The MiniBoppy (A Tutorial)

Toddlers have a way of copying everything we do, don't they? Since our new little one has arrived, my daughter has been extra careful to treat her baby dolls (and other "friends") just as I treat her brother. She even likes to "nurse" them! I often use a Boppy nursing pillow, and she likes to use it too, so I decided to make her version that was more her size.


Actually, I made several before I had the pattern quite right. Since my daughter doesn't know the difference and tends to get attached to things, we have several floating around our house.


Here's how you can make one too.

You'll need:
The template* (full size or top and bottom**)
About half a yard of fabric (each cut piece is going to be roughly 14" x 20")
Pins
Thread
Needle or sewing machine
Polyfil

*Please forgive my clumsy drawing. I'm still learning how to use Photoshop for this purpose.

**The full-sized version is too big for a standard sheet of printer paper. I have split the template into two separate files ("top" and "bottom"), which you can piece together.

First, use the template to cut out two pieces, being certain to fold your fabric and place the straight edge of the pattern along the fold as marked. You should end up with two identical, C-shaped pieces. (I made mine so the ends curve in a little. The actual Boppy pillow is a little straighter. If you prefer it that way, just redraw your pattern a little bit.)


Turn the pieces right-sides-together and pin in place.


Sew the whole way around with a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving a few inches open for turning.


Clip the curves if you wish.


Then turn right side out and stuff with Polyfil to your desired firmness.


Hand stitch the opening closed.


There you have it! It's nice for little ones to use to imitate mama, and it has other uses too. It's good for resting little heads ...


... or resting elbows whilst taking a drink.

To Do: Done

When I bought the fat quarters to make the pocket organizer in the last post, I had a hard time deciding which ones I wanted to use. My daughter's room colors are based on a mobile we hung in her room:

I knew I wanted the more saturated pinks or oranges but wasn't sure which combination I liked. I ended up just bringing home a bunch of different fabrics so I could test them out. Since I only made one organizer, I had extra fabric, which meant I could make a couple of pillowcases to go in her bed.


Ultimately, my indecision led me to create more work for myself, but I couldn't let such cute fabrics go to waste, could I?

Tutorial Tuesday: A Kiddo's Pocket Organizer

This weekend I crossed several things off of my "to do, but to procrastinate because it's not terribly exciting" list, and I even managed to snap photos for a few tutorials and/or patterns that will be popping up here bit by bit.

Here's how you can make a little pocket hanger for a toddler bed* using two fat quarters, some batting, and thread.



*Please note: You should always follow the current safety standards for items used with children. This is not intended for infants or children who are too young/small to use this safely (read: avoid entanglement, suffocation, strangulation, etc.). Use wisely and at your own risk.

You'll need:

• 2 fat quarters. I like to use contrasting or coordinating fabric.
• Thin quilt batting.
  
• Coordinating thread.
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat.
• Ruler.
• Iron.
• Sewing machine.

Step 1. Cut your first fat quarter (FABRIC A) into two rectangles measuring approximately 17.5" x 10". I was able to achieve this by simply folding the fabric in half width-wise and cutting. (Afterward I did a little measuring and trimming to make the rectangles match each other more precisely.)


From your second fat quarter (FABRIC B), cut a piece that is approximately 17.5" x 13.5".

Cut a piece of batting that is slightly smaller than the two 17.5" x 10" rectangles.

Set all of these pieces aside.


Step 2. With the remaining fabric from FABRIC B, cut eight strips that measure approximately 1.5" x 8.75". (If you want to skip this and the following few steps, you can substitute lengths of ribbon instead. Just finish off one end of each ribbon strip and you're ready to go.)


Fold each strip in half lengthwise with right sides together. If it's helpful to you, use your iron to press them in place. Sew one short end and the open long end of each strip using a 1/4" seam allowance.



Turn each strip right-side-out. (I found a knitting needle to be helpful in doing this.) Use the iron to press out any wrinkles gained from the turning. Top stitch around both long sides and the closed short side of each strip. (You can stitch the open end, but it will be hidden eventually anyway.)

(Please pardon the wobbly stitching. I was not particularly fastidious with this project.)

Step 3. Take the rectangle cut from FABRIC B and fold it in half lengthwise with wrong sides together so you have a double thickness. Use your iron to press the fold for a nice, clean edge. Top stitch along the folded edge for a finished look.

Step 4. Now's the tricky part. It's not hard, just requires that you be sure everything stays in place. You're going to layer all of your pieces into a nice sandwich for sewing.

First lay down your batting. Then lay down one of the 17.5" x 10" rectangles (FABRIC A) right-side-up. Next position your pocket fabric (FABRIC B), also right side up, lining up the ends with the ends of the other layers and the bottom with the bottoms of the other layers. All of these rough edges should be caught in the same seam once you start sewing. You should see a few inches of FABRIC A above the folded edges of FABRIC B. At this point you may want to place a few pins to keep your layers from slipping as you work with them.

(A rather lame attempt at photographing the "sandwich.)

To add the ties, use two strips for each corner. Place them side by side (if you place them directly on top of each other you're adding layers to sew through), lining the raw, open edge up with the edges of all the other layers. The strips should be lying on top of the other layers and pointed in toward the middle of the piece, not extended out from it, so that they are in the right place once you're done sewing. Also, learn from my mistake: It is best to position the ties close to the outside edges of the piece. Otherwise when you add cups and books, the piece will sag and pull in.

Baste the strips into place. (You don't have to do this, but it will keep them from shifting when you're ready to sew, and it will add a little strength, too.)


Place your last rectangle right-side-down on top of all the layers. Again, some pins might be helpful here. Now you're ready to sew.

Step 5. Sew around all four sides with a 3/8" seam allowance. Remember you're sewing through a lot of layers, so use the right needle and go slowly where needed. Leave an opening of at least 3" or 4" for turning. (I recommend the opening be somewhere at the top of the piece where there are fewer layers to deal with when you close it up.)

Step 6. Turn the piece right-side-out and use a knitting needle or something similar to push out the corners. Close up the opening with some hand stitching.




Step 7. Top stitch around the entire piece.


Then top stitch a divider in the pocket, if desired. Simply position your needle where you want the divider to be (I measured mine in 6.5" from one side) and sew from the top to the bottom of the pocket, through all the layers.


Tada! There you have it! Tie the pocket onto a bed rail or some decorative hooks or knobs (you could omit the bottom ties in this case) and load it up with books, toys, and a sippie cup. Your little one will have easy access to the "necessities" for naps or early mornings when you pray he stays in his room just a little longer so you can snooze!

Tutorial Tuesday! A Hooded Towel for Sally

We like to play with baby dolls around here, and we love "props." Here's how you can use a spare hand towel or cleaning rag* and a baby washcloth* to make a doll's hooded towel. Yay for repurposing! This is a quick and dirty version, because I have limited time and I know my daughter won't care how fancy it is. There are plenty of ways you could put a little extra into this project, and I'll try to mention a few of those ways as we go.

*You can really use any fabrics you have on hand if you don't have towels or wash cloths to spare.


Supplies

• A hand towel or cleaning towel. If it's already square, that's nice because you won't need to do any hemming. I used a "multi-surface" towel that came with a package of cleaning supplies. You'll want to measure and cut this to fit your doll and hem if needed. Mine happened to be just the right size from the get-go.
• Baby washcloth. It's nice to use a contrasting color or print. I used a cheapo baby washcloth that came with a bath set someone had given us. If you need to trim this piece to size, you can leave the edges raw.
• Scissors.
• Thread.
• A water soluble marking pen, or something of that nature. (Or you could skip this one and just wing it.)
• Cutting mat and ruler, optional.
• Sewing machine or needle.

Instructions


1. Lay your hood fabric on top of the towel fabric, lining up one corner so you can see how far down you want the hood fabric to come.

2 & 3. Use the diagonal lines on your cutting mat and your ruler to mark a diagonal line across the hood fabric, making a triangle. Or, eyeball it. Mark with the water soluble pen. Be sure to allow for the hem you will add to the bottom side of the triangle.

4. Cut along the line.


5. Hem the long side of the triangle, the side that will go across the baby's forehead. (Why are my pins facing the wrong way? I don't know.) Because I was using a fabric that will fray, I used a zigzag stitch. I chose to fold under the hem and stitch, but you could zigzag or serge over the raw edge or straight stitch over a folded hem, depending on your fabric and preferences. You could also use some bias tape along this edge.


6. Lay the hood fabric and towel fabric right sides together with the corner lined up. Pin the layers together, if desired.

7. Sew the two layers together with 1/4" seam allowance (or whatever you prefer). I chose to round the corner on mine.

8. Because you're stitching these with wrong sides together, you are actually folding in the sides of your towel fabric, which you'll see when you turn the piece right-side-out. That means the sides of the towel are going to roll in a little below the hood piece. (You can see it a bit in photo 9.) If this bothers you, you can angle your seam out at the very end of both sides. Once you're turned right-side-out, you can then hand stitch a few stitches to sort of flatten this out. Or, see other options below.

9. Trim seam allowances as needed. You may want to clip your corner; I chose not to because of the fraying nature of the fabric. Turn right-side-out.

If you don't like the look of the raw edges inside the hood or of the curled sides of the towel, you could do either of these instead:

a. After turning right-side-out, top stitch around the entire piece, making your allowance wide enough to enclose the raw edges inside.

b. Lay the towel fabric down right-side-up and the hood fabric on top of that, also right-side-up. Attach bias tape around the entire piece, enclosing both layers. Now they're stitched together, the towel stays flat, you have no raw edges inside, and you have a nice, finished look.


10. Wrap up baby! (This is Sally. I know she isn't authentically bathing, as she is still fully clothed, but we prefer to keep our babies dressed in photos, ha ha!)

I hope this all made sense. (Please let me know if I've confused the bejeepers out of you.) There are a lot of ways this project could be improved on if you wanted to make it a little more "professional" and better constructed. I hope showing you the quickie version will at least get you started (or be just the ticket for those of you who are like me and don't want to expend too much energy, ha!).

Now you can get started playing. Bath time!

Sashay on Down!

Or sachet. As it were.

Here is my basket of lovelies.


This was the last of the small projects I had on my list. I have seen several tutorials for these online (this and this, for example) and decided they would be another easy but impressive gift. They are filled with flax seed and lavender and can be chilled in the fridge or warmed in the microwave or used to make things like dresser drawers and clothes smell pretty. They have a nice hefty but floppy feel to them, and the scent is so soothing. (Although my hubby disagrees.)

They're also very cost effective: I used fabrics I had on hand. The flax seed was found at my local organics store, and even though that felt pricey to me, it still came out to about an average of $1.50 per sachet. (This, of course, depends on how big you make the sachets and how full you make them.) And my aunt gave me the dried lavender, so that cost me nothing, although even if I'd paid for it, the total cost per sachet would still have been under $3 each. Can't beat that!


I made two sets, each set including a 4" x 11" sachet that can be draped over your eyes or neck (inspired by this tutorial), a 4.5" square, and a 5.5" square. And then I made one more as a thank you gift to my aunt for giving me the lavender ... and one for myself, because I wanted to keep them all and scatter them all over my house. I decided that keeping one to set on my desk and sniff at random would have to suffice.


It feels so satisfying to cross the last thing off of a list, doesn't it? (She says, not mentioning the large embroidery project still looming over her shoulder.)

Reuseable Coffee Cuffs

At last, I have something to show for myself! I found the idea for these reuseable coffee cuffs on Craftster and decided to make some for Christmas gifts. I made up the pattern myself using a cardboard cuff from Starbucks, and I drew the designs myself as well. (This resulted in variations in sizing from cuff to cuff.) I should note that the guitar design started as free clip art that I modified to suit my plans, and the font is Pupcat, which is widely available for free download online.

These two are hand embroidered on muslin with a batik backing and a layer of batting in between. They're for someone who has gone green, and I thought these would fit the bill. (For more detailed photos--complete with coffee cup--check out my Flickr page.)


And these two are for someone who likes quilts. I used reverse applique (on batiks, with a layer of batting) for the first time here, so I kept the designs simple. I still have some learning to do with this technique, but it's good enough for a first try, I think. (Again, there are additional photos on my Flickr page.)


All of them have elastic loops on the back to allow for different sizes of cups. I wanted to use fancier elastic cording that matched better, but it was too thick to work with my design. Ah, well, I learned as I went, and this can be a revision for next time. So ... Whatcha think?