Five minutes equals quick baby girl gift...

Got five minutes? Perfect -- you can make a quick baby gift! When I found out my last baby was a girl, I was a little overwhelmed with all the fun girly accessories you can get, especially when it comes to headbands. But I think these are my favorite. Not even sure what to call these, maybe elastic ribbon? You can order it online in several places. I bought this from Pick Your Plum when they had a deal to get several colors at once.

I love this stuff because it's really soft and very stretchy. Then you can add whatever flower/clippie you want. Plus, I've sewn a little pocket into it so the metal clip only has to touch baby's head a little. That always seemed so uncomfortable to me. Plus it will hide your seams under your accessory. Nice...

For a newborn size, I cut this 13 inches, which worked perfectly. I would add one inch per size you want to go up (about 14 inches for 0-3 months, 15 inches for 3-6 months, 16 inches for 6-12 months, etc).

I also decreased the stitch length on my sewing machine a little to sew this (it's usually 2.5, this is one setting down at 2.0).

Now, making sure your elastic is straight, you're going to overlap the ends about 1 inch with the right side facing out.

Stitch the two sides together close to the left side, so you're stitching the underneath side close to the edge and you have the top still long. I stitch down, backstitch all the way up, and stitch it again.

The arrows mark the edge of each side in the picture above. The bottom piece is stitched close to the edge on the left. Now, with the right side, you're going to fold that edge under...

You fold under just a tiny bit, just enough so you can hold it in place. Then you'll stitch that side down (so you'll be stitching through three layers). I use a wooden coffee stirrer to hold it in place while I stitch it down. And no worries if you accidentally stitch through it -- I've done it plenty of times. Your fingers are safe, it won't hurt your machine or your project.

And that's it! Then you have something that looks nice from the outside if you decide to do a plain headband, or you can easily hide underneath a flower or bow. Just slide the clip between the stitches in between your two layers of elastic ribbon.

Here's the outside...

And the inside...

Sweet! I whipped out probably three of these in my five minutes. The longest part is changing your thread on your machine. :)

Quick announcement: My life is super topsy-turvy right now because we're getting ready to move, but it's going to be a crazy, spread-out move. We're probably leaving in June but won't get to our new location (New York, baby!) until August. I have so many fun tutorials I want to share, but I honestly don't know if/when I'll be doing anything on this blog in the following months. So thanks for stopping by, and I'll see you when I see you. :)

Perfect present: Baby tag blanket...

I am in baby present heaven right now! My bestie is due any day now, and another good friend is due only a few days later. So I've had two showers in the last few weeks -- I love baby showers! Making baby gifts are some of my favorite things to make. And that's good, because I have three sisters-in-law, my Vegas bestie, a cousin-in-law and another Okie friend that are all having babies this summer, all due in July except for one!

Today I'm sharing a tutorial for one of the easiest baby gifts to make: A tag blankie. Seriously, if you've got an hour, you've got a baby present (maybe even less time if you're speedy and don't have any interruptions)!

Another great thing about this? It's very beginner friendly, and you can make it pretty inexpensive. You can make these any size you like, in any shape you like. And the great place to pick up materials for this project is in the remnant bin.

I used black minky that I found in the remnant bin, and then, because I wanted a really specific fleece, I had to order the soccer fabric online (why don't the fabric stores have any soccer fleece right now????). You could also use soft, baby flannel for a lightweight blankie, but I love the fleece and minky combination. Then you need ribbon, but you can make them all different or do a pattern like I did. This is a great time to dig into your scraps.

Cut out one each of your front and back in the desired shape/size you want. I made mine 20" by 20" because that's how wide my minky was, plus I thought it was a nice size (just big enough to put the baby on for some floor time or to cuddle with in the car seat without being a full blanket). I used a 1/2" seam allowance, so my finished size was 19" by 19".

Next, you'll determine how many ribbons you want. I had six picked out, but ended up using only five just for looks.

I cut my ribbons to 5" each. They'll be folded in half (2.5") and you'll lose 1/2" with the seam allowance, so this makes the ribbons 2" when finished.

Now you'll lay out your ribbons on top of your bottom piece to get a general idea for how you want to arrange them. I ended up with this pattern.

Once I figured out where I wanted my ribbons, I folded them in half -- right sides out -- and pinned them in place (make sure you're pinning them to the right side of the bottom). For this size, I put the middle ribbon at the 10" line, then put the others 3 inches apart. So I had a ribbon at the 4" line, 7" line, 10" line, 13" line and 16" line. I like to put them a little further in from the corners, so this worked out perfectly!

Now before you put the top on, you'll do something that will make finishing the project much easier. Pick one of your middle ribbons and stitch it down, just less than your seam allowance. I used my blue ribbon...

My seam allowance is 1/2 inch, so I stitched at about 3/8 inch from the edge; I sewed the ribbon down, backstitched across it and sewed it down again.

Now you'll put your top piece of fabric face down, so the bottom and top are right sides together with the ribbons sandwiched between. Transfer the pins holding the ribbons to the outside of your fabric sandwich, making sure to pin the ribbons securely again, and add a pin to hold the corners in place.

Next you'll stitch the whole thing together, using your 1/2-inch seam allowance.

You'll start sewing just before the ribbon just south of the ribbon you stitched down (bottom arrow in picture below); the ribbon you stitched down will be in the middle of the opening you use to turn the blankie inside-out. Make sure to backstitch well. Sew all the way around and finish just after the ribbon to the north of the ribbon you stitched down (top arrow in picture below), again with a good backstitch. The opening is between the arrows.

Next, you'll clip your corners; get close to your stitching but make sure not to cut into it. This reduces your bulk and gives you nice, pointy corners.

Reach in through your opening and grab one of your opposite corners and pull it out. Continue to pull the fabric until it's right-side out.

Grab a pencil or crochet hook and put your hand back through the hole. Use you pencil or hook to push out your corners. (I've got a crochet hook in there...)

The last step is to hand-stitch your opening closed. Line your blanket edges up with 1/2" folded under, matching up with the stitched edges.

Pin it in place, then using this stitch to hide your thread, stitch the opening closed. I also went back and forth a little over the ribbon to make sure I stitched it down well since baby boy will probably be tugging on them.

Done! Great gift to keep those little fingers entertained with something soft to cuddle. Happy sewing!

Ta Da! It's the uber bib!

So, in the last 3 1/2 weeks, my friends and I have had 5 baby showers. Yes, 5 wonderful little ones are coming into the world in my little circle of friends (wait, make that 4, one arrived this last week), and I love to make baby gifts. One of the things I came up with for my own little squishy has become a big hit at the showers.

Introducing the uber bib! It cleans, it sparkles, it even makes your baby cuter... Ok, your baby is already super cute, and it may not sparkle (although I'm sure you could add some bling), but it IS the best bib ever. No lies.

WARNING: If you continue to read this tutorial, you will have serger envy. Treatment includes purchasing a serger, which is pricey but so worth the cost... Seriously, I shouldn't have put off getting my serger because it is one of the best purchases I've made in a long time and I use it all the time. If you're considering it, just my little plug that I think you should do it... If you escape the serger envy, please just skip over my little serger notes. :)

Yeah, my baby is stylin'! There are so many great things about this bib: First, it cost me about $2 to make, which is much better than purchsing one from the store, which costs about $4.50 or more, sports a picture of Dora or Elmo, doesn't fit well and isn't as absorbent. Second, it covers everything. No more carrots on her sleeve, no more half-chewed cheese smooshed in her lap, no more drooly clothes. It also has plenty to wipe off her face and hands after she eats (which is particularly handy when we eat out and I don't have a wet rag handy). And unlike the traditional bibs with snaps or velcro, she can't pull this one off.

So here's what you'll need:

A hand towel

3" by 13.5" of ribbing (this is the same stuff on the collar of your T-shirt, really thick knit with obvious ribs in it)

**Ribbing, by the way, is a little pricey by the yard, but you don't need much. You can make nine bibs from only 1/4 yard.

I purchased this hand towel at Target in a pack of two for $3.49, and the ribbing at Jo-Anne's.

First, fold your towl into thirds. You'll be cutting a hole 1/3 down from the top. Fold the bottom part back out and leave the top part folded.

My hole was more of an oval, but it worked really well (and my baby is rather big -- she's about 20 pounds at 10 months old and this bib has fit her for a few months and I don't think she'll grow out of it any time soon; the ribbing really helps to let you have an opening big enough but pulls in tight around baby's neck). My hole was 6 inches wide and 2 inches deep, cut on the fold.

This is what it looks like folded back out...

If you made your hole a different size (or want to apply ribbing on a different project), here's how I determined the measurements for my ribbing. Measure around your hole with the tape measurer standing up like in my picture below (this hole was 18 inches around). Now you'll take 2/3 of that measurement (for us, 12 inches) and add a small amount for folding over (so 13.5 so you have some extra just in case).

Now, to cut your ribbing. This example is the first bib I made, and I only made it 2 inches tall. It worked, but 3 inches tall works much, much better. It pulls the bib in much closer around the neck. So your ribbing should look a little bigger than mine in these pictures.

When you cut your ribbing, make sure you have lots of short lines going up and down, not long lines going side to side. Cut a piece 3 inches tall and 13.5 inches wide.

You'll fold your ribbing in half with right sides out. Put your ribbing about in the middle of the back of the hole on the top (right side) of the towel.

If you're doing this on a regular sewing machine, I recommend going around the ribbing with a straight stitch (on a little longer stitch length), then going back around the whole neck with a zigzag inside the straight stitch and the edge.

SERGER NOTE: I used woolly nylon for this project. Woolly nylon is awesome because it is super soft (nice for baby skin), and it fills in well so you don't have so many pokeys sticking out from the towel material. I got extra thick woolly nylon, two spools: one for your upper looper, and one for your lower looper. Please note that woolly nylon is much thicker than normal thread, so you'll need to loosen (lower number) your tension dials. I've included my settings below, but don't forget to practice on test fabric because every serger is different. The leftover part you cut out for the hole was great to practice on.

Serger: Brother 1034D
Three-thread overlock, wide with left needle in (right needle out)
Left needle (Maxilock thread): 5.75
Upper looper (Extra thick woolly): 2
Lower looper (Extra thick woolly): 3.9
Feed differential: 1.2
Length: 2.5
Width: 5.2

Ok, if you're doing this on a regular sewing machine, start it just like I've got here. Leave a little extra at the top and start further into the ribbing.

If you're doing this on a serger, don't really pay too much attention to this picture. I started further into the ribbing, and it's easier not to do that on your serger. On all my other bibs, I made sure to put my ribbing right up to the needle and used the handwheel to put the needle into the ribbing material. I also removed the extra thingie to do this free-arm sewing.

Once you get your needle in and your ribbing is secure, you're going to stretch it as you sew. And I mean stretch it! Now, don't pull so hard you're bending your needle or something, but really stretch the ribbing as much as you can get it to go. It will stretch more than you think it will, and this is what gets it to lay inward. You've also got to get it to go all the way around that neck hole plus have some extra at the end. So stretch, stretch, stretch and stitch all the way around.

Now, as you come to the end, you'll want that ribbing to overlap. When I got really close to the beginning of the ribbing, I would carefully fold the end of the ribbing under and hold it in place, overlapping the beginning. Just make sure you've got it where you want it against the neck opening because you want to sew that in place as you go. Make sure to sew over the beginning of your stitches.

SERGER NOTE: Now, I had you start so your ribbing is sewn down at the beginning. I just stuck the folded-over ribbing as close down as possible over the beginning of the ribbing and made sure to cut in a little with the knife to sew it down as well as go over the beginning of the seam so it's secure.

I hope this helps a little. The left side of ribbing is the beginning, and the right side is the end and it's folded under (although coming out at the fold) and sewn in place just over the left side.

You'll stick the beginning inside the end, pin in place and stitch it up by hand. I use the blind stitch (or hidden stitch), like found in this tutorial here.

And that's it! Cute, messy baby, clean clothes. Now if only there was an easy way to clean up the floor after mealtime. I need a dropcloth for that too...