Nursing Cover and Burp Cloths

With my first child, I was very shy about nursing in front of other people. I'd often retreat to a bedroom or somewhere out of eyesight for feedings. Part of the challenge was she rarely held still (still doesn't!) and her little flailing arms would constantly knock the blanket down, exposing my flesh for all to see.

With this baby coming, I started looking around for a nursing cover (aka "hooter hider"). For $30-35, I could buy one from Target. Wait a minute? $30?! And for a fabric that I didn't really care for?

So... you guessed it, I decided to sew one instead. I bought about a yard of fabric with my 40% off coupon at Joann's. I sat down on our couch and figured out how long I thought it should be and cut the fabric into a rectangle big enough to cover me + baby. I hemmed the edges under and added a simple neck strap. I also added a cute pocket (with scraps from the nursing pillow cover) to hold extra nursing pads and some lip balm (a major necessity last time!). And, of course, some ric-rac. Poof! I have a custom nursing cover for about $5 in fabric costs.

And... being that I am still on a ric-rac and black-and-white kick, I also embellished some burp cloths with black ric-rac to complete the set.

Two VERY easy projects and saving a bunch of money. What can be better?

Ric Rac Burp Cloths

When my daughter was a baby, we went through a lot of burp cloths. She was a very messy baby, to say the least. Now that we are getting close to the arrival of our baby boy (9 weeks to due date!), I am nesting and one of the things I am thinking about is fun ways to make burp cloths cute.

Today's project was simply adding some cute ric rac to basic cloth diapers. After all, if there's one thing I learned the first time around, it's that the baby's burp cloths became one of my most frequently worn accessories.

You may recall my applique adventure from a few weeks ago. I was a little discouraged, but not distracted. I do have more plans for appliques on burp cloths and maybe a t-shirt or two for the baby, but I want to get the quilt done first. More on that coming soon!

Lil' Projects

With The Quilt finally completed, I have some freedom to select some new projects. And, given the length of time that quilt took me, I really wanted something(s) that I could start and finish quickly and get back into the swing of actually accomplishing things. At the same time, I wanted to try something new. The solution? Bibs! I love using bibs to experiment because they are quick, easy to make, and low-risk - there's no fear of making mistakes. Plus, my daughter desperately needs more bibs.

With these, I really wanted to try using ric-rac. I've seen some adorable quilts with ric-rac, but I've been too chicken to try it myself.





This one didn't have any ric-rac, but it's still pretty.

And lastly, this was actually Mia's request - butterflies! Again, no ric-rac, just a simple bib.