Busy Sewing: Crinkly Baby Play Mat

Do you have one of these (or do you know someone who does?):

Then, this post is for you. This idea has been brewing in my head for a while now.  My mom got a bunch of wacky baby toys when she visited us in Japan several years ago.  When Maeve was born, she gave me one, it looked just like a piece of cloth with the design of a Japanese newspaper.  I thought it was going to be just a soothing soft toy.  BUT, then we opened it...

This has got to be one of her favorite toys!  It is crinkly, lightweight, easy to hold, chewable, all the things a baby could ask for and more.  I have been wanting to have one of her other crinkly toys take one for the team, so I could see what was on the inside doing the crinkling.

Well, the other day, I was unpacking a box of clothes I ordered online, she was having a ball grabbing, shaking, and tossing the plastic bags of clothes.  The lightbulb went off- reuse plastic shopping bags and sew them in between fabric.  Yes, at that instant, I abandoned unpacking the box, went into my stash found two cute girly half yards of fabric, got a giant plastic shopping bag I was no longer using and...(yes it is conveniently a bag from my FAVORITE craft store from Japan):

I laid the two fabrics on top of each other, with the right sides together, then I placed the shopping bag on top.   I trimmed around the edges so the fabric was the same size as the bag.  Then I pinned them together.

I sewed around the edges (bag could be on top or bottom while sewing, will work fine either way, your preference):

I left a four inch gap to right side out the fabric:

Once fabric was inverted, I fold the fabric in at the gaps and pinned it, then I topstitched over it and around the whole mat to give it a finished look:

The whole thing took maybe 30 minutes.

How fun would this be for a homemade Christmas gift?  You can make it as large or small as you want, I think it would be fun to do one with bubble wrap on the inside, or long like a runway for the baby to crawl on. You can even put the bag between two old pieces of cut up clothes to be totally green!  Happy sewing!

Busy Sewing and Playing: Baby blankets

I've been busy packing lately, so I haven't had time for a whole lot of stuff otherwise.  I figured I'd take the time to show off some blankets I've made that my baby really loves!  Like I've said before, "babies LOVE colors"!  Since most of our baby gear and toys are in our shipments, Maeve has been spending a LOT of time with these two blankets, and guess what?:  she loves them loves them loves them.  She can lay on her tummy for hours and stare at the pretty colors (with no toys at all).

This is a blanket I made for my parent's to keep on their couch (I'm kind of thinking about stealing it back - it's her absolute favorite):

This is a blanket I made when I had Owen, there are two, this one and it's counterpart (which is in our shipment):

Can you even stand the cuteness?

Next time you need a baby blanket, divert from the traditional pastels and go for something bright and exciting- baby won't be disappointed.

Pst:  When I get into my house and possibly get a new machine, I might be making a few for sale on etsy.  Stay tuned.

Babies Love Black and White

I've always heard babies love black and white and red.  Since we're living with my parent's 1,000 miles away from Dave until the house is finished, I wanted to find a way for Maeve to be able to "see" him.  I made a collage of photos of her brothers, sister, Dave, and I, and printed it out on regular paper in black and white.  Then, I used red and white ribbon that I got at Michael's and glued it around and between the photos.  I was going to mount it to a canvas with modpodge, but didn't have any canvas available, so I opted to laminate the sheet.

(okay I'm really annoyed, I can't edit the photo in blogger to be upright and in iphoto it is upright, and I don't have the patience or time right now to fix it)

Propped up at the end of her chair:

View from the playmat:

***(The ribbon is thick, so I had to run it through the laminator twice to get the edges to completely seal. - It's been a few weeks and it hasn't come apart, so it is durable, but maybe for something more lasting and that you could later mount to the wall, modpodging on canvas might be a better option)

How cute would this be for a baby shower gift?  You could punch holes in the top and thread ribbon through so it could be hung from many places.