The last of my 2013 baby makes


You've already seen the above collage in my 2013 round-up post, but not all of the featured projects had been blogged about then. Even though we're all pretty much done with reflecting on the past, I do think the unblogged beauties deserve their 15 minutes of fame!

With so many friends having babies last year and expecting babies this year, I'm always on the look-out for cute baby patterns. And I struck gold when I came across a sleeping sack pattern in Anna Maria Horner's book called Handmade Beginnings - which I've already reviewed here if you're interested. Not only is the sleeping sack super cute and suitable for both sexes, it's also quite an impressive gift and actually really useful!


I've made two of these to date (with many more in my stitching future for sure) and have lined both with some wadding - even though the pattern doesn't call for it - for a warmer, snugglier outcome. My fabric and other materials (wadding, flannel and velcro) predominantly came from Minerva Crafts, apart from the little chick fabric from Fabric Rehab and the bias binding fabric from my stash. Yes, I made my own bias binding...both times!

Although this pattern is only sized for 0-3 months, it really would be simple to adapt for an older baby by just adding the necessary length and width. I love the pattern's peg-bag shape and the fact that it fastens with velcro...no buttons for babies to potentially choke on! All in all, I had loads of fun picking out fabrics and sewing these up. Better still, I was proud and excited to hand them over to my friends, who seemed delighted to receive them!


I was also asked to make this cute dress for a close friend's little girl as a special Christmas Day dress. My friend picked this pattern from Tie Dye Diva and chose both lengths of fabric from Fabric Rehab. The idea was to have a Christmassy dress that could then be reversed and worn the rest of the year...mission accomplished, don't you think?


One thing that really upset me during the making of this dress was an annoying mistake on my part. As usual I was cutting it out on an evening and feeling a little tired, so I stupidly cut the back on the fold instead of the front! I was gutted because it meant I'd have to piece the front and my poor friend had spent a fair bit of cash on the fabrics and was really excited about this dress. I worked really hard to line up the patterns as perfectly as I could and although I did do a good job, I'm still a little disappointed that this happened in the first place. My friend was nothing but grateful for and complimentary about the dress though, so that was a huge relief!

Anyway, that's it for 2013 makes from me now. I have two 2014 makes to show you next, as well as loads more in the pipeline.

Farewell 2013!!!

P.S. Apologies for the quality of these pictures, they were all taken on my smartphone at home, in the garden, at work...whenever I could fit them in during gloomy days.

20 comments:

  1. What adorable gifts. The sleep sacks are awesome and I love the binding. I've sewn a few baby gifts myself and my favourite bit is choosing the fabric.

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    1. Thank you! Choosing the fabric is such fun!

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  2. These are so cute! I love the idea of making a sleep sack-- I need to try that book out! So sweet!

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  3. All lovely. I would have loved to get anything this special when I had my babe. When I saw the front of the dress, I thought, oh look how cleverly she matched the pattern down the front. Didn't even occur to me that it wasn't supposed to be that way!

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    1. Aaaw, thanks Jill! You've made me feel infinitely better!

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  4. Aahh, baby things are so cute and tiny! My friend is due with a little girl next month and I'm looking for something to make her, so thank you for sharing. :)

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  5. These are so adorable! Love the cute fabrics you picked! Altough I don't have kids, I love sewing baby things for friends whenever I have the opportunity. They're often a quick sew and don't require a lot of fabric.

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  6. Love these! I should think those sleeping sacks would be really useful, I'm going to look out for this book as more and more of my friends seem to be having babies and I'm terrible at making presents for them.

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  7. Love the sleep sacks, I have a pattern for them too but got stumped on what type of wadding to use. Was it a particular kind you used?

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    1. Nope! For one I used the 2oz weight from Minerva Crafts and for the other the 4oz weight - both here http://www.minervacrafts.com/es015-fire-retardant-wadding-for-craftshome-use-choice-of-weights-and-widths.html. I did find the 2oz much easier to sew as it all got quite bulky for the second one.

      Hope this helps!?!

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  8. Your friends are so lucky to have such a thoughtful friend like you. All your baby makes were squishy cute.

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  9. Those sleep sacks are awesome! They really are a fantastic present. In Australia they are quite expensive to buy so I'm sure any mother would love to get one as a gift.

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  10. Such cuteness. And what wonderful gifts x

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