Sunday, May 17, 2015

SHB Sew-Along Winners and Category 2 Round Up: Baby Accessories



For any sewist/sewasaurus/sewer/someone who sews, there are some items that fall into the mental category of "really difficult to make," e.g. jeans, evening wear, corsets, and tailored coats. When someone successfully manages to make one of those items, invisible choirs start singing and the scent of peaches wafts through the air, and one is instantly transported to a daisy-filled field where one can frolic (ironic, considering that three of the four items I listed are not really field-suitable, frolic-type garments). On the other hand, there are some items that are so mundane, so deceptively simple, so normal, that when one makes such a thing, it's rarely noticed and hardly celebrated. I think baby bibs fall into that category. When I tried making some for SHB, they were hilariously Becky Home-Ecky, to the point that they made SHB cry to wear them.



Okay, so maybe he wasn't crying about my amateur-looking bibs, but I think you get my point: there are some items there's no glory in sewing, but to do them well and have them look professional can be harder than you think. So I'm here to celebrate the meticulously assembled, generally gorgeous baby accessories that you all sewed during the SHB Sew-Along. I first shine the spotlight on the various bibs, of course:

Neenkster's reversible bibs in adorable prints (and props to her for sewing with an SHB and cats).


Dorisaurus' be-owled bib must have taken so much patience to applique!


Mealtimes with SHB have shown me the usefulness of catch-all bibs; ofingleside's ultimate bib has way more personality than my generic silicone one...isn't her print combination great?

'Ultimate' baby bib


You all know what a soft spot I have in my heart for softies, so I'm glad somebody made a toy, and check out what a toy! I think it's great that Helen of Grosgrain Green had such fond memories of a similar doll, and is passing that on to her SHB.



Having made a couple quilts of my own, I know how much work they take, even if it's all just straight-line sewing. This one by Emily has a beautiful selection of fabrics that works well together:


Don't discount the sleek look of a simple, well-made receiving blanket, though, like these two by Alice



Ergo-users with mouthy babes, unite! Love that Lanamfacio's strap covers boast 50% less napkin, but hey, no shame in reusing textiles...I do it often enough myself.



SHB slept swaddled for all of the fourth trimester, so I know how useful these swaddles by the Itinerant Seamstress can be:


Speaking of bundled up babies, this bunting by mollysews makes me want to squee:



And I know this Tolkien-themed quiet book isn't actually an official entry, but the geek in me just has to shine the spotlight on Becky's delightful ongoing project. Check out that hand-stitching! So literary! Much detail! Very wow!

A photo posted by Becky (@sunnyb64) on


It was so fun seeing what everyone else came up with for this category and I was impressed by all the clean, professional-looking sewing! It's been a pleasure sewing along with all of you, and I hope your SHBs get a lot of use out of these accessories.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... the winner of the Ottobre Kids' magazine subscription is Jennifer of FernKnits! She made an assortment of accessories, from bibs to crinkle toys, but the one that really got me was this adorable little sleep-sack:



Now, the Category 1 (Baby Clothes) and Category 3 (For Parents) round-ups are over on Mikhaela's and Clio's blogs respectively, but I have the pleasure of announcing those category winners here. It was exceedingly difficult to choose from among all the fantastic sewing you guys did, but in the end we decided on Lee and Hannah! Lee's Category 1 Brindille & Twig hoodies look like they came from some high-end boutique, and Hannah's Category 3 Gondorian Mei-Tai carrier is just delightfully geeky. As for the Oliver&S Lullaby Layette patterns, the lucky drawing winners are Masha and Ofingleside! Winners, please email me (cationdesignsblog [at] gmail [dot] com) so that I can arrange for your prizes to be sent to you.

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated in our sew-along! Sometimes it's just nice to have that camaraderie (and a deadline) in sewing, even if we're all making different items. I hope you all felt as inspired and motivated as I did, and hopefully those feelings will carry along into this month too!


5 comments:

  1. The little softy doll reminded me of one that I made for my little girl, now 16. When she was four or five years old her dad would have to travel on business at times and she would miss him terribly. I made a similar doll except that I used a photograph of her dad face and back of head and printed it on printable fabric to create the dolls head. We called it the DaDa doll. Addressed it and some clothes my friends son had outgrown. It bordered on creepy looking, but she loved it.

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  2. Congrats to the winners! I'm really impressed by what everyone made for this, really.

    Thanks for the quiet book shoutout, too! I thought you in particular might want to know that I've since finished it, so the pictures of the final project are up in my blog: http://sew-and-so.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-quiet-book-and-ring.html

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  3. I emailed you but am not sure you got it. Thanks so much for the prize. I already have the Lullaby Layette pattern though (and it is awesome) so maybe you could spread the love and draw another name for it? The sewalong was a blast, thanks for hosting it!

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  4. Loads of lovely, and very impressive looking baby accessories. Congratulations to the winner!!!

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  5. Everyone made such cute things, I am so impressed! What a fun sewalong - thank you for hosting.

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