Sew far, I have made...

Hey, blogger friends! I have been so excited about starting my blog and building up the things I want to focus on, but I know that beyond this week, maybe even this day, I won't be posting quite as much. Until then, excuse and (hopefully) enjoy the barrage of information! ;)

I wanted to go ahead and introduce my novice but ever growing sewing skills. I have made several things with my awesome Brother sewing machine I received for Christmas from my wonderful in-laws.

It is a Project Runway edition, and I find it easy enough to use with my limited knowledge. I am hoping to take a class this summer; until then, online tutorials are what I am using to learn.

The items I have made thus far have been very simple, but I was really excited with how they turned out nonetheless. For my friend Frances's baby shower, I made a baby blanket with matching burp cloths.

I used a soft minky material for the blanket, and a cotton jersey material for the printed fabric that tied it together with the cloths. I went with a chocolate brown terry on the burp cloths as they are bound to get stained in the process of babydom. I also added a hand cut minky appliqué on the printed side of the blanket that isn't pictured here, but it is just like the one below I made for a donation gift for a local new mom.

I have also made a couple of gifts for my hubby. He took a springtime mission trip to Haiti this past March, so I made him a travel toiletry towel and a couple of luggage tags. I learned along the way about each fabric from my work, like how terry cloth and upholstry fabrics tend to fray. It was difficult to get these to work with me as I don't have a surger, but I eventually won the tug-of-war.

If you want to try your hand at any of these projects, you can find the tutorials I used at the sites below. The towel toiletry case was only inspired by the image seen at the Etsy link below; I made the towel from scratch and then the case from the towel. I was really proud of that one!

Towel Toiletry Case- http://www.etsy.com/listing/86300220/terrycloth-toothbrush-and-paste-travel
Luggage Tag-  Make It-Love It ID Tags
Baby Blanket- Sew4Home Baby Blanket Tutorial
Burp Cloths- Prudent Baby Burp Cloth Tutorial
Partridge Applique Pattern- Modest Maven Partridge Ornament Tutorial

I found the baby blanket and burp cloth tutorials through a Pinterest pin to Blue Print Crafts for Baby Britton where she shared links to these and more baby gift tutorials. Thanks to these simple tutorials, I am now confident to make blankets and burp cloths without tutorials; and that will probably prove to be very beneficial with a little one on the way. :)

I can't wait to share my next sewing project with you. You can find me on Pinterest and follow my Sew Wonderful board to see what tutorials I have pinned, and feel free to leave suggestions of good sites and blogs to find helpful sewing information and patterns.

Y'all Come Back Now, Ya Hear?
Brittney