chevron baby blanket

Warning: This may get kind of long.  I am going to share some of the inspiration I have found from around the web for making things for my kids’ new rooms and also just to use for the kiddos.

Last night I finally started a blanket for the baby that I have been wanting to do for a while.  I have had trouble find a unisex fabric I like.  I picked some out that colorwise is gender neutral but it does have flowers so it makes it a bit girly.  Even my 4 year old son said so.  But I figured I can always make a boyish one too and then either have one of the big kids use the quilt that the baby doesn’t need as a throw or give it to someone else who has a baby.  I bought a kind of universal walking foot at Joann’s hoping it would fit my machine but it wasn’t quite compatible.  It turns out though that since this quilt isn’t too thick that so far it has been just fine without it.  I’ll show you two blogs that gave me the idea and then a couple peaks at my work in progress.  I will hopefully finish doing the quilting part tonight and then trim it up and get the binding on it in the next day or two.  I made mine crib quilt size (45″x60″) so it is pretty large.  I made the quilting pattern chevron shaped so that has been the only pain with having to deal with the large blanket…there is a lot of stoping and starting and readjusting as you go.

I first saw this blanket from Katie Did.

Then I saw this one on Mer Mag. And then she made another one that I like even more.

Here is a couple peaks at the fabric I’m using.  You can see the batting sticking out and the threads since I am midprocess.

The other thing that I started making last night (and could have finished if I had all the materials) was this poopy clutch from I Still Love You.  There is a free pattern for it on the site.  I thought it was pretty cute and while I was at Joann’s I bought some vinyl from the remnant bin to make one.  The vinyl I got is kind of a camel beige color…so not the most exciting thing ever but when I looked at the giant rolls of vinyl that they had, I didn’t really love any of the other colors anyway.  I figured I could paint a design on it to give it a bit more pizazz.  I like the feather on this bag on etsy and will probably do something similar.  Making the vinyl part of the pouch is super easy I just need to get the button snap to finish it.  I got something at Hobby Lobby but it wasn’t the right thing so I’ll probably have to get one from online.

Awhile back I came across this tutorial to make a stuffed animal into a lamp on matsutake.  I thought it was so cute.  Then just a couple weeks ago I found that the same woman was giving the pattern for that fox away for free now instead of selling it.  I can’t wait to make it.  I just need to decide what fabrics to use.  I also need to check to see if any local stores carry the stiffy stuff that makes the animal hard.  If not, guess I’ll be buying from the internet again.  The blog that this fox pattern and tutorial for the lamp is on is a different format than any I’ve seen before and it is a bit annoying to navigate and my pins on pinterest just go to the main page.  So, just click on the tutorial section at the top of the main page and find the info from there.

I don’t know if I’ll actually make this rug seen on the etsy blog or not, but I just love it.  There probably won’t be room in the big kids’ room anyway but maybe it’d be cute in the baby room.

I’ve seen a couple of ideas for very easy mobiles that I thought were fun and cute.  I bought a mobile from pottery barn kids in the clearance section for Josiah’s crib.  I then took the animals off and sewed my own birds to hang from it for Audrey’s crib.  I could do something similar but these are just so colorful and simple I may try for something different.  Or one of them could be fun to have over the changing table.

This is a simple one made from ribbons from Project Wedding.

This one is made from crepe paper over at Armelle.

I’ve not been inspired by any of the bedding out there for the big kids.  I have looked at duvet covers, comforters, sheets so I can make my own duvet, and pretty much any other kind of bed covering out there.  Oh yeah, and just regular fabric as well to make a duvet cover.  I want some that looks kind of light and happy but has bright colors too.  Something that either works for both of them or two that coordinate enough so that they look ok being by each other.  I don’t want to spend a lot of money.  That’s usually my biggest issue.  I’ve been looking at fabric like I said but I will need 7.5 yards of fabric to make a twin duvet and that adds up quick!  Especially making two!  I did find some fabric by Michael Miller that doesn’t come out until August that would work great.  Again, the issue is price.  I’ve never bought designer fabric because it is 1. usually not at any store I am at and 2. it costs more than I usually want to pay.  Maybe I could buy enough fabric to just make the top pretty and then put something cheaper on the bottom that coordiates.  Another idea I was actually settling on before I found that fabric yesterday is buying an already made white duvet cover and then making my own designs with fabric dye markers.  I’ve been playing around with some color and design ideas using colored pencils.  Here is one that a mom from A Thousand Words  via Young House Love made from her son’s drawings.  I think it turned out pretty awesome.

Ok, that should be enough inspiration for one day!  Next time I can share some of the artwork on etsy that I’ve had my eye on.  Oh yeah, and a clock I bought too.