The Imaginative Seamstress

This is a swim shirt and leggings I made for baby girl, age 12 months.  First time with this design. Made for a friend at church. Her daughter is fair skinned and needed a little coverage!   I used my new baby lock serger, and my babylock coverstitch machine to get the finished look. This was fun to make. I'd like to make more for ready to ship items in the etsy store.     Today I got a picture from the beach :-)

Inspired again by questions from my customers :-) I love you guys! You keep me writing!!! A customer wrote today asking about what I could do for her as she's going to be having a water birth with her soon expected child. She asked about a skirt with panties that snapped at the crotch. I wondered how comfortable that would be. I gave her some pictures of what I'd done for my most recent birth, which was a water birth. I simply bought a maternity tank and panty off of ebay, for like $15. Yeah, lets do this as smart as possible! Am I right?    I knew I wanted a pair of panties and a skirt, but I wanted them separate, not together. So when it came time to push a baby out, I could still be wearing a skirt and not feel like I was naked. Brilliant right? I thought so! I got this cute brown suit off of ebay and paired some solid brown fabric with it, making a skirt with a comfortable belly band.    I didn't finish the top edge on ...

This pretty rose fabric has been waiting for this Summer when I made matching suits for my little girls :-) I knew Miriam was chunkier than Jubilee had been so I was sure to make it a little larger. It may have been slightly too loose but it was still adorable!   I also found a method for adding ruffles to the bottom :-)

Upcycling clothes is fun! I put together this outfit for Miriam's 8 month photos..  keep scrolling to see more pictures and what this looked like before I put it together..

  On Sunday I got a baby bum balm from a frie nd. She sent it over when she heard baby had a bad rash. I actually haven't used this on baby's bum yet. I already had some coconut oil and lavender that I was using up. But when I opened this, I was holding baby in my arms, and I was looking down at her head, which was flaking terribly. I figured it couldn't hurt to put it on her scalp, so I did. I'd tried lotions previously, and they'd not made much improvement. But the very next day after putting the balm on, baby's scalp was 85% better. I've used it twice more on her head and you can't tell that there was a problem to begin with.    So, if you're looking for an all natural bum balm that is cloth diaper safe, you might try Laurel's  Yellowbee Baby Balm . I did say all natural. Its simply, organic coconut oil, organic bees wax, and essential oils. 

 I forgot to introduce the newest member of our little family. Miriam Rose Carty, born Jan 19th at 5:06am. Length 22.5" Weight 8lbs, 12oz. This picture taken at 2 weeks.

 What's up everybody?!?! I am about to make a re-entry into the blogging world and catch you up on everything I've been into since I left. I was way busy getting ready for baby girl to be here. Now that she's here I'm working on recovery and finding my new normal :-)  I've been having fun this evening. Easy crafts, making a gift for a baby shower. The hardest thing about these is making a decision on the colors! :-P I was so torn on the color schemes. The mom I'm giving them to loves bright and bold colors, but traditionally, baby colors are pastels. Hopefully I found a balance and covered both.  And yes, I was sitting on the floor with the ironing board way low. 4 weeks after baby #2, I get tired of standing sometimes. 

This past week I was working on a nursing suit order for a lady in Switzerland, that's right, Switzerland. Didn't I feel big and important to have an order from way over there? I sure did :-) Anyway, as I was finished with all sewing on the top, I usually put the suit on so I can know about how much to cinch up the sides and tie the pretty bows. I had put it on top of my t-shirt and as I was looking in the mirror, I had an idea! :-) Several people had asked me questions like "what does the suit look like inside?", "how far does the front panel come up?"...etc. Since I had a t-shirt on underneath, I could take some pictures that would help answer those questions in a visual way. So I asked the dear hubby to help me out with the picture taking. Here's what we got...  Yep, that's a knife in my pocket, its a kershaw. I'm so in love with my knife <3   #countrygirl   Holding the top panel up so you can see where the bottom panel comes ...

It seems there's always baby showers popping up around me. Punch, cupcakes, gifts...lots of fun :-) Its become my norm to make burp cloths, blankets, and now, bibs too. One of my friends just had a girl, and another friend is expecting a girl also. I made these for them...   Says God Loves You oops, I forgot to take a picture of the blanket I made. :-P

For my friend Hannah's shower, I had an idea hit me when I read on the invitation that she did not want anyone to buy her disposable diapers because she was going to do cloth diapering. Just as I read that, it hit me. (me, the person who didn't do cloth diapers) I had a few empty diaper boxes that I'd kept. I thought it would be a good prank to wrap her gift in one of the diaper boxes. Ahahahaha! So mean >_<  I made several goodies, and of course, I took pictures. I also took photos while I packed the box :-)  This was my first no-sew blanket. With just one tip about the corners from my friend Brittney at the fabric store, I was off and running. It was a refreshing project since I didn't have to sit at the sewing machine..where I already spend so much time.   Here's the box!! I put some scraps in the bottom to weight it down..hoping that it would give it enough weight to make it seem believable as a box of diaper...