Car seat tent, toddler purses, and a car cozy!! Phew!

My cousin is due with a girl in May. It's her fourth baby so I thought it'd be fun to do a little gift for each of the four. For the baby, I made a carseat tent. I think this idea is brilliant. No more throwing a blanket over the handle and chance it slipping off the sleeping baby. The fabric is bright and springy, don't you think?




I can't seem to find the exact tutorial I used, but they are all similar give or take a few inches depending on the size of your baby's carseat. Just google "carseat tent tutorial". :)

There are two girls (about 6 and 4) so I made them Easter purses and flower headbands to match.

The first in a blue pinstripe:


I used these tutorials and modified them/combined them for a custom look:

toddler purse by Adventures in Crafting
gathered pocket tutorial from MADE


I can't find the tutorial for the flower headband - however what I did was cut out two circles of felt. Cut out lots of small circles (don't have to be perfect). One at a time, fold them in half and stitch one small stitch to hold them in place onto one of the felt circles starting on the outside. Add one at a time and alternate which ones lay on top of the others. Then I added a button in the middle. Place your headband between the two felt circles and hot glue the two circles together. Hopefully that quick explanation makes sense.

Here is the second purse:


For her little boy, I made a car cozy, tutorial from Homemade by Jill.


The cars fit in the numbered pockets. I didn't have any duckcloth, so I used a car print flannel instead. I thought it was a perfect fit.

Fold in half:


Fold over in thirds:


Velcro the belt onto the front and you're little boy's hands will be busy waiting at the doctor's office, during church, or in the car!

Another Black Apple

Well, it seems Meredith is carrying the blog "weight" here! Way to go Mere! I too have been crafting and sewing a lot these days, but our laptops and internet have not been cooperative. The situation is improving however, so watch out for several posts!

I heard recently that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I decided my little girl needed a Black Apple doll too. Remember how I said our laptops have been sick lately? Well, I couldn't print out the templates. So I drew my own. I was surprised how close it turned out! The idea actually came from a valentine skirt/top that I made for L. She needed a little matching doll to carry around, right? So here's the final product (I will soon get a picture of the outfit and post):

Black Apple doll

After I saw these cute Black Apple dolls from Martha Stewart Living, I knew I had to make one. So since I have a special little girl with a Birthday coming up, I whipped one up yesterday. I was very happy with how it turned out.

I have to say though, that if I were to make a another one I would increase the pattern to 200% instead of the 150%. It was just a little small. I was a little nervous about painting the face on. It would not be good to mess the face up at the end. However I really thought it turned out cute.

I'm sure my sweet little girl will love this.

The button eyed croc

So I checked out this really great book called "Toys to Sew" by Clare Garland and when I saw this cute little croc I knew I wanted to make it for my little guy's birthday. I just used a variety of coordinating fabrics I had on hand (knits, linens, cottons, and a few patches of the fabric from his halloween costume). I was pretty happy with how it turned out...

And I was even more happy that my little one loves it.

Peanut- the "wee" elephant

I'm sure you're thinking didn't you just do a "wee" stuffed animal, and the answer is yes. But they are from 2 different sources, and it just turned out that they both called them "wee". This elephant came from the book "Last minute Patchwork + quilted gifts" by Joelle Hoverson. My sister Kelsi had made 3 of these elephants for my girls a couple of years ago and they love them. Since Abram's bedspread has cute little elephants all over it I decided I would make him one for Christmas. It will look perfect in his little crib.

I used a blue gingham fabric to coordinate with his quilt.

For the blanket I used a denim fabric and the only change I made to it was by adding the fringe around the edge.


I think the braided yarn tail is such a cute touch in this pattern.

Wee Bunny

I've now made four of these cute little bunnies. This last one was for my little niece that just turned 2! It is an easy pattern and my girls just love it. I found the pattern as a free download here. The only addition that I made was to put a name on the front of the bunny. Now, I wish I had a machine that embroiders but I don't, so I just printed the name on regular paper in reverse (the size and font I liked) and pinned it to the back of the fabric. I then used my open toe applique foot and a small zigzag stitch to sew the name. I also made a small circle bean bag (or rice bag) that I placed in the bottom of the bunny so it will sit up better. The ears do end up being flimsy. I've tried adding interfacing, but didn't find that it helps that much. Next time on the ears I will try fusible fleece. We'll see.....

ABC's

I made these for my cute little niece who just turned 2. I saw the idea online on this blog:

http://ohsohappytogether.blogspot.com/2009/07/rag-quilt-letters-tutorial.html

and thought it was a great way to use up my microsuede swatch book we picked up at the furniture store closeout. The letters are so soft and the batting in between makes them a little poofy. The edges are finished like a rag quilt, clip the unfinished edges and they fray after you wash/dry. Let me tell you...a lot of tracing, cutting, clipping, etc! But it was a fun project. It took me about 4-5 hours total throughout the week. (You can probably see that the microsuede on the front didn't fray, but the little clipped fringe adds a cute look).

Puzzle ball

I have made a few of these puzzle balls for gifts, but this last one I made for my little niece Louisa who just turned 1. For fabric I just used coordinating corduroy fabrics and used the pattern from the book "Last minute Patchwork + quilted gifts" by Joelle Hoverson.