Diaper Bag and Burpees for Baby

I was very optimistic about what I would be able to make for Penny.  There are just so many adorable baby girl patterns out there, I had a tough time choosing what I would make first.

I knew for sure I was going to make a diaper bag even before I knew whether I was having a girl or boy.  I had ordered gender neutral fabric from fabric.com.  A bright yellow and white chevron.  I found the pattern in Sew It All magazine.  The pattern was simple to sew, and I omitted the inside pocket because I knew I'd never use it.  My machine had some difficulty with the thickness of some seams, but I used my walking foot for most of the project which helped a lot.  I've been using this diaper bag for 10 months now and love it!  Way better than the one we bought for our first daughter.

I also decorated some Gerber diaper cloths to use as burp clothes (we call them burpees).  These burpees were great when our baby was young and spitting up a lot.  I did find that the portion with the decorative fabric didn't really absorb as much as the rest of it. Maybe I'd put the decorative fabric at the ends if I were to make these again.

They're super cute though!  

Anyway, more little baby clothes to come.  Including a super cute vintage romper!

Vintage Farm/Produce/Strawberry Party

I'm the worst blogger ever!  Well that only means life gets in the way huh?!

A few months ago was my girl's 3rd birthday party.  She wanted strawberries, and we have farms nearby, so we thought we'd merge the two.  Strawberry picking is her most favorite thing to do, so we thought that would be fun, but then last minute found out the farm wouldn't be open, soooooo we decided to just have a party with her little friends.

I did lots of searching for strawberry themed parties (not Strawberry Shortcake), and farm parties.  I didn't have lots of time or money to spend on it, so this is what we did.

First we bought strawberry plants.  Mostly Ev just wanted to push the cart around because it was her size.  She was the cutest little shopper!  The strawberry plants were going to be her party favor.  I had burlap that I bought as a remnant, and some cute pink twine I bought for a $1 at Target, so I used that to tie them up.

Then I made scalloped flags to decorate the patio with.  I traced a bowl on lots of scrap fabric, and some strawberry fabric I found at Discount Fabric in San Francisco.  I cut them in half, placed wrong sides together and sewed the round sides together.  Then I flipped them right side out and pressed.  I had leftover strips of quilting fabric that I made bias tape out of (although it wasn't actually on the bias).  I shoved the raw edges inside the tape and just kept on sewin'.

Ev can hardly contain herself.  The sand/water table was her early birthday gift.  We figured the kids would love to play with it.

My husband made this farm stand.  It's an Ikea hack I saw and fell in love with.  I cut the triangles out of red canvas with white polka dots.  I used double stick tape to attach them to the farm stand.  You can also see the strawberry party favors hanging out on the stand, waiting for little hands to take them.

Below is the dress Ev finally decided she wanted as her party dress.  I found the fabric at the Fabric Discount shop, and added some lace.  I used Made By Rae's Geranium pattern.  I especially love the fabric covered buttons.  They're so super cute!!!  That sand table was a mess when everyone was done with it.  It no longer had a water side or sand side, just wet sand everywhere.  I guess that means it was a success!

 I used washi tape in a light green gingham to decorate the chalk board with, and Clabber Girl canister to store the chalk in.

We had strawberry cake, a variety of food that was not really themed, although we put them in cute little picnic trays (sorry no pics!).  There's so much we could've done, but oh well, next time.

The next day on her actual birthday she decided to get her hair cut.  Bye bye baby hair!  She's such a big girl.  She was brave and had no problem. And here she is with her adorable A-line 'do.  Fits her sassy attitude perfectly!

Well, that's what we did!  I'll get better with the pics.  It's always an after thought to take pictures of what we're doing.  Crazy since my father's a photographer and was always taking pics of everything and everyone.

Hopefully I'll catch up and share more.  Like the cute top the Ev is wearing in the last pic.  I actually made it as a dress for the baby...well, that's for another post.

Last Minute (Zombie) Smock

As usually happens around here, I find out we're invited to a party and must bring a gift.  This was fun because it was for a sweet little two year old, and I knew just what she needed.  You can never have enough art smocks for a toddler, and it's super easy to whip up while taking care of everyone else at the same time (well, took longer than I thought, plus I threw in a glass of wine at 10pm which slowed me down...).  Drafting the pattern took longer than expected too, but in the end, it's so freaking adorable I didn't want to give it away!

I used duck cloth for the outside, I think I found it at JoAnn's, which was red with tiny white polka dots, and red and aqua fabric from Bonnie and Camille's Happy Go Lucky line for the liner.

I added pockets in the front with a decorative stitch along the top, and long ties at the sides, so it should fit the birthday girl for years to come.

And here's my little one trying it on and posing like a zombie. She told me that when she ate my brains, the smock would keep her clothes clean.  I have no idea where she gets this stuff, but she cracks me up!

Well, once I figure out my scanner (I think I'll probably end up just buying a new one, the one I have now is so limited), I'll add the pattern, although it's pretty simple to just sketch out freehand.

I know I'll be making one for Ev soon, so watch for a tutorial!

A Motorcycle Accident and Strawberries Galore

Sadly, after getting started on my blog, shortly after my last post, my husband was in a terrible motorcycle accident while on a trip out of state.  A few weeks later I had our strong, healthy baby girl.  My husband was in the hospital, but thankfully was able to return home after a couple of months.  Our little one is an adorable eight month old and getting bigger and bigger, and Ev is now a three year old terror.

 

Needless to say, this blog has been completely ignored.

Not anymore!

We've finally been able to get out and do the things we wanted to when we moved to our cute little town. We've visited our cute little park many times, and just the other day visited our farmer's market.  It was quite small, but they had lots and lots of strawberries and oranges.  Both were so sweet I couldn't get enough of them (of course I had to stop myself because, well, we all know what happens when you eat too much fruit all at once!).

I decided to make some fruit flavored water because I had purchased so many strawberries and oranges.  I just used what I had.  I added to my pitcher:

• 12 hulled strawberries, quartered,
• one medium sized orange, peeled and wedged
• I added water to fill it and left it in the fridge overnight.  

It was delicious, with a faint sweetness, and very refreshing in this 90 degree California weather.  It was also slightly pink, so Ev loved that!  When we finished the water, we just refilled it, let it sit for another hour or so, and it was even sweeter!  The strawberry scent is wonderful too.

We also made smoothies with our batch of strawberries.  I used this Easy Strawberry Smoothie Recipe I found on Natasha's Kitchen.  It was delicious, but I like my smoothies a little thicker.  I think next time I'll cut the amount of coconut milk in half and add a 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt.

Anyway, I've also been sewing throughout the last several months, so more of those projects coming soon!