Posts Tagged ‘Baby’

Freebie: Printable Baby Shower Invite

June 13th, 2012
10 Comments

One of my friends asked me if I would design a baby shower invitation for her. Of course I would, then it turns out it was the invitation for my cousin. DUH, OF COURSE I would!!

I went for a simple layout and theme, and keeping the over-the-top girliness at a minimum. I think it turned out alright, if you ask me.

Since the pattern and text is sort of androgynous, I thought I’d provide a boy and girl fill-in-the-blank printable for you to use on any future baby showers. All you have to do is print, cut in fourths, fill out and send. Heck, you could even use the plain back side to address the invitations and send it off as a postcard to reduce paper and postal costs.

Are you going to any baby showers this summer? What’s your favorite gift to give? Mine is a patent leather diaper and wipes case. It doubles as a cute clutch, but serves a very noble purpose as well.

 

This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without the express consent of Melissa Esplin. I love getting shout outs from around the web, but please, link with love. Do not copy this post, publish more than 2 photos or outright steal this idea for commercial publications. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!

Thrifty: Vintage Anchor Knit

April 16th, 2012
6 Comments

I found this eeoons ago, but every time I sit down to sew something in my studio, I think of all of the sweet little baby things I could make with it.

Am I getting baby hungry for another? Ummm. . . maybe?

No, no, no. Nevermind. I just remembered how much I hated being pregnant. I enjoy breathing, seeing my toes and a waistline.

Baby Leggings Tutorial + Pattern

February 28th, 2012
45 Comments

There are a million and a half legging tutorials out there and how to make your own. No joke. This is one of them. How is this any different than the others? The tutorial is illustrated(makes it easier in some parts, in my opinion), I don’t thread the elastic, there’s NO HEMMING required and this tutorial includes a printable pattern for leggings size 9-12 months. I hate hemming and threading elastic. Don’t you? See the list of a few of my favorite legging tutorials at the end of the tutorial.

I used a vintage knit given to me from my friend, Stacy, gave to me not long after I had Felix. I’ve been meaning to make leggings out of this since I first laid eyes on this awesomeness. I love the little monsters and random illustrations!

 

Once I figured out the pattern, these little leggings took about 10 minutes to whip up. I stitched together another pair for a friend of mine who just had a baby boy not too long ago. Make these baby leggings for a baby boy, baby girl or for a friend who’s choosing not to find out the sex of her little one. Check out the tutorial after the jump.

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A Sneak Peek

September 19th, 2011
18 Comments

I’m officially DONE decorating Felix & Penelope’s bedroom. Well, I lied. I have to print a photo of Felix (how do I not have any printed photos of my 7 month old?!?) & frame it next to a photo of Penelope. Over the weekend, Chris and I were busy cleaning & organizing the house. It’s like I’m 8 1/2 months pregnant again – minus the 30 pounds. I think it’s because we’ve decided we’re going to live in our place for at least another 6 months. No moving just before the holidays! YAY!

Yesterday, Penelope & I had fun cutting out shapes with felt. She just massacred her felt (had a good time doing it, too) and I cut out fish silhouettes & circles (bubbles). I’ve been so close to sharing Felix & Penelope’s shared room with you, but it was missing something. A mobile. I made a little mobile to go over Felix’s bed.

I wanted to keep with the orange & yellow theme, so I grabbed a  bunch of felt in that same color family & went to town cutting shapes. I sewed the circles all in a line to make the bubbles and draped them over the embroidery hoop (much like Susan’s chandelier). I cut two of each fish & sewed the two together in skewed lines to add weight and interest. I assembled it all together using a million and a half square knots, industrial embroidery floss and embroidery hoops. Let me know if you’re interested in a tutorial.

Overall I’m really happy how this turned out. Also, it cost nothing to make. If I were to itemize it out, it’d be under 50¢ and that would be between the embroidery floss & the embroidery hoops. The felt was free from my mom, the hoops were 6 for $1 and the floss was $3 for a million yards.

It’s masculine, and fits within the theme of the room. That has been my biggest challenge with decorating Penelope & Felix’s room – being gender neutral. Thankfully I started out with a mostly yellow/orange theme with Penelope’s room to begin with. All pink would’ve been much harder to make masculine.

Recycle Week: Leather Booties

July 5th, 2011
5 Comments

This last weekend was nuts. It was full of family events & a big photoshoot. Right after the photoshoot, I uploaded my photos just in time for someone to take the D200 off my hands. PHEW! I’ve now ordered my new camera, so I’m just waiting for it in the mail. I’m sure it would’ve been smarter to order the camera before I sold it, but whatever. It would’ve also been smarter to have the camera shipped to Arizona, which is where I’ll be when it will arrive on my door step. I can totally survive a week and a half without a camera, right?

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Since I’ll be without a camera & going out of town Thursday through most of next week, I’m going to do a recycle series! I’ve been blogging for 4 years this summer, so I thought I’d re-post some oldies you may not have seen before.

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I made & blogged about these booties before Chris bought me my own domain, so you won’t see them on any posts here on melissaesplin.com. I made these back in the summer of ’07 for a friend of mine who has a little girl just 6 months older than Penelope. I used Heather Bailey’s bitty booties pattern with leather I had lying around. I punched & sewed everything by hand, which took forever. It was still worth it.

I made more of these booties in felt & leather that I later blogged about on this blog. I think I should make a pair of these for Felix sometime soon. I think white leather would be a good call.

 

Hope you had a great Fourth of July weekend!! What did you do?

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