longest distance gifts

these two projects have traveled the farthest distance to meet their recipient of anything i’ve ever made. they’re for my friend nathan and his wife laura, who recently welcomed a sweet little baby girl. nathan and i worked together right out of college in 2003. we’ve been email penpals since then, only seeing each other once in the meantime, when he and laura came to portland and met me for lunch while i was pregnant with my daughter in 2008. they sent awesome gifts when em was born, including a radiohead lullaby CD, and now they have a daughter of their own! i was very excited to make something to send for their sweet little girl.

i see a lot of state/heart onesies and prints around the blogosphere and etsysphere, so i thought it’d be fun to make a “columbia, missouri” applique onesie for the little gal to wear this fall/winter.

and then something for mama. laura is nursing, which i’m a big supporter of if gals are able to, so i made her a “hooter hider.” okay, okay, “nursing cover.” the tutorial is here. i have one of these in the brand name, which i paid $30 for. i see the same so-so fabric that mine is made of at JoAnn all the time for, like, $3/yd, and then i get angry and wonder why i didn’t start sewing earlier! i don’t even like the fabric that mine came in, but it was the best they had in the store. i use mine all the time for nursing in public. this is one of those cases where homemade is much, much better than store-bought. these could not be easier to make and are so customizable. the fabric i used is again from bolt (during their sale!). it’s by sandi henderson from her meadowsweet 2 line. hey, that’s the same line as the back of em’s quilt! didn’t even realize that when i bought it. what can i say? i’m a sandi henderson fan.

i added an inner towel pocket (like my branded one has) to use as a mini burp cloth or to hold a nipple shield, pacifier, whatever is needed.

the top has boning to allow mama to check in on her baby. nursing is a visual/auditory experience too – gotta make sure the little one is doing okay in there! the adjustable neck strap keeps the thing in place, so grabby babies can’t pull down the blanket for an unexpected glimpse. here it is in mock-action with my 4.5 month old. can’t even see him!