Beating the baby at her own game....

Monday 6 April 2009
Hands up everyone who is bored of baby related sewing on this blog - my hand is half raised here! I am dying to get into the last three BWOF issues and have even traced some off but keep getting side tracked with 'necessary' sewing such as nappies and curtains, and this sleeping sack I made for Anna to sleep in. Anonymous was right when she posted a comment on my last post that sewing for yourself becomes a real delight...

All the baby books I have read recommend wrapping babies snugly to help them settle and get a good sleep which is fine if your baby is not a kung fu master in training like Anna is!


Seriously, she is like one of those magicians wiggling out of a straight jacket whenever I wrapped her, so I've given up. Instead I cut up one of the receiving blankets I bought from an op shop to make into a sleep sack because it was too small to be used for anything else.

This was such an easy project too, all I did was fold it in half widthways, cut out arm and neck holes, sewed up the shoulder seam and added a zip down the front. I also reused the pink bias binding for decoration and then just sewed the bottom shut. It's probably a little too long judging by the photo below, but it will do the job and it allowed me to have a gloat to my husband when we were in a baby shop the other day and saw these for sale for $80!!!


The other thing I made recently was my very first softie (ie soft toy) for my friend's little boy who has been sick lately and got quite scared in hospital. Borrowing inpsiration heavily from others I have seen on the internet, I made this little monster:

I made it from a cardigan I bought on impulse last year when I was heavily pregnant and it doesn't fit and nor do I like the colour and as a result never wore it. So now it has a much better life as an ugly looking monster that will hopefully bring a smile to a little boy's face.

A few people have asked in the comments how I have managed to get anything done with a newborn baby. Comparing Anna with the other babies at my mother's group I realise that she is quite well behaved for a little one, and she has the delightful habit of doing this:


She doesn't sleep for long though, 30 -40 minutes at most but it's long enough to get something done and luckily I have my priorities right and put housework last on the to do list ha ha ha.

15 comments:

  1. Oh, she is so cute! And nice work on the softie.

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  2. Great work on the sleep suit! Enjoy it while your baby still sleeps... once they stop sleeping so much and start moving about you will find yourself with less time to sew (and it gets trickier with fears about pins and threads as bubs starts putting every little thing into their mouths!) i made almost all of my nappies in the first few months and i'm so glad i did because there's no way i would have time to do it now!! p.s i love to sew what you're making for bubs... it's so nice to see mums making things for their babies!

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  3. Sleep suit works great! and not sick of the baby sewing as I hvent been able to pull the machine out since ive had mine, so this way I get to live through your sewing!

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  4. What a great refashioning idea for the blanket and a good idea. My kids have all been karate kickers in bed. The only way we can keep the 8yo tucked in over winter is to use a double bed blanket on top so it wraps right underneath the mattress.

    Enjoy those naptimes!

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  5. that's very cute :-) I think it looks safer as well... I know zilch about babies but I think it would work great because the baby would stay warm and not be completely ristricted!

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  6. Great stuff, she is so cute.

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  7. I, for one, can never get enough baby pictures. Especially when the baby is as scrumptious as yours is :) Nice sewing job, too!

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  8. That sleeping picture is so cute! I don't even have a baby and housework is last on the priority list, so I approve.

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  9. Keep up the good work! Good job on the baby sack... looks like Anna approves too! And the monster is really fun... hopefully your friends little guy will be feeling much better quickly!
    Your doing great! And besides if you put Anna in some sort of carrier, bed... etc... while sewing you will be fine! Just keep something handy out in your sewing space... and she will get used to being in there and enjoying the sewing machine noise! You may not be able to sew an entire outfit while she is handy... but you have to take what you can get sometimes.

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  10. You are so creative!! Amazing. Sleep sacks are great for winter, esp if you have a baby who kicks off all their blankets at night!

    Anna is so beautiful, she is the best thing you have ever made!

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  11. I love the pics of Anna - keep them coming! And that gown can be opened later and used during her toddler stage...and sewing for you will come...years and years from now! *LOL* Nah...just kidding!

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  12. Really nice sleep sack. Hope she continues to be a sound sleeper for you. I love any kind of baby sewing post. It's so much nicer than buying them from the shops.

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  13. Awww! I am amazed at how much you are accomplishing with a newborn.

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  14. I hope you continue to post pictures of the baby now and as she grows out of being a baby.

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  15. she is such a sweetie! :)

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