Charity baby bonnets

This is a tiny post, because this is a tiny project... but I just wanted to share these cute baby bonnets I made for charity. Are you inspired to make some yourself? Hope you will after the pics. Here's my contribution.



These cuties are going to the Sopley WI in the south of England. They are collecting them and they will be going to keep premature children warm for people in need. If you want to know more just leave me a comment  below and I will get you in touch with them.



And here is the pattern I was given to make them, not sure of the source but it has been distributed so I am happy to copy below for reference. There are three sizes to the bonnets:

Cast one 71/77/83 stitches.
1st, 2nd and 3rd row knit.
4th row: K2, P to last 2 sts, K2.
Repeat 3rd and 4th row 13/15/17 times.

Shape crown:
Cast off 2 sts at beg of next 2 rows (here I made a slight change and casted off 2 sts at the begining of next row and 3rd row. I completely ommitted 2nd row).

3rd row *K4, K2tog*, repeat * section to last St, K1
4th, 6th, 8th and 10th row Purl.
5th row: *K3, K2tog*, repeat * section to last St, K1
7th row: *K2, K2tog*, repeat * section to last St, K1
9th row: *K1, K2tog*, repeat * section to last St, K1
11th row: *K2tog*, repeat * section to last St, K1

Break off yarn, leaving lenght for sewing seam. Thread through remaining stitches and fasten. Use remaining yarn for sewing the seam close.

Little Miss chef

I shared earlier a little bit of my new ribbon stash, thanks to the lovely ribbons that were sent by Julie from The Ribbon Jar. And the first item I made with these gorgeous ribbons is this lovely girl apron.

And although the owner of this particular one is sadly not Valentina, my lovely model, I loved making this apron so much that there is for sure another one on the way for her! And a more detailed tutorial to share with all of you!

The apron is made from two fat quarters and it is reversible. For this particular one I used the same fabric in both sides, but you can easily change it and make it into two aprons. It could also even have pockets on both sides. Here's a close up from the back:

In a nutshell the steps for making this lovely apron are the following:

• Select two fat quarters for the main body of the apron. You will also need a little extra fabric (fat eight should be enough) for the pocket and the straps (or you can buy some other lovely ribbon for the straps.
• You will also need one button and 2 yards of this pom pom trim. There is a huge assortment of colours for you to choose from.
• Print the downloadable cutting templates (here) and cut them out;
• Mark the armholes in both fabrics making sure they are the right way around (mirror the curve on the right to the one on the left).
• From the leftover armhole fabric cut out the two heart shapes for the little pocket.
• Cut out the big pocket (x2) to your desired size. Sew both pockets right sides together leaving a little opening for turning right side out. Iron well. 
• Sew the bottom section of the heart pocket to the bigger pocket and then sew the bigger pocket to one of the apron pieces.
• Prepare three straps by cutting them in 2 inches wide and sewing all around right sides together. Turn inside out and iron well.
• Place the piece of the apron with the pocket, right side up. Place the straps in the right position and the back piece right sides together. Sew all around leaving an opening.Turn right side out.
• Attach the pom pom trim all around the apron and make a buttonhole for the head strap.
• Sew the button to the strap and you are done!

And with a little left over from the strap I made Valentina a little ribbon for her hair, isn't it super cute?

Don't forget to visit The Ribbon Jar for more ribbon inspiration and stay tuned... I still have quite a bit of ribbon left over to keep making lovely things!

 I had a blast making this very easy apron and my little model had a great time playing around during her photo shoot... she does deserve an apron all of her own! 

And a mini robot set

These robots are so adorable that of course when the chance came to make another baby set to give a friend whose son was just born... I made another of these gorgeous sets. This time a mini set.

It included one baby body, a little face towel and a burp cloth. All of course decorated in the matching space robot fabric. A few more close ups?

Isn't it adorable? I loved working with them... although there are lots of curves and tricky bits for machine appliqué... they are so so so cute you kinda forget about it all!

I think I still have enough for one more set...and guess what? I just heard another of my friends is expecting a baby boy!

Stash news

I love to show what I have bought (or acquired in some shape or sort) recently... it makes me so happy to have new fabric, notions or any crafting related item, that I cannot stop to share. I have received recently a lovely order from Ribbon Jar, an on-line ribbon shop. And I have been asked to design for them, yey! exiting! I know. 

So this is what I chose to work with in the upcoming weeks, and look how lovely wrapped it came, I could not stop myself but snap snap snap so many pictures of it.

The bag with black ribbon inside, is the most amazing lace, completely in love (not sure how I will manage to cut into it, we'll see).

Then there is some stitched ribbon and the tiniest of pom poms (they are so fine and cute I cannot make it justice by trying to explain it).

And the most adorable passamano Italian ribbon, gorgeous... and on the corner, a very cheerful ribbon wired ribbon.

So far it has been great to work with the Ribbon Jar team. The website was really easy to navigate and I had a blast browsing through their stock. Then once the order was placed, it was a swift and quick delivery to Luxembourg (which is not an easy task sometimes). Can't wait to get started and working with these ribbons.

And because I could not stop...decoupage flower pots

A while back I tried decoupage on a table... and it didn't work. That was of course before my mum taught me all the little secrets! And so, with lots of patience, I ripped it all out. I wanted to use fabric. But again I was not going to use the table as my test run, so I made this instead.



Like them? Well a little tutorial below for a quick re-purpose of any old flower pots.

What do you need?

• Some old flower pots - mine are quite small but any would do.
• Fabric - enough to cover the pot in the outside.I used a fat eighth for the little ones.
• Mod podge - or simple white glue for crafting. You will need the one that turns transparent as it dries.
• A small paint brush.

 

Prepare the pot, clean it and let dry. Prepare the fabric by cutting a piece that will fit around the pot. Make sure you leave enough extra fabric, as the pot hasn't got staight edges it will shift around the fabric.

Paint the whole surface of the pot with mod podge/glue and roll the pot around the fabric. As you do with your fingers try to get rid of any air bubbles appearing on the surface. Make sure that the fabric is attached to any ridges.

Once it is all covered, cut the fabric and fold it in to create a nice "seam". Add more glue if necessary to cover all the layers of fabric.

Trim the bottom fabric leaving one or two inches excess. Cut the excess fabric in little stripes. Cover the bottom of the pot in glue and with more glue in the paint brush stick each piece of fabric down as in the picture above.



Finally trim the top in the same way and glue the fabric in the inside. To make sure it looks very professional finish off with a strip (1 inch wide approximately) of fabric in the inside. Finish with two layers of glue all over the pot, letting it dry well in between. If water will be any near the pots, varnish and dry well. And voilà, two lovely flower pots!



I am using mine for my make up brushes and other toiletries!

Robots invasion in the nursery

Oh my, there are so many pregnant friends around that I get to make the cutest baby gifts ever! And this is what I made for one of our friends that is expecting soon...

I appliqued the design from this really cute fabric in many baby items that I hope will be really useful when the little one arrived. So what is in the gift set?

Two onesies, one in short and the other in long sleeve...

Two burp clothes decorated in one of the sides... 

And two face towels... I now add these to all my baby gift sets. One of my dear friends claims they are really really useful, and I her little ones every time she is with her little boy. They went on her diaper and towel cake for her baby shower... 

And finally the matching bath towel...

Here is a little close up again... sorry it is just that I can't stop looking at it!

I can't believe this little one is arriving soon in only a few weeks, and hopefully he will love his robots as much as I loved making them for him!

Decoupage

WARNING: Decoupage is addictive, if after reading this post you get hooked on it... please do not blame me, but share back your creations.

So it turned out I LOVE decoupage! My mum has been doing it for a while and decorating the whole house buying inexpensive items or just decoupaging and re purposing old ones. So when she was over visiting a few weeks back I asked her to teach me, and there was when my love for sticking thin cute paper onto things started...

So I made this:

That I am planning on hanging from my Christmas tree this year. It was made with three ply napkins (using only the printed paper and discarding the other two). I loved cutting the paper and making sure it would match to decorate the many sides of this little birdhouse.

There are so many sections to the house that it was very entertaining to make! But if you are not so patient I would suggest starting with a less complicated piece like a little box.

And then my mum wanted to make my initial in a cute flower paper we had bought earlier. But instead of using the whole napkin she just cuts the flowers out and makes a new design with it. So here is the back with the napkin used whole (my little short cut to finishing the back after mum left).

And here is the front that my mum decorated especially for me.

I just adore it! And I am starting to think what words I can make and decoupage to decorate around the house already! A few more pictures of our creations...and a little question, would you be interested in a tutorial for decoupaging with napkins... I wonder?

Sneak peak into my crafting week

Hello back, to my weekly update on what I have been up to... and of course a few sneak peaks...but not too many as I have been working on some very exiting new projects but that are a tiny bit secret... like new designs and patterns that will soon appear in the shop.



There has been a little bit of knitting...



And a little bit of sewing, this is a picture of my fabric choices for one of the projects I worked in this week...

And the second project was another baby boy gift... the boy is already born but the gift was still in progress (shameful I know)...

I am very happy with this quite productive week... and of course linking up to Freshly Pieced, Work in Progress Wednesdays. Have a lovely week.

The Eli dress

This is a very quick post, as I run the risk of taking longer to write the post than to make the dress! So for you to get an idea of what happened. Tuesday morning a few weeks back, we are leaving to the UK at 2pm and it is hot, I don't like any of the dresses and skirts I have (I live in a cold place so I don't have much summer stuff) and I want a new dress...shall I go buy one? No way, lets make one!

So I started with these:

A dress my friend Eli had given me a while back and I loved apart from the top that showed more than I intended to, and a T-shirt, plain very basic I bought (like a dozen - I go through them so quickly and they are so useful). Then I marked where I wanted to skirt to sit on the tee... not to under the bust but no quite the waist either.

And I cut off the top of the dress (yes just like that cut, cut, cut) and pinned it to the t-shirt.

Sorry it is blurry, but as I said I was in a rush! And then I sewed all around the elastic band (make sure you don't cut this out... I was in no time to attaching a new elastic band all around! I used zig-zag stitch as it stretches!

Turn inside out and try it on... mine fitted just perfect. So with the straps I made two belt hooks on the sides and added a sash I already had around! And how long did I take from start to finish... not quite a 5 minute craft but very very close. Here is the snap from my phone when I took the first picture to when I sent the finished pictures of me posing funny to my sister (if you read Spanish you can have a laugh at our conversation as well).

So 33 minutes from start to finish! I am already looking in my wardrobe to see what else I can recycle and re-purpose!