Children's PJ's - take two!

Have you ever tried arguing with a 2 year old? The cute sleeping cow on her top is a sheep not a cow; the tram rattling past is a train not a tram and; the zebra at the zoo is a giraffe - of course it is! It turns out however that she was right about the pyjama pants. Remember these cute little pjs? The adorable cloud print ones that Miss S REFUSED to wear:

Well, for the first time ever I took Miss S fabric shopping to choose some fabric for her new pyjamas. She chose an adorable pink flannel with purple elephants.

Lesson learnt. Never argue with a 2 year old - turns out sometimes they are right!

Baby Carrier

I have the Ergo baby carrier and I have the Baby Bjorn - you would have thought that 2 carriers are more than enough to carry one small baby... But, how could I resist this!

How cute is my little nephew and how cosy does he look is his baby carrier! I had to make one for baby E. (btw - that is my sister's head I chopped off - you know how some people get a bit funny about their pics on a public forum. Besides, she was wearing a daggy hat - I didn't think she wanted the whole world to check it out! See A - I am looking out for you!)

Back to the baby carrier - super easy, super comfy and just the thing to have in the handbag for when arms get tired carrying little babies (or big babies too - I've worked out how to carry Miss 2 1/2 year old in it as well)

To make this you will need a printed cotton sateen - you know, the thicker one with a bit of stretch to it. You will only need 60cm so not only is the baby carrier super easy and super comfy it is also super cheap! More next time on putting this together...

Children's Pyjamas

How lonely do these cute pjs look hanging on the line...

Their story begins with this book. My lovely friend Ems gave me this book for my birthday and I loved it - as I do the blog, Mama Liberated, by the same author - full of gorgeous ideas for kids clothing and playthings.

Inspired by this lovely book, I wanted to make some warm winter pj's for Miss S. I modified the kids pants pattern from the book - removed the pocket and turned them into straight leg, easy pj's. I had this lovely light blue cloud fabric in my stash. Originally I had planned nice winter pyjama bottoms for me but think I neglected to buy enough fabric - do you do that too or it just me?

I spent a nice afternoon putting these together only to be greeted by a "No Mummy. Me no like" when I tried to put them on Miss S that evening. I couldn't convince her... "No Mummy, no Mummy, nooooooo Mummy! Please mummy, purple ones". I often wondered when kids get fussy about what they wear - turns out in my case, it is 2 1/2 years old! Looks like I am off to the shop for some purple fabric... Oh yeah, did I mention I made two pairs!

Stroller seat cover - binding

Now that the button holes are finished, there is one small step left and our stroller seat covers are done. Today we are going to talk about binding. For my seat cover I used single fold bias binding but you could of course use double fold. What's the difference you ask? Single fold has the two edges folded in
see...

Where are double fold has the two edges folded in as well as a fold in the middle.

Either would work effectively for this project and really the reason I chose single fold was because I could get it in this pretty colour.

You will notice on the bias tape that one fold is shorter than the other. This is to allow the bias tape to line up properly on the wrong side when you sew it together - more on that later...

To sew the tape onto your stroller your will need to work out which is the shorter folded edge and line that up on the edge of your stroller cover; you are sewing onto the right side of the cover first.

Carefully stitch in the fold all the way around. Once you get to the end, fold the end under to give a neat finish.

Fold the bias tape over the raw edge and pin in place. Then stitch in the crease where the bias tape meets the stroller cover - or "stitch in the ditch". Make sure that you catch the back edge of your bias tape when you stitch - this is the reason you stitch the shorter side first....

Will post some pics next time of my completed stroller cover in the stroller. Oh, did I mention that I have a double stroller so I will need to make two of these!!

Stroller seat cover - bound button holes (lining)

Now that we have made the button holes for the outer fabric we need to work on the matching holes in the lining fabric. Firstly, however, you must spend time admiring your button holes - aren't they great!!

Onto the lining...

How beautiful do they look - so worth the effort...