Brown Bow and Pearl Baby Booties

Included in the bag of baby shower gifts for my cousin's family, was a pair of sweet and simple faux leather baby booties.  I added a small bow with pearl to the straps of the baby booties. The edges of the upper shoe are pinked for a bit of added detail.

They perfectly match a sweet little dress that I made for their little girl.  Unfortunately, you are going to have to wait to see the coordinating dress, I'm saving it for something special later on in the month.

The booties are a twist from the Reversible Mary Jane Pattern from Sweet Pea Patterns.  Obviously these booties aren't reversible, but I think that they are just as sweet.

One added touch that I really like is stitching the sizing to the insole.  I wish that I had tags and labels for everything that I make, but I'm just not to that point.  Having the size of the shoe will make it so much easier for the new mama.  Thanks to my Brother PC-420 I was able to make it work.

Thanks for reading.

Minky and Chenille Cloth Diaper Burp Clothes

Yesterday I mentioned that I'd share some other little shower gift ideas.  Now I didn't get super creative with my gift giving, but I do always like to throw in something practical.  I know that I was a new mom I was amazed at how many burp clothes I went through.  Even though Clark didn't have any major spit up problems, I found them extremely useful, especially when nursing.  At the beginning of the nursing adventure I would have to slide one burp cloth down the side of my shirt that I wasn't nursing on, because a nursing pad didn't suffice.  

Hopefully I haven't made any of you feel too uncomfortable. The point is that burp clothes are a necessity for every new mama, reflux or not.

You can find cloth diapers in most any baby section.  I picked up a six pack for six dollars at our local wal-mart. I then gathered some scrap minky and chenille that my mom had left over from a baby quilt she made years ago.  The only scraps that she had left over were long thin strips.  It is difficult to use a scrap of fabric to is too thin, but this is really the perfect project for those remaining fabric scraps.

Most cloth diapers have a center section that is somewhat padded for extra absorbency.  I simply measured the width of the section, and cut my strips of fabric to the same dimensions.  I believe that these particular diapers were 4 1/2" wide by 19 1/2", but make sure to measure for yourself if you try this project out. I then used my overcast serger to finish off the raw edges.  If you don't have a serger you can cut your strips of fabric 1/2" larger in each dimension, and then press the raw edges under 1/4" on each side.  Once the raw edges were taken care of I pinned the material to the center of the diaper, and stitched them in place.

 The soft cuddle fabric is especially nice for little babies.  My sister in law has some similar burp clothes that she uses, and she says that they wash up great, and her babies have all loved using them. Another variation is to cut the fabric to the size of the whole cloth diaper.  I didn't have enough fabric to do that, and I like this just as well.  You don't have to use a cuddle fabric, you can stitch colorful ribbons, or a quilting cotton down the center for the same effect.

I bundled three burp clothes together with a piece of lace, and clipped a little pinwheel hair clip to the top for a little extra decoration.  Simple, quick, practical, yet pretty. I love that they coordinated with the Sweetie Pi onesie and skirt.

Wipeable Changing Pad for Baby

You might recognize the materials from this project-they are the remnants from my reversible bib project.  We had enough fabric and vinyl left over that we decided to make these very useful little changing pads.  I would love it if my 20 month old was potty trained, but he's not yet.  I'd been using the same changing pad since he was born.  I made the first changing pad as well, but it wasn't wipeable or vinyl, consequently it has mustard yellow stains all over the soft terry cloth and flannel.  While I've loved the old changing pad this is a welcome edition to the diaper bag.

This was really simple to make the dimensions of the cut fabric are 19x12 inches.

 Materials we used were:

• 2 pieces of coordinating fabric cut to size
• 2 pieces of medium weight vinyl cut to size 
• 1 piece of thin batting (such as warm and natural) cut to size
•  1 package of extra wide double fold bias tape
•  1 square  piece of velcro, ours was 7/8".  (Wouldn't it be fun to try the magnetic closure on this as well?)

After cutting out our fabric, lining, and vinyl we rounded the corners of the rectangle using a bowl as a guide. You will want to position the materials in the following order: vinyl, 1 fabric, lining, fabric, and on top the remaining piece of vinyl.  I then stitched around the perimeter of the changing pad, 1/4" away from the edge (you will want to stitch close enough to the edge that the bias tape covers the stitch).   Next I folded the diaper pad in thirds and marked the fold marks.  I then stitched along the fold marks to anchor the materials in the middle.  After anchoring the materials it is time to sew on your bias tape.  Simply keep your bias tape pulled rather taut and maintain the edge of the pad in the crease of the tape.  I like to fold in the raw edges of the bias tape when finishing my ends.  After attaching you bias tape fold your changing mat into thirds and determine the positioning of your velcro or closure (see the last picture).  I used the softer of the velcros for the outer flap (the velcro will be attached to the inside of the mat which is the changing surface).  I stitch around the perimeter of the velcro piece and then sew corner to corner forming an X through the center of the piece of velcro.  Attach your second piece of velcro on the outer layer of the inside flap, your velcro will be positioned near the fold.

That's it and that's all.  A really simple and quick project that will be a great edition to the diaper bag, this is also a great thing to give to a new mother and a great project for new sewers.