How To: Simple Baby Booties



Sweet little slippers for our upcoming arrival


Since I have FINALLY had some energy and free time this weekend (this whole developing a life inside of you thing is NO JOKE!), I decided I would do some crafting. Some crafting turned into a marathon day of gluing, painting, jewelry-making, photographing, brainstorming, organizing, sewing, you name it! All in all, my idea of a fabulous day!

My first project was finishing up the baby slippers I had started weeks and weeks ago. I have wanted so badly to make baby slippers similar to the ones my cousin, Kristin made for my nephew around Christmas time. After I found the pattern and instructions online (which I will happily share with all of you!), I got started with pinning and sewing and making a few of my own adaptations. Here is a great webpage that will take you through the process step-by-step and also includes a pattern for the slippers themselves.

Since I am not the most gifted hand-stitcher, I decided to match the thread I used to sew the slippers to the color of the fabric as best I could and create smaller stitches than those shown  in the instructions (in other words, the less people able to see my stitching, the better off we all are!). In addition, since I am having a girl and she will be the recipient of these slippers, I decided to sew ribbon along the upper edges of each pair of slippers to create a cute bow that could be tied in the front.



Black and gold slippers for baby girl to rock out during Steelers football season




Sweet little pink booties with white ribbon




Probably my favorite pair-gray felt slippers with purple ribbon.







Felt Stuffed Owls



Camdyn's owl friends

Using felt, I concocted these stuffed owls for my sweet little niece, Camdyn! At almost eight months, she’s not old enough to do anything but chew on them, but she looks ADORABLE doing so! Since my mommy dearest bought me a sewing machine for my 30^th birthday, I decided to start simple. Here are the directions…

Little Miss Camdyn...How cute is this face???

Materials for one felt owl:

-8.5x11 felt sheet (I used green, purple, and camouflage for the pictured owls)

-felt scraps in corresponding colors (two wings, beak, two eyes, two feet

-pinking shears

-fabric scissors

-sewing machine

-needle and thread

-Poly-fil

Glue gun/glue sticks

Directions:

1. Fold felt sheet in half and trace the owl shape on one side

2. Using pinking shears, cut through both sides of felt along the traced shape

3. Using fabric scissors, cut out two large, two medium, and two small circles to complete the eyes of the owl, two feet, beak, and two wings in the colors chosen

4. Glue the cut out shapes onto one owl-shaped piece of felt using a glue gun

5. Placing the felt  with the right sides toward each other, pin along the sides of both of the cut pieces of felt

6. Sew along the edge of the owl shape leaving a gap of about three inches for stuffing around the area in which the owl’s feet would go.

7. Turn the sewn fabric inside out so that the right side of the owl is now facing out.

8. Stuff the owl with Poly-fil and hand sew the existing gap

Bonus Owl: I found some camouflage patterned felt lying around, so I decided to make another owl for my 1 1/2 year old cousin, Cole. With parents who are avid hunters, I thought I might as well start his camo obsession early (if it hasn't started already).



Now for some shameless niece promotion...My sister-in-law recently entered Camdyn into the Gerber Generation Photo Search Scholarship contest. If you want to vote for this little sweetie pie, we would LOVE it. You must "Like" it on Facebook first then you can vote up to one time per day for the remainder of the month of July. Here is the link:



http://apps.facebook.com/gerbe​rphotosearch/entry/143685/camd​yn.aspx