New Diaper Bag

So... I carried around the diaper bag I made a while back for about a week and decided that my worse nightmare was true: it was too big. It was one of those things I knew while I was cutting out all of the fabric and painstakingly sewing all of the pieces together. I kept saying to myself "this sure does seem like a big bag" but rationalizing the size based on a few things: 1. I love big bags, 2. I'm tall and can carry a big bag without a problem, 3. I'm about to have two kiddos who don't carry around their own stuff yet. All are true. What I didn't realize was exactly how difficult it was going to be to carry around a massive (and quite stiff thanks to the peltex) bag, shop for groceries, walk in narrow spaces, or try to store. I switched back to my old bag and contemplated what action to take for a few weeks. It became quite obvious that I just needed to make a new bag. I mean, why not? The baby isn't here yet and I just can't seem to find enough stuff to do (are you reading my sarcasm through the lines?).

I ordered the fabric from hartsfabric.com and as soon as it came in, I got started. I basically cut a few pieces on Monday night, cut the rest and sewed the entire bag with the exception of the handles (until 2am, and I kept saying "what's wrong with me?" while eating a snickers - er, for energy) on Tuesday night, and assembled the handles and the rest of the bag on Wednesday. Not too bad! For some reason I was convinced that if I didn't finish, the baby would come and I'd never have time for sewing, ever again.

I'm quite pleased with the results and can't wait to load it up tomorrow and start carrying it around!

New Bag

Old (New) Bag

How did I not notice this bags massiveness is beyond me, but at least it looks cool. Which is all that matters, right?

More stuff I've been sewing here lately...

Headbands that are a birthday gift for a trendy friend...

Another applique shirt for Ellie, since she loves animals so much!

This is a Bolero jacket (cropped with 3/4 sleeves) I made for one of my friends little girls birthday.

A pair of double ruffle pants I made to go with a Matilda Jane dress. One of the first things I've done for payment...

Help me I'm squirreling!

Because I seriously hate to clean, I didn't really think I was much of the nesting kind. That, and I really don't like the word "nesting" because I don't consider myself to be very bird-like. BUT, one of my Kentucky friends pointed out that nesting is just getting things ready for your baby to come. So I find myself being compared to a bird, or behaving like one, I'm not sure which. I actually feel like I'm storing up for the winter, so I think I should call it "squirreling." Squirrelador anyone?

I've included pictures of most all of my handiwork over the past few weeks. I've been feeling like being a busybody because I know that I probably won't have time for business here in the next few months (I'm currently 36 weeks pregnant).

Enjoy the pictures!

Anna

I totally stole this idea, but I just love the black and white crib cards. I'm going to laminate them soon...

This is the moby-type wrap I made for myself to wear. It was quite simple to make, so easy, in fact, that I made a little bag to store it in. Yes, I'm a nerd.

Nursing pads!!! With Ellie, I went through these things by the box full and call me cheap, but I don't want to keep buying the disposable one's! This is half of my new collection of nursing pads. I hope I made them correctly... guess I'll find out soon enough.

This is my very first attempt at a Montessori infant ball. It really wasn't that hard to make and turned out pretty cool, I think.

My daughter Ellie is famous, did you know? She gets so much mail around here it hurts (the fridge door, that is). I finally came up with a way to display all of her cards and photos that are sent to her weekly... a scrap book! Sorta. I don't scrap, but we're going to stick all of her cards on the pages in here so she can sit down and flip through it herself - and see how much people love her!

I made Ellie a green minky blanket before she was born so I decided to make one for this bebe too. It's Ellie's absolute favorite blanket because of how soft it is. She seems to think that anything this soft belongs to her (and needs to go everywhere with her), so I've already had to hide this blanket and it's matching little one's. Now you know if I tried to make a replacement blanket for Ellie she would freak out, don't you?

Ellie was so darn long that she outgrew our receiving blankets waaaaay before she outgrew the need for swaddling. Being proactive as I am, I decided to whip up a few large flannel blankets for Newbie. I already had the fabric, it was just patiently waiting for it's purpose! Voila!

New Diaper Bag

I changed the handle to a different location, made it one strap, and added the elastic for an outer bottle/sippy compartment.

I added a zipper to the outer pocket and put a ton of pockets on the inside to house my wallet and other "purse" goodies.

It's huge and I'm huge! 34 weeks along!

I searched high and low for the perfect diaper bag... expensive one's, cheap one's, regular bags, purses, any bag was an option. Seriously, I wasn't satisfied with anything I saw. And I really wanted to be happy with another bag... one I didn't have to make. BUT, after about a month of looking, I decided I was going to have to make one. After looking a LOTS of patterns, I decided on the Amy Butler Weekender Bag. So, I bought the pattern, the supplies, and interestingly enough I had the fabric in my stash. Then I altered the pattern (to include my favorite features from different diaper bags I had seen) over a series of, er, several sewing sessions and dove in to the sewing! Here are some pictures of the process and the alterations I made. I read a lot about this pattern before I got started and the comments were a bit scary. However, it wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. And next time I make this bag, I'll leave out the thick inner lining, I'm not so sure it's necessary.

Birthday Banners

Ellie's birthday party needed something festive, so I made these little banners to hang outside. I totally stole the idea from something I once saw at Pottery Barn and said "hey, I can make that!" I actually wanted to finish her ABC beanbags, but that's another post because they still aren't done... Anyway, the banners now hang above her curtains in her bedroom and are a cheerful addition to the squirrel curtains.

Haltar Dress

I didn't used to use patterns (back in the day), and this is one of the first things I've made in a year without a pattern. I just measured Ellie's chest and decided on a length and made one of the easiest dresses ever! This is one of my favorite Amy Butler fabrics.

I could not help myself...

I had extra fabric and just had to make Ellie one of those apple dresses! I used a cute stripe fabric as her reversed side, it turned out really cute. However, when I asked her to model it for me, she refused... (for a while, but at least she's wearing it now!) I made this back in March and it's just now getting warm enough for her to wear it.

Squirrel Anyone?

I bought a Lotta Jansdotter book with birthday money a while back. I was standing at this really cool store we have here in Lexington called The Black Market, and the art major in me geeked out. I've always loved her stuff, but what I loved it even more is that she published a book about all the techniques she uses.

When it came time for me to put up some curtains in Ellie's room, I thought I would try my hand at one of the techniques. So, armed with my trusty book in hand, I started my project. It took me a few weeks to decide to use a squirrel, but once I settled on the little critter, it just seemed perfect. Plus, Ellie has a cute squirrel picture already hanging in her room.

I drew the squirrel and cut it out of a stencil sheet and off I went stenceling randomly on the curtain fabric. I used the same paint as the yellow stripe in Ellie's room. It was really quite easy once it was all said and done. Now they are hanging cheerfully in her room!

Fall Outfit

I made little matching outfits for Ellie and her cousin Avery back in the Fall. I have this fantastic reversible sundress pattern that is super-easy to sew up. The pants are also another easy one that can go boy or girl.

Sister Outfits

These are some matching outfits that I made for a friend with three girls. The big sister outfits, and the infant outfit are pictured.

Some Sassy Smocking

I wanted to make something for Ellie that was reaaaaaally cute. I thought a bishop would be sassy, so I went for it. Now, this was before I had to start chasing Ellie around all the time, so I had the energy for some serious smocking. I selected my fabric (it was a tapestry from Target), cut out my stuff from a pattern, and borrowed my friend Julie's pleater. Now as for pleating, it's one of those things that if you don't do it often enough, it will make you want to go scream outside in your undies in the middle of winter. It's quite frustrating, but necessary if you want to smock. SO, once everything was pleated, I started smocking the dress. I'm not sure how long it took me, but with geometric smocking (no little cute characters) it's always faster than you thought it would be. I finished the angel sleeves off with a rolled hem on my surger and voila! Ellie had a cute summer outfit.

Keep on sewing!
Anna

Diaper Bags

Well, when I found out I was having a girl (now, my almost 2 year old) the first thing I made was a diaper bag. I took a look at my Vera Bradly bag and wanted to make something similar. So, I used it as my pattern. Now, this was in my pre-pattern days... where I was a sewing renegade and didn't bother to use patterns. I loathed them, to many words and weird directions. But the first time I made an outfit for Ellie without a pattern it took so long that I thought I would shoot myself. So, I started using patterns with the birth of my daughter. And I still don't like most of them.

Back to the diaper bag. I decided I wanted a quilted fabric, but the stuff I found at my local stores left much to be desired. So, I just took on the task of quilting it myself. This took me two evening sewing sessions (I had to break it down), because I thought I was going to drive my car off the next bridge I crossed trying to machine quilt for the first time. I swore I would never quilt any more fabric again... ever! But I finished my bag and it was so cute that I didn't care how awful quilting the fabric was.

I should have learned my lesson with my first bag, but nooooo. My sister in law asked me to make her little girl's diaper bag and, of course, I said "yes!" It's like giving birth, you sort of forget how difficult it all is and convince yourself you want more babies because "the end result is worth it." Well the end result IS worth it, but you still go bonkers during the process. So, I went bonkers making Katy's (sis in law) bag, but it turned out better than Ellie's, so that makes it totally worthwhile. Plus, now Katy has one of the only two quilted bags I will ever machine quilt. Pretty special.

So, I can honestly tell you that I probably won't be quilting ANY MORE of these bags... ever ever. But they turned out cute and Ellie's bag is still going strong after almost 2 years.

Keep on sewing!
Anna

My Bag

Katy's Bag

It's been too darn long!

Ok everyone who reads this blog... probably no one since I haven't posted since NOVEMBER. Anyway. I'm going to start posting some pictures of stuff I've made soon, so get ready!

Yep, that was it. My big news. Are you ready yet??