Baby Shower Bonanza

It seems as though the vast majority of the time that I've spent sewing these past few months, it's been a lot of baby and kid stuff. I must say, it's been really fun to make cute clothes to give to my friends for their little girls - both the ones that are already here and the ones that are on their way.

This weekend was Girlie's baby shower and I knew I wanted to make a dress to add to her gift. I thought I would try this Butterick pattern as it looked simple to put together and would be cute on its own or over a long sleeve shirt during cooler temps.

I found a fun pastel polka dot print that was little girl-ish, but not your typical little baby print. I added large pink buttons on the front instead of the suggested bows or roses and I liked that the button shape echoed the pink polka dots. This dress required snaps down the back instead of a zipper. I was initially intimidated, but after I started putting them on, I realized it was very similar to adding eyelets to scrapbook pages with which I've had plenty of practice.

Look at this diaper cover. You put the elastic a bit above the hemline for legs and it leaves a little ruffle at the bottom. So cute! The construction of the diaper cover was different than the other ones I've put together, but it made adding the elastic to leg opening so much easier.


The homemade gifts were going to end at the dress, but a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a fabulous tutorial for a homemade boutique-style baby blanket made out of minky and pajama satin. The construction looked straight-forward, so I bought some retro dot minky that echoed the colors Girlie had planned to use in the nursery and got to work. I cannot tell you how much I love how this turned out! It's super soft and looks so much more professional than the time it takes to actually put it together. I, unfortunately, do not have a rotary cutting system, but if you have one, it would make this that much easier.

In fact, I liked the way this blanket turned out so much that I made another one to add to a gift for a former co-worker's baby girl that is due later this year.

The best part is that all of these gifts have been so well-received by the recipients. I love being able to make things like this for my friends and it really puts a smile on my face when they love the final products as much as I do. :)