The nursery

Not that you would know it from the lack of posts on this blog, but I've actually been a sewing maniac the past few months. I've even nicknamed my sewing room Amber's Sweatshop. Unfortunately, life has been hectic and I haven't carved out time to actually post about the projects here. Who knows if I'll ever really catch up, but hey, I'm going to at least try to get a few things posted.

Waaay back when we first told our parents that I was pregnant, my mom and I were chatting and she mentioned that I should sew stuff for the baby's room. I immediately shut her down, saying that just sounded like a ridiculous amount of work for something that I could easily buy, etc.

I mean, we all know how this ends, right?

I looked for weeks for a gender neutral set that I liked, but nothing. The stuff that I thought was priced right didn't appeal to me and the stuff that I thought would be cute was so stupid expensive that it just made me angry.

So yeah. After trolling a few online fabric shops and picking up a fairly classic pattern for a crib skirt, I started putting together a plan to make a lot of the stuff myself. Let's just say my mom has been quite good at not gloating too much. :P

The baby room overlooks the backyard, which features a lot of blues and greens. That plus my recent obsession with orange formed the color scheme for the room. I found a Kaufman fabric that featured the colors I liked and felt a bit retro. I matched it up with a solid orange and an embossed aqua print for the crib skirt. I was able to find solid aqua and orange coordinates from Carousel Designs so that I wouldn't have to tackle sewing drapes or crib sheets. I also knew I didn't want a traditional bumper due to SIDS concerns, however, I saw a great tutorial for adding a little umph to a breathable bumper, which helped to tie the whole set together. Lastly, my friend sewed an adorable blanket for one of my showers, which fits the room perfectly.

After getting the crib finished, my sewing projects weren't done yet. I also whipped up two minky changing pad covers, two cotton/minky boppy covers, 2 stroller blankets, a 6 pack of burp cloths and coordinating size dividers for the closet. I found some adorable prints for the wall from Children Inspire Design by way of Zulily and metallic frames in aqua, orange and lime. Jim's cousin also designed two ridiculously cute prints for the room that we were able to use as well. A slew of fabric bins from Target in aqua and lime are being used to store all of the baby stuff. Lastly, we added a whimsical animal rug that helps to pad the hardwood floor and continues the defacto animal theme we have going on in addition to the color scheme. Oh, and I have a really comfy neutral glider in the corner.

But, enough talk. Pictures, yes?

Changing Pad Covers

Boppy Covers

Stroller Blankets

Burp Cloths and Closet dividers

It was all a ton of work, but I'm so happy with the way it came out. I find myself making up excuses to hang out in there and I know that I'll enjoy hanging out in the room once our little guy arrives. I can firmly say though, that if I never have to sew another crib skirt, it will be too soon. ;) That sucker was such a pain in the arse to sew and while I love the finished product, I have no desire to ever make another. Home dec sewing is really not my thing, I'm much more of a garment sewing kind of gal.

Monkey Around: KS2257 and O+S Bedtime Story PJs

Thank you for all of the kinds words after the last post. My absence here wasn't so much due to the fall, but having a crazy week after the fall, being on vacation for almost two weeks after that and then the mad catch up that comes with such a vacation.

Even before I took a header off the retaining wall, we had planned to celebrate Father's Day with my in-laws the first weekend in June since prior plans would keep us from getting together until way after the fact. While I feel like this Father's Day doesn't *really* count for Jim, I still wanted to do something to mark the first unofficial one since he was quite generous to me on Mother's Day.

My husband looooves monkeys. It's his favorite exhibit to visit at the zoo (especially the crazy awesome enclosure they have for them in San Diego), he has t-shirts depicting their likeness and several stuffed versions in his home office. So when I saw this fabric about a year ago from Moda, I grabbed several yards - some in flannel and some in the regular quilting cotton. I figured it would come in handy eventually.

As soon as we found out I was pregnant, I knew that I wanted to finally cut into it and make a pair of pajama bottoms for Jim (in flannel) and matching pajamas for the little one (in quilting cotton). I figured the print was gender neutral and would work for either a boy or girl. To keep things simple, I re-used the Kwik Sew pajama bottom pattern that I first tried 2 Christmases ago and my TNT baby pajama pattern from Oliver and S. Nothing difficult in the construction here and they both went together over the course of several days, doing bits and pieces a little at a time. The lucky part to this was I finished them about an hour before I took that nasty fall, so I still had something to bring for Jim to dinner that next day. Whew!

We found out for sure what we were having a couple of weeks before I completed these, which made the construction even more fun. What can I say, the idea of matching daddy and son pajamas just makes my heart melt. ;) It was nice to see I wasn't the only one though, as my in-laws about melted into a puddle of goo after Jim opened them.

Jim loved them, even though the print is totally silly. This also marks the first garment that I've made for *my* baby, which is pretty much awesome after making a ton of clothes and stuff for everyone else's babies.

Happy very belated unofficial Father's Day to Jim! If his excitement and enthusiasm during the pregnancy is any indication, then I'm willing to bet he is going to be one awesome dad. :)