I'm Janimal, happily gainfully employed Momma to a sweet girl. Livin' it up in Atlanta with a great husband and a good job. Sometimes I make stuff and here's my spot to show it off! Life is good, so I'm sharing....

Friday, March 25, 2011

Delilah's Pink & Green Comfiness!

Heya!

Check out what the most awesome toddler I have ever met is wearing in this pic:





Girl needed some green for St Patrick's Day!

In real life, this looks like SUCH a comfy outfit. It's a nice soft linen/rayon blend, Brussels by Robert Kaufman. I really love this fabric - soft, nice drape, washes well. The top is the Blossom Blouse pattern from the book Sew Liberated, and the pants are from the simple pants pattern from the book Little Girls, Big Style.


This was my 2nd go at the shirt. I added a little detail of a a pink embroidered teapot to the shirt, although it's kind of hard to see in these pictures. I used the same hot pink thread for topstitching for a little more detail. I'm rather pleased at how this outfit turned out. Comfy for Delilah to play in, and nice and cool for the warming weather.

Comfy is the right word.....


I think I'd like this in my size!

Delilah wasn't really in the mood for getting her picture taken. Check out this punim!


The pants pattern is nice and simple and I will be sewing up a bunch of pairs of simple pull on pants like these for D for the Summer. In the right fabric, they can be nice and light and cool, but protect her soft skin from the sun and bugs. The easy elastic waist is a good idea for a little one interesting in dressing herself, and easy for her to maneuver when she makes us proud on the potty!

((Did I ever imagine myself being proud over another human's potty habits?!? Oh how motherhood changes a person!))


Oliver and S is showing off their new Spring patterns on their blog. I was lucky enough to test one of the patterns for them a short time ago and am excited to show you the Seashore Sundress I was lucky to make for them. It's a lovely pattern for Spring and Summer. I'll show pictures very soon!


Take care all,


Janimal

Friday, March 18, 2011

Momma's Got A New Bag!

Momma's got a new bag!

Here is my lovely new Birdie Sling (
pattern by Amy Butler).





Recognize the fabric? That's the Ruby Star Rising fabric I used to make Delilah a dress back in THIS post. Ruby Star Rising was designed by a lovely local Atlanta artist, Melody Miller, and was released by Kokka. Isn't it just the coolest?





As for the pattern, it sewed up pretty easily. The body of the bag is lined with fusible fleece which gives it some body, and there are nice roomy pockets inside. This bag is HUGE! I took it out with Delilah and couldn't believe how much stuff I managed to fit in there.

I will definitely be making more Birdie Slings. The pattern was easy to follow and I think would be suitable for a beginner.


Sorry I haven't blogging lately. Just busy with life. I appreciate everyone who stops by when I do write a post.


Thanks for stopping by!


Janimal

Friday, March 4, 2011

Taggy Blanket Tutorial

Hello friends!

Today I would like to share with you my tutorial for a quadruple stitched taggy blanket! This is my "go-to" fun gift for a baby shower and on a recent Sunday I made four of these suckers.

Why quadruple stitched?

Well, these taggy blankets are made for babies to play with and munch on. There are lots of tutorials for them around blogland. However, as a Mom of a little one who has loves her own little taggy, I realize how important it is that those ribbon taggys stay absolutely secure onto the blanket. I've seen some tutorials where they are just stitched down in one pass - and that scares me a bit. Let's not underestimate our babies strength! It doesn't take much more work to make sure these ribbons are super-duper secure --- so check it out, the safe taggy that is quadruple stitched!




I love having an embroidery machine so I can personalize these.

OK, first things first. You need two squares of fabric in the size you want. I use 15' x 15' squares. I like to use a soft fleece for one side, then a fun cotton print for the other. If you would prefer to use two cotton prints, then I would add a layer of fleece or batting to the middle to give the taggy blanket some weight.




The first thing I do is embroider the fleece. You could hand embroider, or use other embellishment, just make sure whatever you do is secure and safe for a little one.






Next I cut ribbons to make the taggies. The ribbons are varying textures, colors, widths. I cut them around 7', but try to vary that a bit also.






Fold the ribbons in half, and pin to the right side up fleece fabric. the raw ends of the ribbon should point out and beyond the end of the fleece by about a half inch.



Keep arranging various ribbons all around the fleece. I usually end up with about 4 ribbons pinned per side. But if I have thinner ribbons, maybe up to 5.


Once all the ribbons are in place, it's time for stitch line number 1. I stitch down each ribbon with a quick run through the sewing machine, and remove all those pins. No need to backstitch to secure these stitches, as they will be secure and hidden in the seam later. I sew these at about a quarter inch from the side of the fleece.


Sew ALL the ribbons on.



Now that the ribbons are in place, it's time to place the printed cotton fabric, face down, onto the square. The ribbons should be sandwiched between the two pieces of fabric. The cotton fabric should be the same measurement of the fleece. (15'x15') Pin in place. The ends of the ribbon should be poking out the sides.


Now sew around the fabric sandwich, with about a half inch seam, leaving a space to turn the square. (I use different colored pins at the turn space so I know when to stop sewing.)



We're in the home stretch now! Two stitches down, two to go!


In order to turn the blanket and have nice corners, cut them off at an angle at each corner, being careful not to cut into the stitches.


Then turn the blanket right side out through the space you left at the side seam.


Now it needs a nice pressing. I pull a bit on the ribbons to stretch the sides and give me a nice flat straight seam to press.




Once the blanket is turned and pressed, topstitch around the outside edge about a quarter inch from the side. This stitch should close the turning gap and is one more stitch that secures the ribbons. That's the triple stitch.

You could end there, with a triple stitched taggy, but I like to add one more row of topstitching, about a half inch from the edge, and you are still catching the tail of the ribbons to give them a fourth stitch down and make your taggy blanket extra safe for the lucky little recipient.



I made four BOY ones last weekend! I hope they all like chewing on them. I at least can rest easy knowing they won't be able to yank out those ribbons!



So there ya go! Happy stitching!

Take care,


Janimal




Making


Texas Monkey



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