Baby bibs

Today I was mostly... finishing sewing baby bibs

11 bibs made and no two the same
Thanks to nanacompany.typepad.com for the pattern

Fasteners

The Eleven Bibs - back and front

A tie shape appliqué for a little man.

Plain and simple. Bright orange! With tie fastener.

A simple dickie bow for a boy. And matching blue on the reverse.

It's harder to find ideas for girls! I appliquéd one of the circular shapes from the oilcloth pattern on to the orange fabric.

This one features an appliqué boat on one side, and blue watery colour fabric at the rear.

Same as the first one - tie with blue on reverse.

Black and white fabric with orange on reverse (using up fabric scraps from my stash!)

Blue/orange combo

Orange/ B&W combo:

A lovely oilcloth pattern with orange on reverse:

(I think there's only ten there!) They will be gifts for friends and family.

Polka dot Nappy Bag

The second project my sister-in-law and I shopped for during my recent visit to Germany was... a Wickeltasche.
The fabric was purchased in Anders, Besonders, Gut in Pivitsheide (near Detmold/Bielefeld/Köln). We had great fun with the shopkeeper, and she was extremely helpful too.

So here's the Wickeltasche, or auf Englisch, nappy bag. Is that the correct term? Not having a need for such an item, I actually only know the word in my niece's mother tongue!

The polka dot fabric is washable. It's like oil-cloth but not as thick or as shiny.

The lining is a cotton. We tried to get something lustiger but the shop didn't have anything to match (they did have another very fun fabric which will be made into a project very soon...) so we went for this checkered praktisch lining.
There's a mobile phone pocket inside and a zippable pocket. The zipped pocket is lined in pink satin, forgot to take a photo.

The side of the bag has rings which will clip onto exhisting hooks on the pram:

Who knows how this bag came together, the bottom corners are crazy!

Considering I had no pattern to make this nappy bag, I am very proud of it. I hope it's new owners will be too. In the post...

Star-spangled hat for baby

My sister-in-law is very demanding*!! I visited her in Germany and together we schemed designs for making a nappy bag, lampshades, a clever dress/apron, and - as her child's little white hat no longer fits - a baby hat.
Here's the original white hat which no longer fits:

So I took out my skizzen paper (tracing) and made the pattern pieces, then added 1cm.

I hope I haven't made it too big. I did most of the sewing on the overlocker.
Here's the finished hat:

It's got a peak at the front. I think it looks like a jockey's cap!
I've sent it in the post today. Fingers crossed it fits!

*My sister-in-law could could say the same about me - that I am equally demanding! - having brought me to visit at least three fabric shops during my four-day visit to them in Germany. This fabric was bought in Meter Weise in Bielefeld.

Wipeable strap covers for Baby Car Seat

My friend came to me with a problem the other day. Her little girl isn't a good traveller and the straps of the car seat are difficult to clean.

Luckily, she had a spare strap to give me so I could use it for measurements while sewing the solution!

Coincidentally, my sister-in-law had bought some pink polka dot fabric in Germany. It has an oil-cloth-like texture.

I cut two rectangles, added velcro, stitched the edges. Hey presto. Mammy's life is made easier ;)

Itty Bitty Dress for Rose

I got the inspiration for this project from a blogpost by The Village Haberdashery and bought the fabrics there too. My first little niece is just 2 months old.

The pattern can be found on Made by Rae. She calls it The Itty Bitty Dress.
The fabric is by Cloud9:

• Maman – Chinoiserie
• Nursery Basics – Gingham Shell

It was my first time making piping. It should have been 5mm but I think I only bought 2.5mm (in Hickey's Home Focus in Carrickmines which have quite an impressive stock of crafts products and some dressmaking and quilting fabrics). The bias binding and the fabric for the piping should have been cut on the bias but I couldn't bring myself to slice a diagonal through the fabric and so I cut it on the straight.

I'm worried it won't fit her!