A Handmade Childhood: Hipster Wall Art

I know I said I was taking a break from the sewing projects while we painted the nursery, but I did want to share this project that I originally did ages ago and for some reason can't find as a blog post.

Since we live in Asheville I felt it was more than appropriate to add some hipster art to the baby's nursery. The plan is to eventually have a wall devoted to appliqued, embroidered etc. art in embroidery hoops of different sizes. I think it will look fun and hopefully will be visually stimulating for the little sprout.

This applique project is made easy by the fusible bonding that keeps the shape in place. If you are not much of an artist, then look for some silhouette clip art that you can print and trace. These would also make very cool patchwork blocks. Look for retro background fabric for a true vintage loving hipster effect.

I chose to make this tutorial as a video as an experiment on a snow day earlier this year.
You Will Need:
 - Embroidery hoops
- Fusible bonding
- Plain cotton
- Patterned background fabric
- Thread in either plain color of cotton or color of background (see photos for the different effect)
-Iron
-Needles or sewing machine
Get everything you need here

Creating a Handmade Childhood: Make a Thick and Cozy Throw

I am not an accomplished knitter. In fact I can knit squares but don't understand knitting patterns at all, something I hope to change because I honestly enjoy knitting. It has the advantage of being something I can do sprawled on the couch watching TV and it assuages my guilt, because I feel like I am doing something constructive.

The throw is quite heavy and thick which will be perfect for laying the baby on and cushioning her from our concrete floors. As you can see, Pablo approves greatly of it.

A friend of ours came over at the weekend and saw what I was working on. He went on to describe a quilt he still has from his childhood, that his mother made for him. He talked about sneeking upstairs when everyone had gone to bed (his room was downstairs) with his quilt and sleeping in the hallway because he felt safe.

It occurred to me that these projects are not just about creating objects, but about creating a world for our own child. A childhood of patterns and soft heavy throws, of helping her carve out a place in the world that is all her own.

Make a Thick and Cozy Throw
This is an ideal way to get started with knitting. You are using one type of stitch and chunky wool which is much easier to work with when starting out - trust me!
To make this throw, I used:

• 15 mm knitting needles
• Lion Brand yarn from the Homestead Collection in Seattle Sea Mist, Dallas Grey and Cape Cod Tweed
• I screwed up and didn't buy enough of the colors first time around which led to the strange color combo. You need about 2 1/2 skeins for each rectangle
• A darning needle

Steps:
If you are new to knitting
Go here for how to cast on
Go here for how to do the knit stitch
Go here for how to cast off when you are done with your knitted square

1. Choose your color, each square is done in one color
2. Cast on 50 stitches
3. Knit 70 rows
4.  Cast off
5. Repeat for the other 5 squares
6. When you are done, take some of the yarn which you should have left over, cut a length of about 10 inches
7. You will see the yarn is made up of four strands. Split the strands into two 
8. Take two strands together and thread your darning needle
9. Sew the squares together as shown here

Repurposed Flour Sack Laundry Bags

This project is so easy and requires so little skill, I am not even sure I can call it a craft project. Yet it is the simplest ideas that are often the best. These laundry bags are the perfect size for baby clothes and because they hang up save you much needed space.

I have a love of vintage flour sacks, the designs are usually fun and random, I mean look at the ones below. I bought these at a local vintage store for $7 each, but you can get them cheaper (and more expensive!) from EBay or Etsy. I personally would never pay more than $10 for one and even then it would have to be a pretty special flour sack!

You also need an embroidery hoop. I used an 8 inch because I happened to have one lying around. You could easily stretch to a 9 or 10 inch.  These sacks were  inches in width.
Ok here's the hard part :)

- get you embroidery hoop and separate the two pieces 

- put the hoop over the sack at the top

- open up the sack and fold a couple inches of the opening over the loop

- play around with how it gathers so that you can see the picture most clearly

- put the outside piece of the embroidery hoop over the opening with the screw at the back

- tighten the loop

I found that the screw sat perfectly on my door hook but you might need to add a loop depending on where you hang the bag.

You may wonder once it's full whether the bag might slide out of the hoop. I checked, it doesn't. The friction of the cotton and wood from the hoop create a nice grip and you just have to make sure you fold enough of the opening over. See below.

I plan to make a second one so that I can divide light and dark laundry. I will post more ridiculously easy flour sack projects soon!

New Ebook of Nursery Sewing Projects Planned

Pablo, one of my assistants

Winne, another assistant

It was interesting when we announced to the world that the baby I am carrying is a girl. Suddenly it seemed more real to everyone, and our friends and family started to muse over what she would be like. What she be girly? Would she be a tomboy? In the words of Doris Day, Que Sera. Honestly, we have no idea who this little sprout will become. we can't control that directly. What we can do is decide who we want to be as parents and what sort of an example we want to set. My husband is generous and warm, so we have that covered! I on the other hand, looked at my life and thought. What I am doing is fine, it's enjoyable enough and pays the bills, but it's not much more than that.  I look at all those creative people on sites like The Selby or Freunde von Freunden and think how much I would like to be one of them.

Which leads me to the evolution of the nursery and how for me it's not just about making a pretty room. When I was born I didn't have a nursery, I was the youngest of four and didn't get my own room until I was seven. So to me, having a room that we are designing just for our baby is a big deal. And given my love of crafts and sewing why not fill it with things I have made especially for her? It has become a way of preparing myself as well as the space for the arrival of our first child. I love the notion that she will be surrounded by things that were handcrafted not mass-produced and essentially disposable. While doing this, I realized that maybe this would be the start of something more. A book of projects that I can share with other expectant parents (or friends and family of) so that they too can enjoy the unique ritual of making something with love.

And that's what I plan to do in the coming months. I already have a list of projects to create and I will use this blog to post updates on how its going. It will  be an ebook of nursery projects including throw pillows to more functional items such as laundry bags and changing table accessories.

Creating a Handmade Childhood: Patchwork Baby Quilt

The first baby project to be completed! It's a crib 'quilt'. Technically it's not a quilt because I didn't quilt it. It's a good feeling to create something for the little sprout, it's as if we are building a welcome for her.

The pattern is from Joann Fabrics. I will warn you that the instructions are a bit vague so if you're new to quilting, it may be difficult to follow. I used a natural grey linen to incorporate the zakka aesthetic I want for the nursery. I will be using the same linen for throw pillows and other accents which I hope will give the nursery some feeling of unity while allowing for me to play around with prints and patterns.

The fabric came from all over the place, Etsy or Fabric.com are good places to find some that may either be similar or indeed the same. The design of multicolored Spirographs is from Ikea. Once the quilt was assembled, I backed it with a type of quilting batting that doesn't need to be covered, you can get it here. It's beautifully soft and makes for a lightweight quilt.

Making Peace with my Sewing Machine

Ugh Monday. I know. But, I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was pretty fun as I finally got to work on a project for the baby, a quilt. I have to admit that I have been dragging my feet a little on this one because I have a love-hate relationship with my sewing machine. For years I was convinced that it had screwy tension, when really it was user error. You see the blessed thing is old and was passed to me after going through various owners. The model isn't made anymore and I didn't have a manual. Turns out I have been threading it all wrong, how did I find out? I checked online. Now it works like a dream!

So off I went sewing patches and amazing myself at how little time it took - I admit I have hand-sewn a lot of projects because, well, I was afraid of the sewing machine. It was wonderful to have a fall chill in the air, listening to the young kids next door play their drums and think about my mum and all the sewing tricks she taught me. My first driving and sewing lesson came together when she explained that using the pedal on the sewing machine is like using a gas pedal.  Sewing for me is more than making things, it connects me with my mum and my life growing up in the UK. Maybe one day I will teach my own little sprout. Hopefully I will have some pictures of the quilt soon as I want to finish next weekend and move on to the next thing for the nursery.

Baby Crafts

At 35 (almost 36) I am pregnant with my first child. We recently found out we're having a girl which is exciting and terrifying at the same time. My husband and I definitely dragged our feet about starting a family because we were too busy living in Zambia or moving to Asheville and having a wonderful time as a couple. A few friends that had become parents tried to convince me that it was an amazing thing to do that would change your life. "You'll never experience such joy and love" yeah, yeah.  "It's so fulfilling" great but I feel pretty fulfilled already thank you very much. Nope none of this was convincing. There was one thing they should've said that would've got me on the procreating bandwagon in a heartbeat. "You will have endless opportunities to do crafts!" What??? "You get to design a nursery." SOLD. OMG the crafts! There are quilts to be made and pillows and little baby things. AND there's the chance to make maternity clothes. Consequently I pretty much live on Pinterest which is my new favorite thing.  In the next few months I'll be posting what I make.  Then when the baby's born I imagine there will be a long silence while we navigate the chaos. I've decided on a zakka themed nursery which makes me very happy. On the board below a lot of the fabric or color choices aren't my taste, but the projects are great.