For Her

One of my favorite reasons to sew and knit something is the arrival of a new baby. The fact that she will be my niece makes it even sweeter. I had Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing sitting on my shelf for awhile now and have sewn several things from it but this is my first attempt at making the kimono shirt. After ripping out several seams due to my own tendency to rush through a pattern without really reading it, I think the result was super sweet. I bought the bias tape premade at my favorite fabric shop, Sew to Speak, along with the sweetest, softest purple flannel. The premade bias tape really made the project come together pretty quickly. I had to make pants to go with it and grabbed my go-to pants pattern for babies and kids, britches and bloomers by Jackie Clark. I LOVE this pattern and have made it countless times. It is quick and easy and fits newborns thru 4T.

When making a baby gift I always throw in some bibs and a knitted hat. The hat pattern has been my favorite when making baby hats lately, it's a free pattern I got from Ravelry called the Aviatrix. This is such an awesome hat to knit. It is quick and fun and easy to each one unique with a fun button or adding a flower which I did with this one. In a house with all boys I have to use a cheetah to model my hats. No baby dolls around here.

After trying for several weeks to teach myself how to crochet a flower I gave up and asked my talented friend very sweetly to felt one for the hat. I think the result is so sweet and it was fun to collaborate in this way. Thanks Megan! Check out her Etsy shop here.
Lastly, I think any handmade gift deserves a handmade bag and so as I have in the past I reached for the drawstring bag pattern in Weekend Sewing and made a bag which my sister-in-law will be able to use in her diaper bag after my niece is born. One other project I've recently made from this book are the Guest-Room Slippers. I started them a few years ago and thought they might be too small for me so the project stalled. I just recently hand sewed the felted bottom on them and while they are snug I do use them. One of the pulled on one side and would slip off my foot as I walked so I had to add some elastic to the inside which works to keep them on. I made a second pair which I have yet to finish, getting stalled once again on the hand sewing of the sole. While the end result is sweet I don't think this is a project I will do again. It was difficult to get the sizing just right and the handsewing of the sole is tedious.

Comments

[Brian]

We can't wait to try these out! Thanks again Erin!

Brian

[Elnora]

What a fantastic set of gifts you've made for your sister-in-law and her baby! Thank you for including the sources of your patterns and where you got the bias tape. I'm going to start working on some of these projects, as my first grand-nephew is on the way! Thanks for the inspiration!