3 different parties, 3 different projects!

This weekend was a busy one!  I went to three different parties for three different occasions!  And of course I had to make something for each of them!  

Party number one was for my wonderful friend Kara's bridal shower.  I went in on a group gift with the girls, but I also added something extra: an oven mitt and hot pad that match her wedding colors.  They took awhile, since they are quilted and I don't have much experience quilting (i.e. no experience quilting!).  I used the patterns from the book, The New Handmade.  The book has lots of cute, simple projects that would make great gifts.  Although I can see every single flaw in the oven mitt, I think they turned out cute.  Here are pictures of both the sides.

For party number two, I took the kids and went to my friend Kelsey's baby's first birthday.  I got the birthday girl, Genevieve, a really cute baby's first birthday book by Karen Katz and I made her an adorable owl out of girly flannel fabric.  I used this tutorial to make it.  I think next time I make an owl, I'll put a bell or some crinkle fabric inside so it can make noise.  Babies love toys that make noise!

For party number three I made a diaper cake for my friend Bob's baby shower.  He and his fiance, Elle, are having a little girl, and since Bob went to U of O, I made a duck themed girly cake.  It had a little Oregon cheerleader teddy bear on top and lots of cute pink, yellow, and green decorations.  Inside the bottom layer was a little outfit I put together: a burp cloth, a onesie with a duck sewn on it, little yellow shorts, and a headband made by my friend at work, Michelle.  Bob and Elle loved it!

Baby stuff

Since starting my sewing projects, I've mainly made baby stuff: bibs, burp cloths, and a little crinkly toy. For my co-worker Abby's baby shower, I decided to make her a set of these items, and also threw in a onesie. She doesn't know the gender and went to U of O, so a Duck theme seemed appropriate. I used U of O fabric for all the items that I found at JoAnn Fabrics. The bib is smaller than other's I've made and doesn't have a pocket. I lined the back with terry cloth, to make it useful for when the baby starts drooling and teething around 3-4 months. The toy has a piece of a wipes case sewed inside to make the crinkle noise. I sewed lots of ribbon loops on the outside for the baby to grab and chew on and also a small wooden ring that I stained with organic beeswax from the PSU Farmer's Market.  The onesie is a silhouette of a rubber duck ironed on with webbed interfacing and then sewn around the border for extra security. If you want any of my patterns for specific directions on any of my projects, let me know!

As the baby shower got closer, my wonderful friend Carla, who made the diaper cake for my baby shower, suggested we make a diaper cake together for Abby. She agreed to make the actual cake and I would use my homemade items to decorate it. We also added a cute stuffed ducky for the top, gender neutral newborn sized pacifiers, and some green and yellow bathtime rubber duckies. The crinkle toy is under the duck, the burp cloth is between the layers of diapers, and the bib and onesie are stuffed inside the bottom layer along with a couple newborn sized diapers and a Hooter Hiders nursing cover. This is what it looked like when we were done:

We thought it looked a little bare, so for the actual event, we added some green and yellow silk flowers and wrapped the bottom cardboard circle with green wrapping paper. We think it was perfect and Abby loved it!