Burp Cloths and a Onesie: Handmade Baby Shower Gifts

Posted on February 18, 2014 by oliver's fancy

I was invited to a baby shower for a friend this past weekend and found some time beforehand to whip up some handmade gifts for the little man. I have been wanting to try out this burp cloth idea since I saw Gail’s version a while back. I used some organic cotton prefolds and bound the edged with some handmade bias tape. While I was making the burp cloths, I wasn’t sure that I was going to be happy with them, but once they were finished and all wrapped up together, I decided they turned out pretty cute.

I also made one of my signature tie onesies so the little man has a snazzy outfit for this spring/summer. Since sewing is kinda known as my thing among my friends, I try to remember to include something handmade in all my baby gifts. Although sometimes I want to (and do, on occasion,) just have the ease of picking something up from store. Anyone else suffer from the angst/guilt of store-bought vs. handmade? Please tell me I’m not the only one! Also do you have any go-to shower gifts? If so, do share. I am always looking for more quick and easy baby gift ideas.

Shoppes on Trade

Posted on March 5, 2013 by oliver's fancy

This weekend was the big day and we moved into our booth on Saturday morning! Now to wait and see what happens. 🙂 I wanted to share some pictures of the booth with you. The onesies, hoops, washcloths, and basket are mine…everything else is my friend, Christa, from Brio Trio. Don’t you just love her animal softies? I love how well our styles mesh together.

As you can see, we have the use of the entire cupboard space plus a little wall space on either side of the unit- which works great for my hoops! We are still working on filling up the space a little more and adding some fun decorations. Hopefully, this space will look even better over the next few weeks, but I am happy to have made a start. If you are local and get a chance, there are some really cool new artists in this building now! I had so much fun browsing the other spaces after setting up ours. In fact, I already have some jewelry and scarves on my want list. 🙂

On a side note, check out the new banner!! I am so happy to have my new logo finished and ready to go! My good friend, Mary, came up with the original design and I commissioned another good friend and graphic designer to complete the project. I am sooo happy with how it all looks! I have already ordered my new mini-Moo business cards and cannot wait for them to come in the mail…making me feel so official and professional 🙂

Diaper Caddy Take 2

Posted on March 2, 2013 by oliver's fancy

In my wrap up post a few weeks back, I briefly mentioned that I made a divided basket using Anna from Noodlehead’s new pattern. I liked the main idea but wasn’t super happy with my results so I wanted to try a few more out to see if I could tweak some things and end up with a better result- hopefully to offer for sale in my new booth (Squee!)

Set up for the new space was this morning, and I stayed up way too late last night finishing this basket and accessories for it so that I would have it ready for today. So glad I did though because I love this! Aren’t the owls just adorable?!

Changes from last time:

Did not pre-wash fabric
Only used one layer of interfacing- Craft Fuse 808 instead of SF 101 and Fusible Fleece

Only a few changes, but they made a huge difference. You see, I am not super comfortable using interfacing because I don’t have much experience with it, and the type where you have to wet the rag, press until dry, and then continually re-wet rag and repeat the process to adhere all interfacing to fabric is somewhat tedious in my book! Doing it for two layers of interfacing took me way too long. Then last time, I was too impatient to let the fabric dry after this process and sewed it together while wet- stretching out my outer fabric to be bigger than the lining. In contrast, the craft fuse 808 just needs a quick iron-on to adhere to your fabric…soo much faster and easier! I am also quite happy with the stability it gave to my basket. Not pre-washing the fabric kept it stiffer as well. FYI the outer fabric is duck cloth and the inner fabric is Kona cotton.

I love this pattern even more the second time around. Anna does a great job with making her instructions clear and easy to understand. My problems the first time were all user-error not pattern error. 🙂

I wanted to make this diaper caddy part of a gift set so that someone can buy it for a baby gift and not need anything else to complete it, so I also whipped up some handmade burp cloths for the inside. I matched up some terry cloth with cute cotton prints from my stash. The burp cloths ended up around 8×13 in size… I love this result and made up a few bundles of burp and wash cloths to sell separately in the shop as well. This is a great project to do assembly line style! Not pictured is the newborn diapers and wipes I picked up on my way to the shop this morning to complete the caddy. I already have boy fabric picked out to make more of these and can’t wait to get on it! Hopefully others like these as much as I do! Oh and for those of you non-locals, I will be updating the etsy shop with some baskets and burp/wash cloth sets very shortly!

Shop booth set up went quite well this morning and we are headed back after Little Man wakes up from his afternoon nap to show the family my new space and take some pictures for the blog. 🙂 Now to keep myself from running down there every other day to see if I’ve sold anything. 😉

Current Projects

Posted on February 13, 2013 by oliver's fancy

I have been very busy doing a little of this and a little of that…not enough to share an entire post about each thing so I thought I’d give a bit of a collage of all my random projects.

First off, I have ventured into girly world with my hoops and onesies. After completing a custom Etsy order for a special little girl’s room, I used some of the scraps to make some onesies for a friend’s baby shower. I am loving this look and I think you might see some more girly stuff in my Etsy shop from here on out…not changing who I am but expanding a bit so I don’t lose out on an audience I am not currently reaching.

I also completed another figure 8 scarf as a birthday present for my aunt. I have tweaked this pattern so that it is now super easy and such a fun little present! Really must make one of these for myself soon! This one was made in a cotton/linen blend fabric and I really love the weight and feel of it.

I tried out Anna’s new pattern– the divided basket- to see if I want to sell these in the future… It ended up being the perfect container for the balls and books we purchased for a friend’s little man’s first birthday party. I need a few more practice rounds with this pattern to work out some kinks, but I’m thinking it’s a go. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

A custom quilt order has begun taking shape. The client gave me a color range of whites, dark purples, and apple greens and allowed me free range in fabric choices. I love projects like this because I don’t have to stress about what the client wants and can just have fun putting things together.

Last, but not least, I have completed the quilt back for the guestbook quilt! Woo Hoo! This is a huge weight on my mind right now and I am so happy that I have made progress on it. Next step, get some 505 spray and attempt quilting… you will definitely be updated on how that monumental step goes!

A Showering of Fun

Posted on January 21, 2013 by oliver's fancy

This past Saturday I hosted a baby shower for a good friend, K. I had lots of fun planning the decor for the shower especially since she is having a baby boy- my area of expertise 🙂 . The baby room colors are grey and green which just happen to match my dining and living room colors as well! Perfect for decorating! Another friend is making the baby bedding, and I contacted her to get the details on the fabric she is using so I could buy some to use in the decor.

When I talked to K, she told me that she did not have a specific theme but was thinking of using some elephants as decor and really wanted a tissue pom mobile. I looked up her Pinterest wall to see what she had pinned for the baby’s room and found my perfect inspiration!

Source: imgfave.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: victorianlighthouse.tumblr.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

I googled felt elephant templates and found the perfect one for my needs. Here is the link for any interested. I enlarged the template two different times in order to have two different sized elephants- one enlargement was about 225% and the other was about 300%. Then I gathered all the materials needed and hosted a fun crafting morning with my fellow shower helpers to get all the decor made. Together we made 5 elephants and 7 tissue poms. Later on, I made a felt circle garland and name bunting.

I am so happy with how all the decor turned out as it was my first time making the tissue poms and I was a bit apprehensive that they wouldn’t look quite right. The best part is that the mama-to-be got to take all the decor home to use in her baby room! Now prepare yourself for a barrage of pictures! I apologize that the brightness from my huge front windows make it difficult to get a good shot of the table decor.