[caption id="attachment_6561" align="alignright" width="168"]
"Cushion for Daddy" is the ideal keepsake for any proud father.[/caption]
Following on from Alex's blog about upcycling, here is a more in depth blog about reusing your favourite baby's clothes and using a crafty way of turning them into a keepsake you can cherish forever. All the pictures featured in this blog are clothes all from the same batch of baby clothes given to me. Both the Mum and Dad had seperate specifications of what they wanted from the items they wanted me to create. Having only made small craft pieces up until this point, this was a daunting task. The first item I attempted was the cot blanket, this measured about 80cmx110cm and eventually was made up of 60 squares cut from mainly baby grows and vests as these were more versatile type of fabric for this item and easy to cut with my basic crafting scissors. For the shape of the squares I needed to draw around something that was 'see-through' so that I could see exactly which part of the clothing that I wanted to cut, after looking through my collection of craft supplies I found that the ideal item for this was the lid of a CD case. The 60 squares were sewn in rows and then each row sewn together. EDEN's name and the extra character images were appliqued using bondaweb then sewn into place using a zig-zag stitch on the sewing machine. The whole blanket was backed in fleece. This was definately the biggest craft piece I've worked on!!!
The giant 'E' and the 'cushion for daddy' was again something I've never attempted before.
The cushion was crafted in much the same way as the blanket, this time using a 30cm clear ruler for the width for the strips of fabric. I made the four quarters of the front of the cushion separately, stitched the all together and the around the edges I used fleece material from the larger pieces of clothes. Again the images of the the characters and writing were appliquéd into place using bondaweb and finished off using a zig zag stitch on the sewing machine. The little girls name was hand written and then I simply stitched over the writing using a stitch i use in a lot of my crafts which is a back stitch using embroidery thread.
[caption id="attachment_6560" align="alignleft" width="168"]
Creating this giant E was definitely a learning curve for me.[/caption]
The large letter 'E' was definitly a learning curve!! Unlike the cushion and the blanket, for the patchwork pattern for this item I chose to sew the pieces together at random angled edges, I felt that a more rigid approach would not work on the letter E as it has straight edges, plus i think it gave a more interesting look to the patchwork overall. BEAR THIS IN MIND (you will thank me for it!) if you wish to craft together a padded letter out of your baby's clothes, If the letter has does not join back to itself, for example E,G,C, Z, etc then you will have to strengthen the letter using thick card, cut using a craft knife, otherwise the bottom portion of the letter will sag!! I didn't discover this until after I had completed it and sewn it together!! Once the piece is all sewn together and you have added cardboard to strengthen, tear up 4oz wadding (I use this for most of my craft projects) stuff the letter till full making sure to push into the corners and the sew up the gap using a neat blanket stitch.
Apart from the whole good for the environment/upcycling aspect of these types of craft projects The lady whom I created these items for, said they are just perfect for remembering parts of when her little girl was a baby, every square, stripe, buckle and picture reminds her of a time in her bay's life. In particular the straps from the dungaree dress that Eden's great uncle had given to her, this was especially sentimental as he had passed away not long before I began these projects.
"Cushion for Daddy" is the ideal keepsake for any proud father.[/caption]
Following on from Alex's blog about upcycling, here is a more in depth blog about reusing your favourite baby's clothes and using a crafty way of turning them into a keepsake you can cherish forever. All the pictures featured in this blog are clothes all from the same batch of baby clothes given to me. Both the Mum and Dad had seperate specifications of what they wanted from the items they wanted me to create. Having only made small craft pieces up until this point, this was a daunting task. The first item I attempted was the cot blanket, this measured about 80cmx110cm and eventually was made up of 60 squares cut from mainly baby grows and vests as these were more versatile type of fabric for this item and easy to cut with my basic crafting scissors. For the shape of the squares I needed to draw around something that was 'see-through' so that I could see exactly which part of the clothing that I wanted to cut, after looking through my collection of craft supplies I found that the ideal item for this was the lid of a CD case. The 60 squares were sewn in rows and then each row sewn together. EDEN's name and the extra character images were appliqued using bondaweb then sewn into place using a zig-zag stitch on the sewing machine. The whole blanket was backed in fleece. This was definately the biggest craft piece I've worked on!!!
The giant 'E' and the 'cushion for daddy' was again something I've never attempted before.
The cushion was crafted in much the same way as the blanket, this time using a 30cm clear ruler for the width for the strips of fabric. I made the four quarters of the front of the cushion separately, stitched the all together and the around the edges I used fleece material from the larger pieces of clothes. Again the images of the the characters and writing were appliquéd into place using bondaweb and finished off using a zig zag stitch on the sewing machine. The little girls name was hand written and then I simply stitched over the writing using a stitch i use in a lot of my crafts which is a back stitch using embroidery thread.
[caption id="attachment_6560" align="alignleft" width="168"] Creating this giant E was definitely a learning curve for me.[/caption]
The large letter 'E' was definitly a learning curve!! Unlike the cushion and the blanket, for the patchwork pattern for this item I chose to sew the pieces together at random angled edges, I felt that a more rigid approach would not work on the letter E as it has straight edges, plus i think it gave a more interesting look to the patchwork overall. BEAR THIS IN MIND (you will thank me for it!) if you wish to craft together a padded letter out of your baby's clothes, If the letter has does not join back to itself, for example E,G,C, Z, etc then you will have to strengthen the letter using thick card, cut using a craft knife, otherwise the bottom portion of the letter will sag!! I didn't discover this until after I had completed it and sewn it together!! Once the piece is all sewn together and you have added cardboard to strengthen, tear up 4oz wadding (I use this for most of my craft projects) stuff the letter till full making sure to push into the corners and the sew up the gap using a neat blanket stitch.
Apart from the whole good for the environment/upcycling aspect of these types of craft projects The lady whom I created these items for, said they are just perfect for remembering parts of when her little girl was a baby, every square, stripe, buckle and picture reminds her of a time in her bay's life. In particular the straps from the dungaree dress that Eden's great uncle had given to her, this was especially sentimental as he had passed away not long before I began these projects.