Making a baby girl headband

There are zillions of blog posts out on the interwebs about how to make these, so I figured one more wouldn't hurt. :)

I am in the process of making (yes making, not throwing) a baby shower for a somewhat-relative-more-like-a-friend of mine in about 2 weeks. So I am scrambling to get stuff together, being a procrastinator, a perfectionist, a mom of an infant, and a baby shower hostess virgin. I'm super excited, but anything new makes me panic because I am out of my comfort zone. (I made that revelation with my husband at target the other night and he responded "good. You need to get out of your comfort zone." eek. Am I really that bad?) but I am determined for it not to suck, so I am handcrafting a lot of the stuff :). We know it's a girl and the mommy to be LOVES girly stuff so I'm excited!

As aforementioned, I was at target, and of course I hit up the dollar spot.  What thrifty hostess/crafter wouldn't? And I hit pay dirt. I got an idea and supplies. Hooray. I picked up a cloth headband like I used to wear in the 80's to school which apparently isn't taboo anymore. And I thought, why not make a cute baby flower headband with it?! No more "is it a girl or a boy" with a hot pink flower strapped to baby's head! (at least not in Wisconsin. Too traditional haha)!

So here is the DIY: bonus!!! No sewing machine needed!!

Supplies:
Adult sized headband
Large, flat-ish silk flower like a peony or daisy
Thread
Needle
Scissors

1) Measure the head of the baby you are making the headband for.  I used my son as a stand in for the new baby, and made it just a little snug on him so it ought to fit her.  He has a small head, after all.  I didn't actually measure, but if you are looking for a specific size for a baby, there are lots of growth charts out there that give average head circumference for babies of different ages on the internet.  I have used those growth charts for other things, like sizing clothes when I didn't have the baby's measurements.  They aren't perfect, but they should get you in the ballpark.

2) Cut the headband at the seam and lay it out.  Measure the length you want, add half an inch or so for a seam, and cut off the extra on the side that has the seam so you don't have the bulky part to deal with on your finished product.

3) Overlap the ends by about 1/4" (or more if you left enough for your seam allowance) and pin them together.  You can just set one end on top of the other.  Jersey knits do not fray like other fabrics so you don't have to worry about finishing the edges. Easy, right?

4) Using a needle and thread, stitch the two ends closed to make a loop again. If you aren't great at hand sewing, don't worry.  This part will be covered up by the flower.  If you really want, you can use a machine to sew this, but since knits have a bit of stretch to them, it can distort the fabric unless you use a stretch stitch, which I found too much of a pain for 1" of sewing.

5) Trim the excess fabric around the stitching if there is any.  This is not a necessary step, but my edges were a  little jagged and I cleaned them up some.

6) Take your flower.  Remove the stem by gently pulling the flower head off.  There will probably be a plastic piece holding the flower together at the base - do NOT remove it or the flower will fall apart.  You can trim it if you need to, but not so much that it compromises the stability of the flower pieces.  Lift the top layer of petals up and gently move them to the side.  Knot your thread and poke the needle through the bottom layers of petals from top to bottom, so the knot is hidden under the top layer of petals. 

 7) Once through the flower, center the flower over the seam and poke through the headband.  Stitch 4 or 5 times, using small tucks, until the flower is secure in that spot.

8) With the needle and thread on TOP of the flower, wrap the thread closely to the center of the flower, and go back down through the flower on the opposite side, tacking it to the headband in the same way you did for the first spot.  

Wrap your thread close to the center of the flower so it doesn't show.

Center the flower on the other side as well so it doesn't get lopsided.

My flower had 5 spokes on it, so I tacked it in 3 places since directly opposite wasn't an option.  You may want to pick 3 spots or even more depending on the age of the child - a newborn will be a little kinder to it than a 3 year old!  Make it as secure as you think you will need. 

9) End your thread and you are done!  I had my son model for photos... It even makes him look pretty :-)  Try not to torture him when he is 16... 

Bottom Line:

This is a really easy and really quick project.  I think it took me about 15 minutes to slap together and cost only about $2 between the headband and the flower.  Rock on... :-)  These go online on Etsy or Amazon for $15 easy... So you can thank me later.  

Oh, and Tina, if you read this... Ignore how little I spent and how easy it was.  It was super complex and cost a small fortune, but I would do anything for you haha. :-)

Easter photos... Finally!!

So I had to wait on my father in law to get these photos so I swear it's not my fault they are a month tardy... I swear. I mean, I've only had them for a week and didn't post. He had them like three! :). So anyway, lesson learned: don't forget your own camera on major crafting holidays :)

I did actually finish most of my Easter crafting stuff. I didn't have little man with me while sewing so the tie and pants were too small (I may make the tie a clip on as it is plenty long for that and I don't relish the idea of strangling my baby anyway...), I didn't have time to make an Easter hat for him, and I selfishly made one for myself (a hat) that I didn't have the energy to decorate. But it was still fun and I think a great success. I learned a lot and drafted some new patterns I will share over time.

I did some pretty major alterations to the men's dress shirt onesie since the first thing I did was screw up, and I created 2 patterns I will share, but for now just the visuals will do.

Btw, the ONLY photo of my Easter bonnet was awful so I'll have to take one later to share...

My Easter outfit for Little Man

I like holidays.  I especially like Halloween because I get to dress up as something else.  However, normal holidays are nice because I still get to dress up!  Unfortunately for me, the world thinks that little boys should run around in onesies with a tie silkscreened onto the front of it while little girls run around in fluffy little dresses. I humbly disagree, so I went a-questing for some nice baby boy clothes.  I found precisely zip.  Sure there were a few outfits on Amazon that would have done the trick, but it looked more like resort wear for a baby on a golf vacation with his parents than a truly formal outfit for Easter.  Now I am not a fashion Nazi and I will not make my son wear a suitcoat, but I will have him wear a dress shirt with an actual pointed collar, a vest, some dressy slacks, and possibly a tie.  Shoes and an Easter hat will be gravy.  And of course, since I cannot locate them anywhere in the known world, I went a-questing on the interwebs for passable patterns.  This is what I found:

(Note: I do plan to make all these, but I want to share the wealth of knowledge BEFORE easter, and the way it is looking I will be finishing this stuff up at 5:59AM for 6 o'clock sunrise service... I will post pictures of my journey or at least the outcomes after easter in another post.

Tutorial on how to make a baby dress onesie out of an old dress shirt:



How to make a matching bow tie (I am going to try for a straight tie so as not to look like a physics professor, but this is still cute):


Make a vest and hat from an old skirt (not using this tute for the vest, but may for the hat):


More like the hat I want, but don't have time to go to the store for the pattern (from McCall's):



And to top it off, booties.  I mean, no shoes, no shirt, no 6 AM service, right? Obviously, I will leave off the frilly bits...




So there you have it.  My piecemeal Easter outfit.  God help me to finish it all in time.  I have the shirt cut out... That's a good start for being Thursday night, right?  RIGHT???  I guess I'd better stop procrastinating by blogging about what I plan to do and actually go do it...

Reusable flannel wipes

Remember how I told you to keep those flannel scraps from the swaddle blanket post? I used flannel scraps to make reusable wipes to compliment my cloth diapering. These work great with plain water or homemade wipe solution if you prefer, and clean up even really nasty messes. And they are REALLY easy, especially if you have a serger. I seem to say that every other post haha. Feel free to explore other fabrics, too. I heard that velour is awesome, although pricey. But hey, scraps are free, right?? Oh, one note. Do NOT use fleece (or most other synthetics). It doesn't absorb water into its fibers because they are synthetic and not porous, and it will just smear everything around and make a mess.

Reusable wipes
Materials:
Large pieces of flannel scraps or other material (steer clear of white)
Serger or sewing machine
Scissors
Cardboard scrap or cardstock
Pen or marker that will write on fabric

Step 1: Measure a piece of cardboard or other stiff material that is 8"x8". Round off the edges with a cup or other circle to trace. If you want, do it on paper first so you can fold it and have it be perfectly even and then cut the cardboard. But remember - they will be used to wipe poo so beauty doesn't count much :)

Step 2: Trace squares onto your fabric scraps using your pen. Try not to use one that bleeds really badly. You can use a disappearing ink one if you like, but cut quickly then. Remember you can rotate the square to be a diamond too, if that makes more fit.

Step 3: Cut out your squares.

Step 4: Finish your edges. Zig zag or serge around them, use bias tape, or you can try to narrow hem them if you like, but I think it will end up too bulky and be too time consuming to be worth it. Just remember to pre shrink bias tape so it doesn't pucker after repeat washings. (sorry, no photo.  Hubby took the ones above, but I finished the project another day and forgot... oops)

You are done! If you choose to serge the edges as I did, take the time to tuck in the threads instead of just snipping them off. Use a needle to weave the thread ends into a few stitches and then cut off the excess. It is annoying and takes some time, but I skipped that step on my second batch and they are already unraveling.

Add fabric and trim to a travel wipe case to have a nice little matched set!

The nice thing about these is that when folded in half, they fit perfectly in a Huggies travel wipe case. I heard about people making 4x8 ones to fit in without folding, but I think that is too skinny to get the job done. Others say to use 2 squares of flannel back to back.  While this is attractive, my one layer guys are doing great, and I can't see justifying twice the bulk.  One travel wipe case full of cloth wipes us more than enough for one day's worth of changes for my 3 month old. I made about 35-40 wipes or so, and I never run out before wash day (about every other day). This is a great way to recycle old receiving blankets, too. I got some free off craigs list with some other baby stuff I was buying and added to my stash! Yay earth! Double win!