A Handmade Childhood : Stroller Blanket

It is alarming how fast time is going, already I am entering my third trimester. Every weekend is taken over with getting different chores and tasks done before the baby arrives. It also means I need to get some baby projects under my belt. This week I made this stroller blanket that was wonderfully easy to do and a great asset considering similar blankets sell in baby stores for at least $45. It is one piece of quilting weight cotton backed with fleece. The baby is scheduled to arrive in February and a cold winter  has been predicted so this will keep her cozy. I love this pattern and I love that the blanket is not ultra girly or cutesy.  The finished size is 30 1/2" x 30 1/2" and the fleece makes it lightweight but soft and warm. I will give you one warning, fleece can be quite stretchy. If you use a sewing machine, loosen the tension a little and pick a longer stitch or zig zag, having a larger seam allowance, as opposed to the tradition quarter inch helps too.

I got the cherry blossom fabric from 'Gather Fabrics' on Etsy. She has a lovely selection of patterns including child friendly designs. Here are some other fabric suggestions, I've got to admit it took a lot of willpower not to buy them all myself.:

Follow Liz's board Stroller Blanket Fabric Ideas on Pinterest.

You Will Need

31 inch square of patterned fabric in cotton poplin/quilting weight cotton or linen

31 inch square of fleece OR cotton batting for a lighter blanket

Thread

Sewing machine

pins

• Pin the right side of the fabric to the less fluffy side of the fleece
• Sew with a half inch seam but leave a couple of inches not sewed so you can turn it the right way
• Remove all pins!
• Turn right side out and use a broad knitting needle or stick of some kind to poke into the corners to make them sharp
• Iron the blanket
• Fold the seams of the fleece and cotton in where the opening is and pin together
• Sew this up
• You're done!

This was a quick project but you could make one with a patchwork top or simply applique some fun shapes onto the fleece itself. I am thinking of making one with lighter cotton batting for the warmer months.  It could be a great gift too: make a bigger one for a bedspread or a lap blanket.

Updates

This weekend I had big plans. My husband was going to be away for two nights and I thought this would be a great time to do some crafting. But after running errands on Saturday morning and cleaning the house, it was time for a nap. Then on Sunday I had to do some homework for my day job. So, no crafts. I am getting pretty big now, or so people LOVE to tell me. Actually I don't mind because I can finally wear stuff and not worry about my belly!

I have plans for more projects to post soon (one every Monday) but in the meantime, do check out my Pinterest boards for tutorials I have found and my Tumblr site for advice on sewing and crafting.

New Adventures in Free Motion

Sometimes the practice is a pleasing surprise. Free motion embroidery or quilting is NOT supposed to look like this, but still - interesting!

For more on free motion sewing go to this really amazing website: The Free Motion Quilting Project. She has all you will ever need.

TV Project 1: Kimono Coasters

Kimono silk is just something I can't resist, it's sexy makes me think of geisha.  It's also awkward to work with, since it is so sheer and thin.  I like to always have a project on the go that I can do while watching TV. So this is my TV project du jour.   

NOTE: The instructions for the rosettes can also be used to make the ones you saw on the boudoir pillow.  Imagine a pillow with kimono silks! Ooh la la, get your Valentine's horny on!

Level: Beginner
Time: 2 hours per coaster
Cost: $2 (approximately
Materials and Tools:
Hexagon template, size: 1 inch per side
Kimono silk scraps (or scraps of cotton quilt weight fabric) in three different patterns in similar colors.
1/2 yard of grey felt
Thread in contrasting color and matching color
Pins
Scrap paper
Needle
Iron
Scissors for fabric
Scissors for paper

- First cut seven hexagons out of scrap paper
- You are going to need one hexagon from one patterned fabric then three each from two additional patterns
- Place your paper hexagon onto the wrong side of your chosen fabric and pin in place
- Cut around the hexagon with a quarter inch seam allowance
- Fold the fabric seam over the paper and tack all the way round with the contrasting thread
- Remove pin
- Do this with all seven hexagons
- The one hexagon cut from a different fabric to the other six is the center of the rosette
- Take this hexagon and a hexagon of another pattern place them with right sides facing each other and sew the seams together with whip stitch
- Continue doing this until you have all six hexagons of alternating pattern sewn to the center one
- Iron your rosette so the seams are nice and sharp
- Remove the paper from the center hexagon and pin to the felt
- Cut out the felt so that the rosette is pinned to smaller piece of felt with some excess fabric around it.
- Remover one paper from an outer hexagon and pin to the fabric with the seam folded under
- Sew the edge with a running stitch
- Do this hexagon by hexagon until all edges are sewn to the felt
- Trim off the excess felt
- Press with iron
- DONE

Pimping My Boudoir 2: Throw Pillow

It's true, throw pillows are probably the cheapest and most effective way of giving your decor a facelift!  My sister-in-law is obsessed with them and has passed that obsession on to me.  I don't have a zipper foot for my sewing machine yet so decided to do a sleeve instead.  It worked well enough, but in the future I would make the overlap larger as the pillow is a little visible at the back.  Anyway, this is all good practice for making items to sell. 

Cushion Cover

New cover, the rosettes are paper pieced and hand appliqued, the top will be machine sewn as soon as the voltage converter comes for my UK machine!

Easy Facelift - for a room

I cannot get over how merely switching out cushion covers can change the feel of a room. We have inherited a really great, green leather sofa, but the covers we inherited with it were very dark, old fashioned and basically not very nice. The whole feel was jarring, as we have really tried to keep the room modern and airy. I finally go around to making a cover after a bit of a sewing machine saga (more on that for another post) and love the results. The burlap looks so good but is a little unstable because of the loose weave, my advice is to give yourself a seam allowance of an inch to stop any unraveling and consider lining it with a similar color of cotton because you can sometimes see the white cushion filler with ours.

I am definitely going to use more burlap in future.