Posts Tagged ‘baby gifts’

Crafting with the Next Generation

After Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws, we all settled into the living room for some Wii karaoke and Wii dance party, and I, in my 8-months-pregnant state, settled into an armchair to work on an embroidery project I was trying to finish before the little guy arrived. It wasn’t long after I sat down that my young niece snuggled in next to me and asked, “Aunt Megan, can I do what you’re doing?” Though I wasn’t quite ready to pass my project into the hands of a 5-year-old, I did have a spare needle, plenty of floss, and was more than happy to share my hoop. (I was also rather giddy that she had taken such an interest in what I was doing!) I suggested that we ask her grandfather whether he had a fabric scrap she could work on (he used to work in the interior decorating business and always seemed to have plenty of spare yardage), and sure enough he came back from the garage having clipped a corner of textured, shiny, sea foam green upholstery fabric for her to work on.

I helped her sandwich it in between the rings of the hoop, let her choose a color, and threaded the spare needle. And she started stitching…and stitching…and stitching! Long stitches and short stitches, cross stitches and straight stitches — only pausing for me to tie off an end and change the thread color under her creative direction. I asked her what she was making. “Oh! This is a mini-blanket for the baby. For him to snuggle with….” she replied. We talked about me helping her make a back to the mini-blanket and finishing the edges when she was ready.

Below, the young seamstress at work — she never once made the freshman mistake of stitching around the hoop, rather than just up and down through the fabric. (I was impressed. I don’t think I can say the same for my first embroidery experience!) The next morning, she declared herself finished with that piece of fabric, handed it off for me to take home to Brooklyn to finish, and started work on a black and white gingham pattern which allowed her to practice making short, even stitches by following the pattern on the fabric.

Fast forward to the day after Christmas — the little guy had arrived, and my niece was in New York to meet her new baby cousin. She asked if we could sew again. I reminded her that we needed to choose a back panel for the mini-blanket! So we sat down with my fabric stash in the Generation T workroom and flipped through scraps until she spotted the black and white flame fabric  — I had purchased it several years ago in Portland, Oregon (to make a quilted throw pillow for Mr. T — back before he was Mr. T) while I was on book tour for Generation T. I also used it as the backing fabric for the electric bass, so there’s definitely a theme! We cut a swatch, threaded a needle, and she began tracing the flames with embroidery floss.

When she left, I embroidered her initials on her work, pinned the pieces together and used some scrap muslin to edge the mini-blanket. I also added the loop, which yes I recognize makes it look a little like a potholder, but also allows me to tether it to the stroller!

And no complaints from this little guy about his new handmade mini-blankie! He loves to snuggle with it and grip the edges tightly.

I can’t wait until the next project my niece and I make together! And here’s to the next generation of DIYers — I can’t wait till this little guy is gripping some scissors in his little hands, too!

[ 8 Comments | Posted on January 30th, 2012 ]

I Love to Create: T-shirt Baby Book!

I like projects that help me use up the scraps that threaten to overwhelm my craft space. I also like projects that can be gifted. So this one’s a win-win: The T-shirt Baby Book is perfect for using the T-shirt sleeves that have been cut from another project (like a tank top) and it makes a great personalized baby gift. Once I picked the recipient (my friend’s new baby, Elliot), I had a lot of fun figuring out what words each letter of his name would represent (in other words, what could I illustrate easily?). I settled on: E = earth, L = light, L = love, I = ice cream, O = orange, and T = tree. Sorry, no pictures of baby Elliot and his new book just yet, so the book is presented by these two cute corduroy pals.

Materials:

-T-shirts or T-shirt scraps (in multiple colors)

-Scissors

-Ruler

-Craft knife

-Cutting mat

-Lightweight cardboard (cereal, snack, or tissue boxes work great!)

Aleene’s Fabric Fusion Permanent Dry Cleanable Fabric Adhesive

Tulip Disappearing Ink Pen

Fabric paintbrushes

Tulip 3D Fashion Paint Blazin’ Brights (variety of colors)

-Clothespins (optional, for clipping in place while gluing/drying)

Make it:

1. Measure and cut one more 4″ x 4″ square of cardboard than there are letters in the baby’s name. (Example: Elliot has 6 letters, so I cut 7 squares.) Then cut as many 5″ x 10″ rectangles from the T-shirts as there are cardboard squares.

2. Squeeze a small ribbon of glue along one long side of one of the fabric rectangles. Then fold over the edge about 3/8″ and press. Repeat on the other long side.

3. Find the center of the rectangle and line up one edge of one of the cardboard squares. Squeeze a small ribbon of glue along the fabric at the top and bottom edge of the cardboard.

4. Fold the fabric in half, sandwiching the cardboard in between the layers. Press the glue into the edges to seal it. Squeeze another ribbon of glue against the cardboard and between the fabric layers on the open side. Press it closed.

5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 until all of the cardboard squares are covered. These are the pages of the book.

6. Use the air-soluble ink pen to begin outlining the letters and images on the book pages.

7. Color in the lines with fabric paint!

8. Paint all the right-folio pages first (including the front cover), let them dry, then paint all the left-folio pages, making sure you match up all the letters and images.

9. Trim the raw edges (the side of the pages that will go into the binding) down to 1/2″. Then squeeze a line of glue along one of the edges you just trimmed and press it against the adjacent page. Keep gluing and adding pages (in the correct order!) until the book is complete.

10. Let dry completely. Optional: Clip the binding closed with clothespins while it dries.

11. Then it’s story time! E is for earth. L is for light. L is also for love. I is for yummy ice cream. O is also for a delicious orange. T is for Tree (and Totally Terrific and….T-shirt book!).


[ 7 Comments | Posted on January 25th, 2011 ]

How to: Softie Robots

I came to make these little soft-bots quite by accident. I was testing some patterns for a project at my day job, and suddenly found myself in the company of five robot outlines that had been ironed onto several fat quarters of fabric I had picked up from a local quilt shop. What was I going to do–not stitch them? Never. So I set to embroidering each robot in my spare time (on the subway to and from work, at jury duty despite having my scissors confiscated, during my lunch break in the park). And then they sat. (One reason why the step-by-step photos are less than stellar is that the process for making them was so very stretched out!) It wasn’t until a not-so-recent craft night that I took the next step: cutting them out and pairing each bot with its backing. Now that I’ve finally completed the mini-army of ‘bots, it’s time that they found homes…. Thankfully, in the amount of time that it took me to complete them, several of my friends have had babies. And every new baby deserves a new ‘bot!

Materials:

-Scrap fabric for embroidering (light colors work best with iron-ons)

-Scrap fabric for backing (use patterns!)

Aunt Martha’s Heat Transfer Pattern “SR1 Robots Invade”

-Scissors

-Embroidery needle and thread

-Embroidery hoop

-Chalk marker or air-soluble marking pen

-Straight pins

-Sewing needle and thread (or sewing machine)

-Fiberfill

-Cotton twill tape (optional)

Make it:

1. Select your light scrap fabric. Cut out the pattern and transfer it to the fabric with a warm iron.

2. Select the embroidery floss colors. (I used 3 to 4 colors for each robot.) Separate 4 strands from the selected floss and thread the embroidery needle. Secure the fabric template into the embroidery hoop and start stitching!

3. Mark and cut about 1″ to 1 1/2″ around the stitched robots. Select appropriate backing material and place the cut piece against the backing. Cut around the piece to create a matched backing piece. Pin around the edges.

4. Sew around the pinned edges about 1/4″ from the edge, leaving a 1″ to 1 1/2″ opening at one end. Turn the fabric right side out and stuff it with fiberfill.

5. Stitch closed the opening and you’re done! Optional: If you’re feeling adventurous, stitch a personalized tag with 2 strands of embroidery floss on cotton twill tape.

And voila: Here they are, five robots in a basket. In a creative stroke of inspiration, I named each ‘bot for its destined owner: Clockwise from lower left, that’s Levi-bot, Elliot-bot, Luke-bot, William-bot,  and Lillian-bot. Hope to update soon with photos of the ‘bots in their new homes!

For other great fresh, alternative embroidery patterns, check out Jenny Hart’s Sublime Stitching designs.

[ 7 Comments | Posted on January 4th, 2011 ]