baby applique.

i was about to say 'recent baby sewing' but then realized that these first 2 were made back in november during the k's birthday/my birthday/thanksgiving crunch, and i never posted about them.

i really really love applique for baby projects because it is SUCH an instant gratification craft. you just iron the magic paper on the back of your fabric, cut out your letter or shape [you can even draw or trace right onto the paper!] and then iron it onto the item. then sew around the edges and you're done! it's especially great for a quick and easy way to monogram. i have seriously used this method for everything.

so back in november, i had really wanted to make a cupcake shirt for kenna to wear to go with her cupcake party. i had a really cute brown tee from target all ready to go, and then found this birthday girl shirt on clearance at gymboree.

before:

the sleeves were too big and a little wonky, but i loved the cupcake part, so i just cut it out in a big circle and appliqued it onto the brown tee!

after:

and my favorite picture of the night of her wearing it [complete with tu-tu, even though you can't really see the tee]:

then i got so inspired by the little pumpkins and turkeys, i decided she needed a turkey shirt to wear thanksgiving day. i used the awesome amy butler's mustard wallflower print that did all of the 'feather' work for me!
luckily, my sister-in-law has a new camera and took lots of photos because i completely spaced out and hardly took any! love that little tongue-of-determination.
does inspiration ever strike you just because you see a pile accidentally sitting together in your craft space? that's what happened with this valentine's bib. there was a little pink and a little red and a plain white bib that just happened to all be together- and a knew i had pink and red rick-rack, so about 15 minutes later a little valentine's bib came back upstairs with me:
there are a couple of things in her closet that need a little refurbishing, including a little summer onesie i got for $1 at a consignment sale. unfortunately, the only one i've actually started is sitting on my sewing machine 3/4 of the way finished! hopefully it will be done before she outgrows it, which seems to be in the blink of an eye these days.

it's also a great way to cover up an unfortunate stain [or maybe even a tiny rip? i'll have to experiment with that]. i've really gone crazy appliqueing things, there are more finished projects soon to come!