit of the diaper under the leg opening so I decided to add leg gussets to all of the rest of the covers for extra coverage.
There's my Angel Cakes the very first time she ever wore a cloth diaper! I'm afraid the weather has still been too cold to let her go without pants, so I haven't been able to get pictures of her wearing the rest of the covers.

Now for my review of the pattern itself. Overall it's a wonderful pattern and I'm very pleased with the results. It's very easy to put together, and by the time I got to cover #5 I was able to completely finish it in less than 2 hours, (including cutting out time). We've only had one leak since starting a month ago, and it wasn't the cover's fault, it was completely ours! Last night was her first time to wear cloth all night, and the cover held 2 diapers no problem, plus there were no leaks this morning!

The book comes with patterns sizes starting at newborn and going all the way up to large. I made the medium size, which is 15 to 30lbs. It has directions for just about any style of diaper cover you could imagine, plus all-in-one diapers, and soakers. The diapers can be made with Velcro closers, (like I did) or snaps.

My only complaint about the pattern is, in fact, the Velcro closers! We discovered very quickly that the diaper needs to be placed high in the front of the cover, otherwise the edging would fold over the diaper and expose the rough edge of the Velcro to my baby's delicate tummy. Ouch! It took almost a week for her skin to heal once we got the diapers in correctly each time. Also, the Velcro is very hard on the FOE. Even though I make sure to fold over the laundry tab everytime I take the cover off, little corners still come undone and manage to snag the FOE. And boy does it damage it bad!

So yeah, while the Velcro offers more adjustability than snaps, and is cheaper up front, I think I would prefer the snaps for long term use. When I make covers for our new little one arriving this June, I think I will try the snaps out.

So would I recommend the pattern to others? A big YES!

A Dedication Dress

If you would like to read about the dedication ceremony, you can visit my other blog HERE.

This dress was not actually made my me, it was made by my mother! She is a far more accomplished seamstress that I am, and has recently become interested in heirloom sewing. After our little one was born she naturally then wanted to make her a fancy dedication dress. Most people don't dress their baby girls up this much for a dedication, but we don't do christenings, so there you have it!

I'm afraid I didn't take pictures of the dress before the ceremony, so it's rather wrinkled.
The dress is actually made out of left over fabric from my wedding gown.
Though the ribbon is new.

And what fancy dress like this is complete without a bonnet?
Here I am holding her up to really show it off when we tried it on her for the first time.

A very happy baby!

For the pattern my mom used a christening gown pattern for the base, but then had to downsize it, as it didn't come any smaller than 6 months. She also added the over skirt and ribbons. If I remember correctly, she made up the bonnet pattern entirely! Can I be excused for wanting to brag just a little bit?

Baby Outfit!

Finally, after starting this several weeks ago, I have gotten around to finishing my first outfit for Baby! And not much time to spare either!
For the dress and bloomers I used Simplicity 4243. I made the size XXS which is supposed to be 7lbs. and under, but it looks more like the 0-3 size outfits I have. So I don't think I need to worry about it being too small! The only real "change" I made to the pattern purposely was to add some ribbon under the print.
I think I may have followed the directions a little too literally on how they said to put the zipper 1in. below the selvage. I knew it didn't sound right, especially since the neck only had a 3/8in seam allowance, but I did it anyway. So, naturally, the zipper came out way too low. But I think the bow tie I decided to add there looks pretty cute anyway!

I didn't think the sun bonnet that was with the pattern was quite right for a newborn. Instead I had an image in my head of an old fashioned baby bonnet. Looking through Etsy, I found exactly what I had in mind! This adorable bonnet pattern! It was so easy, I can't wait to make more. Since it's adjustable, the same bonnet can be worn from infant all the way up to 1 years old. Unfortunately, I cut my white ribbon too short, so this one will only work for Baby as an infant.
I can't wait to try everything on my little angel!!!!

Two Somethings Very Tiny

Not much longer to go! In preparation for the new little one's arrival I crocheted a couple tiny somethings this last week. I'm very happy with how they came out. ^_^
I found the pattern in Crochet Pattern Central's baby section.

Coming soon!

Just over a week ago I received a package in the mail from my mom. She had been going through a bag of fabric she'd forgotten about, and decided to send some of it to me! Any guesses as to what these lovely pieces of cotton will be turned into? ;-)
And yesterday something else finally arrived. At the end of January, SewingPatterns.com was having a sale on Simplicity patterns; $2.99 a piece! Plus, I had some birthday money waiting to be spent... And thirdly, I didn't have any baby patterns! :-D I still can't decide which one to make first.
I also bought two patterns for myself. A drawstring skirt that will shrink with me, and a button up blouse that I can nurse in.
I certainly have a lot do in the next two months!!!

Cowgirl Maternity Blouse

My newest maternity creation, a cowgirl blouse! This was made by modifying Simplicity 4499, a now out of print pattern.
Several months ago I came across an online set of classes called "Make Maternity Clothes," one of the classes being "Converting Store bought patterns into Maternity Patterns." It is amazing! You can literally turn any pattern you own into a maternity pattern! And it's not just one cut and dry method, there are 5 or 6 different variations you can use for blouses. Plus directions for pants, skirts, dresses, and even formals. I would highly recommend this class to any expectant mother. Because the information in the class is copyrighted, I'm not going to go into detail on the changes I made to the pattern.

What project can get properly started without the help of a cat?

I first bought this pattern about 6 or 7 years ago for 4-H sewing. Back then, I was a size 8, now my pre-pregnancy size is a 10. Thankfully I had made the short sleeve view, so the yolk pieces had not been cut out. That made it really easy to layer them on top of the blouse pieces then estimate how much to add everywhere else.

The pattern called for piping around the yolk, but unfortunately, I only had some in a real pale pink color. And there was no way that was going to work. So I thought, Wal-Mart ought to have some piping... :-( Nope. (Our Wal-Mart has recently majorly downsized their fabric department) They didn't even have that much of a selection of biased tape. I knew I had to put something on the yolk, else it wouldn't be visible in the print, so I bought the only blue colored biased tape they had.

I suppose I can blame pregnancy hormones on this next part, but I really didn't feel like going the extra mile to make the tape look like piping, so I just edged the yolk with it instead.

But even then I wasn't altogether happy with it. It just looked too much like it was home made! So I finally decided to try using one of my machine's fancy stitches to dress it up a bit. My husband really liked the results! It took a while, but they finally grew on me too.


I didn't notice until I was ready to start on the collar that I had accidentally cut out the size 8. After making an extensive search to find the size 10, I realized why I hadn't noticed. It wasn't there! For whatever very strange reason, I had thrown away all the other collar sizes except the size 6. Explain that one to me?

The only way I could think of to fix this problem was to put the size 6 on top of the size 8 and measure the difference, then add that difference in the selvages,


It actually worked! The collar fit perfectly into the blouse!!! I can't tell you how relieved I was.

Here's my sewing companion trying to help me sew on the buttons. How helpful she is. ;-)

Well, I hoped you've enjoyed this post, and it didn't bore you at all. Please let me know what you think!