baby kimono

It's official. Sewing bug acquired. I made this Baby Kimono yesterday using a vintage pillowcase I had in my stash.

The pattern is from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross.

It's a lovely book and I've made a few things from it, but wow, there are some errors. It took a while to figure out the binding and I do believe you need quite a bit more than 1/2 a yard, but I 'made it work' by finishing the ends and using snaps instead of ties. I will definitely make another one of these because it takes very little fabric and was super quick, despite the incomplete instructions. I hear tops like this will be easy to get on and off of baby, too. Yay!

Next up, more zipper bags and maybe a cute dog bed for Mattie. Better spoil her now before she gets neglected in a few months...

and a little something for mom...

I think I caught the sewing bug, for the moment. It seems to sneak in when I'm not-so-into knitting.

This morning I made this cute zipper pouch for myself out of yesterday's leftovers. This tutorial was GREAT and so easy to follow. Finally, a well-sewn-in zipper! There are no gaps on the ends and it even has a lovely lining! Super easy and I made it out of the 8" squares cut from the corners of the changing pad cover.

Success! I have one more zipper, so I'm off to make another...

A few finished projects for the nursery (with tutorial links!)

Hello! It's a sunny day in Portland (I know, in March!) I started the morning with my prenatal yoga class, which is pretty much life-saving at this point, and ended the afternoon with 2 sewing projects for the nursery.

First, I made a changing pad cover, following this tutorial. It was super quick and worked pretty well. The corners aren't perfectly matched to my changing pad, but I am in love with the fabric and it really helps complete the room. I was so tired of looking at a naked changing pad!

Next up, I made a Boppy cover, following the instructions here. To me, this looked easiest for inserting the zipper, though I did end up with very small gaps on the ends of the zipper...oh well, not really noticeable. I used the sweet fawn fabric on the front and a coordinating mustard yellow print on the back.

All of the fabrics are from Hawthorne Threads website. They are SO lovely! I had trouble finding any covers I liked in the stores and though I love supporting Etsy artists, it sure added up ordering custom covers, so I'm happy I took the time to make my own. I know I will need a LOT more changing pad covers, but at least the room looks cute for now :)

a quick update

Whew! Sorry I have not been around lately to update my blog...I've traveled for baby showers and am now back and ready for this thing to happen! I'm 31 weeks as of today. My how time is now flying! For a while it felt like I might be pregnant forever :)

First of all, here is what I did this morning...the nursery is coming right along. A little preview of what Baby Bird will gaze upon...

And secondly, READ THIS BOOK, The Big Book of Birth by Erica Lyon. If you are pregnant, this is a must-read, in my opinion. A friend let me borrow this during my trip and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. I hesitated early on in pregnancy to learn 'too much' and freak myself out. Now that I'm solidly in the 3rd trimester, I feel like I can't get enough information!

This book is very straight-forward at walking you through early labor, active labor, birth and after. It gives a variety of women's accounts of their own births in short synopses. It somewhat promotes natural birth, but is also great at explaining many situations where medical intervention, epidurals, Pitocin, etc. are very helpful and necessary. I found it to have a fairly unbiased tone on each of these topics. Even if you're set on getting pain medication, I would read this for the great information and helpful stories. I can't go on enough about how much this book has subsided many of my fears and unknowns. Read it when you are ready to learn lots about birth, but definitely read it at some point.

Have any of you mothers or moms-to-be out there read really helpful books? There are so many that it is overwhelming. Early on I read "Bringing Up Bebe" and really enjoyed that as well...an American mom having and raising her kids in France talks about her experiences and observations on French parenting. It's a very enjoyable read and is pretty focused on raising independent children.

Please share things you have read that you love and have a happy rest of your Sunday ♥