Something For Baby

About a week ago, one of the ladies that Callie works with called to invite me to a surprise baby shower that they were planning for her in their office. She was a new grandmother, as well, and knew how much it meant to be included in any of the events surrounding the new baby.

Several months back, I pinned a pattern and tutorial for recycling t-shirts into a baby gown and thought this would be a great chance to try it out. Callie was able to get Jordan to surrender a few old shirts, but only knew that I had an idea of making bibs out of them.

I found this great pattern and tutorial for the baby gown online at This Mama Makes Stuff. As you can see, I just set my iPad on the ironing board to walk me through the first one. (note: I opted to make short sleeves since this is going to be a summer baby)

This particular shirt, had a small logo on the back that I wanted to include, but it didn't fall in the right spot for the pattern, so I just cut it out and stitched it to the back of the gown (before sewing up the side seams).

For the first gown, I accidentally lined up the overlap at the shoulders wrong, but didn't really realize it until the gown was finished. But, it was way too wide, so I used my seam ripper to rip out and redo those seams.

Much better.

For the second gown, I used a t-shirt from Callie and Jordan's 5th grade play (they were in the same class together that year).

I loved this shirt and felt that I did a much better job assembling this gown.

I made this one a bit longer, so perhaps baby Luke will be able to wear it a little longer.

And the last t-shirt project, was a to whip up a couple of bibs. For the first one, I made up my own pattern---making it velcro together on one side rather than in the back. I used some soft white minky for the reverse side and it was a very quick and easy project (the tan bib). For the second (black---I know, I know, black isn't really a baby color), I used this pattern. The logo didn't actually fit in the right spot again, so i just cut a bib out of the solid portion of the shirt and then cut out and stitched around the logo. I used a washcloth to line the back of this one---it was a little bit tricky to turn right side out, and ended up a little bit wavy, but still looked okay.

Another Pin that I used as inspiration, was for this awesome "baby file organizer". Here's my version:

I bought an expandable file at Target, so pretty file folders and just added labels and a Luke's name to the front.

This particular file had pockets on each side of it, that will be perfect for storing small momentos, such as the hospital bracelet, etc. (at least until it is put into a baby book somewhere).

My last creation is my personal favorite. I bought this fabric right after I learned that Callie was pregnant with a baby boy. It was soft and sweet, but had a forest theme that could be just right for a baby boy.

I know that some people have issues with baby boys being dressed "too girly" or whatever, but I love seeing tiny babies in gowns, regardless of whether it is a girl or a boy, and it makes diapering so much easier.