Pitter Patter

Easy to make felt baby shoes for Leo Timothy, born on March 25th. At the rate he's growing he'll grow in and out of them in no time.

Newborn Kimono

Hand-Me-Down

One of my first crocheted projects was a hat for Jenny. Being new to patterns it turned out a bit smaller than I intended. Luckily she's very sweet-natured and sentimental, so she held onto it anyway.

A few years later her daughter Ellis came across it in her drawer and immediately adopted it as her own. Jenny sent me a sweet message today with this photo saying, "Ellis woke up last night around midnight asking for her hat. She's quite attached."

It makes me happy to know that she is getting good use out of it!

Baby Face

Last July 4th I drew my nephew Théo for the first time, just a few hours after he was born. He's almost a year old now and has changed so much since his initial portrait. He has four teeth coming in, blows kisses, and has already taken his first steps by himself.

For Théo's 1st birthday I made a cut-paper portrait out of Color-aid and framed it for his bedroom. I would love to create an annual portrait to commemorate each birthday, varying the mediums from year to year. It'll be quite the collection by the time he's 20!

Ahoy, it's a boy!

On June 27th (give or take a day), Kari & Brian will welcome Baby Strong into the world. Yay! In the meantime they've been busy settling into their new place and putting the finishing touches on the baby room. I embroidered this whimsical whale scene to help them fill some of the remaining wall space. 

Fabric Animals 101

I came across the pattern for these adorable fabric animals while hunting for Christmas gift ideas for Ellis and Théo. The last time I made a stuffed animal was in my 5th grade HomeEc class.  So while I felt slightly intimidated to venture away from the comfortable world of 2-D sewing projects, I thought if I could make one back then, then it was certainly worth a try now. After a little trial and error, and a mutant lamb or two, I think they came out pretty cute.

Bibbalicious

I made a set of bibs for my nephew Théo after seeing this cute tutorial on the Purl Bee. I went through a bib-making-phase last year, and this pattern just inspired me to make a few more. I love the look of the terry cloth backing and also the extra layer of absorbency it adds. Théo's not eating solids quite yet, but in the meantime these bibs will work wonders for absorbing baby drool.

Outsourced

My friend Adriana has a resourceful and eco-friendly approach to decorating her home and it's no different in preparing for her new baby's arrival. She has a real knack for gathering old & neglected materials and re-purposing them to feel fresh and modern.

Since Adriana had packed up her sewing machine to make room for Baby Tucker, she selected fabrics for this diaper clutch and handed them off to me to sew. The outer fabric is recycled 'wrapping paper' from one of her shower gifts, and the cheerful clown lining is a vintage print. She chose an unpredictable turquoise button as the perfect finishing touch.

Born on the 4th of July

What a monumental weekend! On July 4th, at 12:50 pm my nephew Théo Julien was born at 6lb 8oz. After waiting 9 months and an extra week past Rachel's due date, we were reaching maximum anticipation. Actually Théo timed his birthday quite well. Every year he'll be celebrating his special day with fireworks and BBQ's, and better yet, he'll always have the day off from school with Maman and Papa.

Mommy in Waiting

Due to a number of circumstances, my mom and I had to plan Rachel's Surprise Baby Shower within just few weeks from her due date... dangerously close! We were hoping she wouldn't have to bring her own baby to the shower. After waiting so long, we figured Rachel would be on to our ploy to get her to Long Valley this past Saturday afternoon. But alas, she was surprised! Apparently we're both very good liars.

Since the party was fairly small I was able to hand-print the invitations, line the envelopes and spend time on all the minute details (though I don't think I could resist doing the same for an even larger event). I like orange as a cheerful and fun alternative to the usual gender-neutral yellow. When I saw cupcake papers & toppers by Meri Meri, I fell in love with them and adopted the vintage circus theme on the spot.

Rachel lives for surprises... so much so that she and Fabien have opted not to find out the sex of the baby or give away the names they have in mind. We are all waiting in anticipation to meet Baby Janus, it's been long enough!

Long Overdue

This adorable bonnet pattern is from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Havorson and can feasibly be made within 2 hours... or so the book says. I started this project when Rachel was still in her first trimester... and well, she's due to give birth is a just a few weeks!

I normally wouldn't spend so long on a project but I was stumped when I got to the last step: Attaching the I-cord to the Hat. Feeling frustrated I tucked the project away for a few months and went onto other things. Rachel's shower this past weekend inspired me to get over my feelings of defeat and tackle the last step. With some devoted time and attention, I figured it out! I'm overly aware of all the errors, but I'm happy with the end result. I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to make this hat in 2 hours, but I'm positive the next go-round will be much swifter.

(Not So) Teenie Beanie

I just finished knitting this beanie hat for Baby Janus and was a little nervous about the size in the end. I followed a pattern for a 6-12 month year old, but since I can practically fit it on my own head I thought something must be off. Seeing the hat on Ellis reassured me that it's just the right size, and that in reality, babies just have pretty big heads.

To-Go Bag

In between making baby gifts I've been making a few parent gifts as well. I adapted this simple tote design from a Lotta Jansdotter pattern by adding a cotton lining with additional pockets for stowing baby essentials. While it doesn't hold enough to function as an everyday diaper bag, I think it's a perfect bag to hang on the back of the stroller for short outings. My mom had scrounged up this playful wooden button for me from her button stash. I love it, it looks like it fell out of a Miró painting.

The changing pad is a total parental necessity and will come in handy on Rachel & Fab's many outings. I coordinated the pad with the tote and used a steely gray grosgrain ribbon to finish it off. This was my first experience with quilting and I must say I got a little thrill as each square puffed up to provide just the right amount of cushioning.

Feeling Folksy

I'm still in the midst of baby-centric projects, with a focus on cold-weather hats at the moment. By next winter Baby Janus will be 6 months and ready for snow, and this Aunt is going make sure he/she stays warm!

I found this charming print at Purl in the Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannel collection. I used the same fabric for both the interior and exterior, so the hat has a double layer of warmth, and finished it off with twill tape ties.

I'm thrilled how this folksy print when paired up with the Lotta Jansdotter baby bonnet pattern, creates a vintagey Scandinavian look.

Early Bloomers

Of all the women I know that are pregnant, there is one I am particularly excited about... my sister, Rachel! I'm really looking forward to becoming and aunt and as soon as I heard the news I started planning baby projects from now until her June 27 due date. It's not easy for me to hold on to gifts for very long, so I've decided to give Rachel & Fabien the things I make as I finish them. First up, bloomers! Once I got the hang of the pattern, they sewed up pretty quickly, and feeding the elastic through was a cinch due to my scrunchie-making days in middle school.

Bibbed and Ready-to-Go

From the gleeful look on Ellis' face I'm pretty sure she knows its feeding time.

En Papoose

Racing against Jenny's September 18th due date, I carried this ever-growing knitting project all over with me hoping to get in a few stitches whenever I could. I started the papoose on a plane ride to St. Martin and ended it feverishly one night in Brooklyn at 2 am just a few days after Ellis was born. In between those two points, the papoose accompanied me on train rides to and from New Jersey, to a weekend getaway in DC, under a tree in Prospect Park, and hours on Ron's couch watching TV. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment in finishing my largest knitting project to date, and even more so when Jenny sent me these photos of Ellis wrapped up in her new blanket.