i get it, some people like a delivery surprise.  i couldn’t wait that long to find out what i was having with either of my pregnancies, but i see how the “it’s a boy!” or “it’s a girl!” moment could be pretty special after labor and delivery.  my cousin therese, having her first baby next month, hasn’t found out what she is having.  she had a baby shower this weekend, and the “not finding out” element definitely presented a challenge for gift-giving!  i’m not a person that’s TOO hung up on gender roles, either, but it sure makes it easier to know a little more about who you’re sewing for, you know?  anyway, it’s sometimes just as fun to have restrictions.  i kind of like working that way.  gotta be more creative.

i decided to make another two projects from my now well-used and dog-eared copy of “little things to sew” by liesl gibson – the cozy winter hood (with ears!) and mittens.  i made them in an extra-small, but they fit O perfectly at 9.5 months, so i think therese & chris’ baby might get more use out of them next winter instead of this one.  both the hat and mittens are made in a supersoft white microfleece and michael miller celery ta dot flannel.

i couldn’t help myself and also appliquéd a 0-3 month onesie with little clouds.  i love the white-and- natural linen together.  these photos were taken in O’s room (which i need to finish up and do a room tour for).  isn’t the wall decal perfect for a baby’s room?  it’s by shanna murray.  i’m in love with it, and my little guy is definitely growing strong so far!

therese seemed to like the gift at the shower, and i can see myself making another of these hoods for O for the wintertime.  it came together quickly and lives up to its name – COZY!  the mittens are great too, they stayed on O’s hands despite crawling around.

happy laboring, therese!  i can’t wait to meet your little one!

little guy is growing out of his pants again!  time to make him some.  we went to the zoo with gail on friday, and her little cutie, lila, was wearing a pair of chambray oliver + s sailboat pants (we know each other only through a longtime mutual sewing admiration on flickr, so it’s fun to dress our kids in handmades when we see each other).  gail told me these pants were a easy sew and they looked super cute.  sooooo i went ahead and started these at 9pm on saturday night for O to wear to his cousin’s baptism on sunday morning.  who needs sleep when you can sew!

the pattern came together really nicely, of course.  i made the 6-12 month size.  i had a little trouble figuring out a good boy fabric for them, but ended up raiding my husband’s closet and found this pair of gray j.crew chinos he never wore because they had spots on them.  i cut the pattern out of just one leg!  they’re a pretty heavy twill, but soft to the touch.

i hunted through my scraps for some stripey material to mimic these awesome sailboats but didn’t have enough, so i decided to cut into my recently-acquired sarah jane studios children at play pinwheel fabric for the facings. i’m so glad i did – i love it so much!  harvesting the buttons from my husband’s now-mangled pants completed the look.

this was a really fun sew, even though i was sewing late and definitely should have been in bed.  the details are just really nice, and i love them on him.

oh yeah, he can stand up holding onto things now.  he barely stays still for a moment!  the heavy material should be durable for crawling, too.  it’s gonna have to be, because he’s on the move.

we went to visit good out of town friends a couple weeks ago, and i noticed a few of their son M’s hats appeared to be getting a little small.  it had been a while since i sewed something for him, so i felt like he was due.  then they just so happened to have a wedding to attend in town this weekend, so i finished it up and presented it to him when they came over for a bit.

poor M was having a really rough time being away from home.   little mr. crankypants wasn’t too into a photoshoot, but i had to try anyway.

here’s how it went down.

M grabs O’s hat:

O grabs M’s hat:

M gets mad and throws his hat:

O gets two hats (and tries to eat one – not pictured):

i try for a photo of the polka dot side, M is not having it:

Em investigates the discarded polka dot hat (wearing her polka dot dress):

the end.  hopefully he’ll like it better when he’s wearing it at home.  🙂

deets:

fabric is the same daiwabo elephants as O’s hat and i had to get creative with cutting because i barely had any left.  O has gotten sooo much use out of his hat, wearing it almost every sunny day this summer, so elephants apparently go with everything!  for M’s, the reverse side is michael miller dumb dot gray – i had a fat quarter on hand.

the pattern is again the bucket hat from “little things to sew” by liesl gibson, size small 12-24 months (M is 13.5 months old).  it fit him well with some growing room.  it’s my third time sewing one of these bucket hats, and i really love it.  i think it does help to use a heavier fabric on one side – gives the hat some structure.

the end for reals.