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Easy Make Burp Cloths

Posted on1.21.15

Baby Lilly needs burp cloths, she goes through so many! I made this project up as I went along but they really are “easy make burp cloths!” I followed the same simple method that I used for the taggie blanket, only difference being I didn’t add the tags. I made 2 and it only took me 30 mins, including the ironing.

Materials

I used some face/wash cloths my Mum gave me when she was having a clear out for the back. A simple square shape and perfect for making a burp cloth. For the top I had a couple of fat quarters left from the bundle I’d bought for a previous project.

Instructions

First, most important, iron your fabric. I repeat this on every tutorial because I used to take shortcuts and think it didn’t matter, wondered why pattern pieces were the wrong size! Another tip, keep your iron clean and if its past it’s best and keeps sticking, think about replacing. There’s nothing more annoying than ruined fabric because of sticky iron.

Lay your fabric on the table right side up then pin the face cloth to it. Cut around the edge so you have equal size square of face cloth and fabric. I didn’t bother getting the rotary cutter and cutting mat out for this small project, just used the ironing board and scissors.

Do you like my cute pin cushion? My sis crocheted it for a Christmas present, I love it!

You’ll now be ready to get straight to the sewing, your fabric is already pinned from the previous cutting step. Sew 3 side and halfway up the 4th leaving an opening for turning right sides out.

Trim the cotton edges with pinking shears to stop fraying. The face cloth already has bound edges so won’t need to be trimmed. I could have taken my overlocker/serger round the edges at the start but wanted to demonstrate how you could make this with basic tools and a basic sewing machine.

Turn the fabric right sides out through the gap left in the previous step. Press, turning in the ends of the open gap then top stitch all the way round.

I plan to run up some more this week, make sure Lilly has a good supply!

If you’ve any questions or suggestions feel free to contact me, or leave a comment below.

Free Baby Dress Sewing Pattern

Posted on9.14.14

I was searching for a free baby dress sewing pattern (I’m using this resource while I learn how to make my own) and found this
one at See Kate Sew, so simple and I love the elasticated shoulder straps very effective!

I decided to make 2 of these at the same time, they looked so simple. I had some cute apple print cotton which was purchased in a sale and some cotton velvet, (I have a massive bolt of this from a close down sale).

I downloaded the pattern then cut all the pieces following the instructions on Kate’s blog. The velvet frayed terribly and I thought about not bothering with it, bits everywhere!

This where my Brother Overlocker came in handy and I went round all the pieces with it. If you don’t have an overlocker you can use pinking shears or the zig zag stitch on your sewing machine or, just stick to a cotton fabric.

It’s worth taking a bit of time to do this, it gives your seams a much nicer finish.

From there the instructions were straight forward with clear images to guide you through the tutorial. Three hours later I had 2 cute dresses! The seams on the velvet dress were a bit bulky so if I was using it again I’d just have 1 layer of velvet for the outer bodice and use a thin lining for the inner bodice. I had the butterfly motif in my box so hand stitched it on for a bit of decoration.The velvet dress could be worn over a top with a cardigan making it suitable for colder weather, versatile wee dresses and all from a free baby dress sewing pattern!

How to make Plush Baby Booties

Posted on8.26.14

As promised I’m going to show you how to make plush baby booties like these, and the ones in an earlier blog post “Here’s one I made earlier.” I used fleece but you can use any fabric or trim. These are small enough that it wouldn’t take long to sew them by hand if you don’t have a machine.

First download the pattern here Upcycled-Baby-Booties

The pattern is for 3mths but I’ll explain how to make them smaller later in the tutorial.

Next gather your materials:

Fabric (fleece and cotton work well)
Elastic (1/4″)
Pattern

Cut out the pattern pieces from the paper.

Fold the fleece (it doesn’t matter which way) and pin the pattern pieces to it.

Then cut out the pieces remembering to cut 4 for the upper.

Take the 2 “back and side” pieces and stitch a hem along the straight edge wide enough for the elastic.

Thread the elastic through the hem using a darning needle with a large eye.

Hold onto both elastic ends and pull to gather.

To secure the elastic in place stitch back and forward over it.

Tidy up the ends and you’ll be left with 2 pieces like this.

Now, this is the bit that’s tricky to explain hence the extra pics! Take 2 of the uppers and sandwich the elasticated pieces between along the straight edge.

Stitch along the straight edge.

Tidy the seams.

Flip the back/side over and mark the centre.

Line up the centre of the soles to the centre of the uppers, pin and stitch.

This is where you can make them smaller by sewing the seam further in.

Tidy up the seams.

Turn right side out.

All that’s left is to add the trim, you can use anything here, just make sure it’s well secured on the bootie!

One pair of finished plush baby booties!

Please contact me if there’s anything about this tutorial you need help with.

Upcycled Bandana Bib

Posted on8.22.14

Bandana Bibs are simple to make and great for making use of fabric scraps and towels. You can use left over fabric from a baby outfit to make a matching upcycled bandana bib. They’re also great for gifts, make a set of 3 with pretty fabric, a baby can never have enough bibs (you might recognise the fabric in this article!). Firstly make your pattern or you can use the one below. I used an existing bib, folded it in half, laid it on an A4 sheet of paper, then drew and cut round it. You can do this for any style of bib. I’ll generally do a few at the same time as they don’t take long.

Download PDF File here bandana-bib

TIP– Check charity shops and car boot sales for towels or keep your ears open for friends who are changing their bathroom colour scheme and buying new towels!

Next gather your materials:

Pattern
Fabric of your choice, cotton works well for this.
Toweling or microfibre fleece.
Fastener, I use hook and loop/velcro but you can use press studs if you prefer

Fold your fabic in half and pin the pattern on, putting fold mark on pattern against fold in fabric.

Cut out and repeat for towelling, you’ll then have 2 pieces like this:

If you don’t have an overlocker, at this stage do a zig zag stitch round the towelling edge to stop fraying (not needed if you use micro fleece). Pin the pieces right sides together and overlock/sew together leaving a 4″ gap (for turning right side out).

Turn right side out and press turning the gap edges in.

Top stitch all the way round making sure you catch the folded in edge.

The last thing is to sew on your fastening, I prefer hook and loop as it’s easy to whip on and off a fidgety baby!

And that’s it, simple! Here it is beside 2 others I made previously in a different size and style.

Upcycled Baby Outfit

Posted on8.13.14

A few weeks ago I picked up some bedding at a charity shop, bargain at £1.99, loads of fabric in there with very little unpicking to do. I’ll be able to get more than 1 outfit out of the fabric depending on what I make. I thought I could make an upcycled baby outfit for the summer with this bedding.

Tip: Keep your eyes open for bargain rails in charity shops. They often have garments you would never wear but nice re-usable fabric

Which Pattern

I used Burda kids pattern 9437 for the trousers and suntop and McCalls M6575 for the hat, not beginners patterns but easy to do. My new overlocker sewing machine (review here) makes things much simpler and neater! The Burda patterns were on half price sale so another bargain there! The Mcalls pattern had so many different options for both boys and girls. The Burda pattern could be adapted quite easily as it’s a simple shape.

The BurdaStyle Website is a great resource for sewers from beginners to advanced and they have a special offer on seminars at the moment, 30% off with the code NSM30, BARGAIN!

Making the Outfit

The whole outfit took about 8hrs total over a few days, once I get used to my new Brother overlocker sewing machine (did I mention I have a new overlocker!?) this will speed up. The pattern was fairly easy to follow but if you’re just starting to use patterns check out my guide on how to read patterns.

I did the 18mths size but I’ve noticed the Burda patterns make up quite large so I reckon it’s more likely to fit a 2 yr old. The hat was quite fiddly to make, sewing the hat rim to the crown was trickier than I thought. I did managed to achieve it without gettting any puckers though. There was nothing in the instructions about the best way to do this so I Googled for tips. I think I’ll baste and sew next time, rather than go straight from pinning to sewing.

I like the way the dress ties at the top, makes it a great dress for on the beach. I don’t have a toddler to model the outfit yet so the photos don’t do it justice, it really is quite pretty!

So there it is, how to make an upcycled baby outfit using charity shop bedding, best of all it only cost pennies to make!