'...you and me babe, how about iiiit'

That was me singing. I've had the Dire Straits song 'Romeo and Juliet' in my head for the last couple of days, since my shiny brand new niece was born late on tuesday night :) She's called Juliet Rose, and the whole pickledweasel family are very excited about meeting her tomorrow.

Technically she's mr pickledweasel's niece, as it's his sister who's popped the sprog, but I get to call her my niece too, right? I'm not sure about the rules on these things. Is she my niece by marriage? Anyhoo, goes without saying that I've had to make her some presents. Her big present is a travel cot, which is very very boring, but very very useful, and the sort of thing that new parents appreciate.

I've made her a sleeping Bimble, which has a bell inside, so when she bats him with her little waving baby hand he'll make a noise.

And I've made her a bib (obviously!), modelled here by the lovely Big Ted.

I'll be clucking and cuddling and getting broody all weekend, so I'll not be posting for a few days, but there will be baby pics a plenty on my return :)

Beep beep bib

Here we have some pictures of Munchkin looking grumpy in her new beep beep bib. I had to tempt her with crumpet to look at the camera.

The front is my car stamp in red fabric paint, on recycled chambray, and the back is red cotton sheeting hand stamped with black fabric paint.

This is a special bib which will go to grandma pickledweasel's house - she has limited bib numbers and Munchkin is currently refusing all feeding assistantce at meal times, meaning she gets through three bibs per day :)

She is getting quite good with a fork or a spoon, but she inevitably resorts to hands after a bit. She is a big fan of dips, after we had one of those packs from Tesco with four different sorts in. She's become very inventive with her dipping technique - last week she dipped toast crusts in her weetabix.

Toot Toot!

Another car tshirt for munchkin. I'm not so happy with this one - the font isn't quite right, and it needs an exclamation mark.

I've also made a bib with the other stamp, and backed it with some keraazy hand printed 'Beep' fabric. It took chuffing ages to print all the beeps, but it looks cool :) It just needs a popper to finish it, and then I can take some pics, if munchkin will be obliging and model it for me. Meal times are becoming a bit of a battle ground of late, so the pictures may be 'action' shots :)

My new model

Meet Big Ted. I have decided to make him my bib model, as:

a) People won't really want to buy things that Munchkin has had her sticky little paws on

and

b) Photographing bibs flat is really quite boring.

He's much more obedient than a human model, and I haven't had any of this 'My left is my best side' malarky from him. I am worried he is trying to achieve size zero though - I haven't actually seen him eat anything. Ever.

Bibs a Go-Go

I'm a bib making machine this week. Albeit quite a slow one, but I'm getting there. My aim is to have 8 things listed in a new shop on Coriandr by Sunday.

Here's a sneaky peek at a new bib. I'd forgotten I had this beautiful bird fabric - it was part of a huge stash my mom gave me when she was having a clear out. I've found some lovely Laura Ashley prints to use as well.

This afternoon I'm off to the magic fabric shop to buy some more cotton. Yes, I know I said I was banned from buying fabric until I'd finished some projects, but I need to buy fabric in order to finish a project, so it's justified :) I'm struggling to find 'boy' fabric in my current stash. Why do I find boys so difficult to sew for? So I'm on the lookout for some snazzy car / truck / moon / animal prints. I'll report back later!

Bib = FAIL

I finished another bib last night, and at first was very pleased with it. It's backed with the same spotty fabric that the pears are printed onto, and it's the same denim jacket as I've used before. I tried a different shape this time, and made it slightly smaller. Munchkin had gone to bed, so I had to find an alternative model (sorry Buddha).

On closer inspection I realised 2 things. a) I had forgotten to sew the velcro on. I was so fixated on getting my applique neat that I forgot all about fastenings - I didn't even cut the velcro out and forget to sew it on, I just forgot about it all together. Grandma pickledweasel is coming round today with her popper putter inner to help save the situation.

b) My topstitching hadn't closed the seam it was meant to. I left about a 3" gap at the bottom of the bib when I was sewing the front and back together, so I could turn the bib right side out. Rather than close it with invisible stitch I thought it would look nice with a line of black stitch round the edge, plus it's really good practice for me and my wayward sewing machine (I tend to go round corners a bit fast). Anyhoo, I didn't sew close enough to the edge. Pah. I'll have to invisible stitch it after all.

Never mind. Practice makes perfect, yes? I'm still liking the pears. I handprinted them with a print block I made yonks ago. I think the spotty fabric is perfect for them.

A happier bib experience

I've made another bib for lovely baby Rebecca, this time without cheap melty ribbon. I'm very pleased with it, mainly because the little bird works really well, but also because it is considerably less wonky than my last attempt.

I bought a nice soft denim shirt from a charity shop today, so I'll be whipping up some more soon, probably to sell. A question for you all*, if I may: Would you buy a bib with a button on it? Not a button as a fixing, a button as embellishment. I nearly put one on the little bird, but then thought some moms might be a bit worried about baby chewing it off and swallowing it.

I'm not one of those moms, (when gardening the other day I was very pleased that Munchkin only managed to eat soil twice) but I'd appreciate some other opinions. Thanks!

* by 'all', I mean Kitschy Coo, Nifty, and the other couple of people who read my blog :D

A lesson learnt

This is a bib I've made for a lovely new baby called Rebecca, who arrived in the world last week. The denim is from an old jacket I bought from a charity shop, and the pink polka fabric was a cheap piece from my old favourite Abakhan's. It's a little bit wonky, but it's made with love :)

I took the photo this morning before I put the velcro on the tabs at the top. Do you like it? It's pretty, isn't it? Do you like the polka dot ribbon? 'Very cute,' I'm thinking to myself as I give it one last iron before I gift wrap it. 'Oooh, I'll make more with this ribbon, it's really OH MY GOD WHY IS IT SMUDGING???!!'

Don't iron cheap ribbon. Your polka dots will melt :(