modern baby

my sister is having a baby. as soon as she told me she was pregnant i started imagining all the cool things i could make for my first niece or nephew. of course, things i'd never thought about constructing before - mush less attempted! still, a blanket can't be that hard can it? and baby projects are just mini-versions of bigger undertakings, so why not give it a shot?

my first thought was a bib. easy, straightforward, not too much time or material, right? i started looking online for free bib pattern - just to get some ideas - and they are everywhere. in that magical way that the internet does, this initial search peeked my interest in all sorts of baby-related necessities that i never knew existed - but immediately understood that there was no way i was just going to make one measly bib. a family of baby-related-sewing-projects-that-i'd-never-attempted-but-was-totally-committed-to had just been born. burp cloths, changing mats, booties, receiving plankets, hooded towels, cloth blocks, pillows. 

a trip to the fabric store ensued, and i managed to pick up some great thin foam-ish material that was covered by white terrycloth, some vinyl for the back of the bib, burp cloth and changing mat, and a few yards of gender-neutral prints. when i got home, i realized i had some felt squares hiding on a forgotten shelf, and i cut them up in various geometric shapes and arranged them on the top of the terrycloth. with the machine, i stitched each one on, sewed the fronts of the vinyl and appliqued cloth together, flipped, and voila!

i also made a little double-sided blanket out of soft green polka-dot material, and sewed two brown felt elephants on either side, making them mirror images of each other on the front and back. i attached a tiny hood onto the blanket as well, and wrapped my yarn baby in it just get an idea of how it would look in action.

i'm proud of all my first modern baby pieces. they've motivated me to continue developing the not very expansive skill set i do have in order to undertake some projects i would've never dreamed possible.