Baby Gift Craftiness

As soon as I knew that Becky was having a boy I got crafting! (Which is good that I procrastinated because originally they were told they were having a girl!) Since getting my new machine I have been trying to find projects to test out all of the features that my machine has. I knew I wanted to try applique and embroidery for sure and so I got started and this is what in a few weeks time I completed! :)


Let's start with the playmat! It basically is the same design that I did with Mae's. Although I'll be honest, I LOVE this one so much more. :) I learned from a few of my mistakes on the one I made Mae and so this one is a lot more clean and complete. :) I also waited to do this until the very last moment and as a result I started and completed this quilt in one day... because I had to. I started cutting around noon on the Friday before I left for California and I sewed down the final side of the binding around 9pm that night. Pretty good considering I still had kids to manage, eat food, and make my mickey and minnie shirts for the kids!

The burp clothes were super easy just fabric sewn down the middle of a cloth diaper and I love the Sesame Street fabric that I found for them. Becky and I have always had a special bond with our love of Elmo (me) and Grover (her) ...our respective camp names. :) I was excited to find this fabric and to create a little some special to share with her son. :)

I also found some cute 'camp' fabric that focused on Elmo (sadly no Grover) but it was such cute flannel and thought I'd give my 'serger' feature on my machine a try. I don't own the proper foot for it, but it still works mostly and so I made a quick and easy receiving blanket out of that flannel. I wanted to make some personalized onesies for her and I found the cutest design for the tie onesie and then also did a little embroidery and applique work for one with the 'B' on it. :) Simple and inexpensive - $2 onesies from Walmart, some Heat n Seal and thread and wala a super cute personalized gift. :)

I also made a taggy blanket for Ben in the cute monster fabric that I have. Every baby needs a good taggy luvee to chew on in the car seat. :)


My favorite item though and the item that took the most time because of all the stages and care that I took to ensure that it was perfect was the personalized pennant that I made for baby Benjamin. :) It was a lot of steps. Cut the fabric to fit into the hoop for embroidery, embroider each letter, cut each into a triangle, cut the batting, cut the back, sew those pieces together, turn them right side out and top stitch and then finally sew them onto the ribbon and cut and heat seal the ribbon so it won't fray. I took several weeks to do these in various stages, often walking away from the project when I'd start to get sloppy because I was tired of working on it. It paid of and I (and mommy and daddy of Benjamin) are very happy with the results of that effort! It made for nice decor at the party (look for this post soon too!) and it now hangs above Ben's bed, awaiting his arrival. I'm so excited for Becky's newest addition to arrive!