a few sewing projects for baby...

I didn't get to the vast majority of my baby project list before my little girl was born, but I did get a wee bit of sewing done this summer.

Here are a few of my popular reversible flannel receiving blankets...

Done in girlie fabrics, of course.

And I also made some center stripe changing pad covers.

This fabric reminds me of rick-rack. So cute.

And I made a quilt top using these lovely fabrics (and a few others not pictured)...

The quilt is basted and just sitting by my sewing machine, waiting to be quilted and bound. Hopefully I will get to that soon. But with a cuddle bug newborn and a potty training toddler to attend to, I have virtually zero time to myself these days. I'm just itching to tackle my to-do list...patience is difficult!

she's here...

My sweet little girl arrived earlier this month!

We are so in love with her.

Isn't her hair the best?!

She actually has both a mohawk and a mullet...
not too many people can pull that off. ;)

The delivery went wonderfully, I'm recovering quickly, and my daughter is a delight. Plus, big brother seems to be adjusting well. I have the most darling little family.

Life is good!

rick-rack trimmed car seat canopy...

I'm finally getting in gear and working on some baby girl projects.

HOORAY!

This car seat canopy turned out so gosh-darn cute.

This tutorial is very similar to my original car seat canopy, but I updated some of the measurements and added adorable rick-rack trim.

For this project you will need:

Two co-ordinating fabrics (1 1/4 yards each)

Jumbo rick-rack trim (5 yards)

Sew-on velcro

Contrasting thread

Start by cutting your co-ordinating fabrics into 40 x 35.5 inch rectangles.

Place them right sides together, then use a bowl to round the corners.

Pin your rick-rack around the inside edge of the bottom fabric.

(This is the most tedious part of the whole project. Blerg!)

I made sure I could see the edge of the fabric in each dip, but I wish I would have gone a little deeper. (It has to be pinned in farther than you think, so when you turn it right-side out, the trim actually shows.)

Next sew 1/4" all the way around, leaving a gap for turning.

Before you begin, you might want to iron your fabric WAY better than I did.  Haha. :)

Clip the corners to reduce bulk, then turn it right side out.

Press the entire canopy with your iron so it's nice and flat, then topstitch 1/8" all the way around.

Now for the straps...

Cut four 8 x 4 inch rectangles from one of your fabrics (I went with the contrasting print.), and press the top edge about 1/2" to the back.

Pin rick-rack to the right side of the fabric down each long side, leaving a little extra hanging over the top folded edge.  (You will tuck it in later.)

Pin one of the other 8 x 4 rectangles on top.

Sew 1/4" all the way around, leaving that top folded edge open for turning.

Clip the corners, turn right side out, and press with your iron.

Tuck in & pin the edges of the rick-rack at the top, then topstitch 1/8" all the way around the strap.

I actually did two rows of topstitching, just for cuteness.

Cut some approx. 2 inch pieces of velcro...whatever fits your finished strap best.

Sew one to the top of your strap, and then make sure to sew the other to the bottom of your strap on the opposite side, so when you fold the strap the hook and loop sides meet.

Next, you will need to position the straps so they will fit around the handle of your car seat. If you have the seat you are going to use, you can create a custom fit so the straps attach to the handle just the way you like. Here are the measurements I used:

(Be aware I like mine a little further apart so the straps aren't in the way of the hand grip. If you are making one as a gift, you may want to scootch them toward the middle a little bit.)

Now you just need to do three rows of stitching in the middle of each strap to secure them to the canopy...

...and you are DONE! :)

You can tote your sweet little guy or gal around in style!

Fabrics I used:

Floral--"Maisie" Blend Fabrics

Aqua Lattice--JoAnn

Coral rick-rack--JoAnn

baby on board...

Oh goodness...

I recently passed the third trimester mark.

This baby girl will be here before I know it!

I have been EXTREMELY tired this time around. I imagine chasing after a 2.5 year old all day makes it even more exhausting. Oh--and I'm older. ;) 

But I have all kinds of cute girlie fabric just staring at me...waiting for me to get my act together and actually get some baby projects done.

Send some energetic vibes my way, peeps! :)

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."

lots of BIG news...

It's been a long, LONG time since I posted...

but there has been a lot going on in my world.

The biggest news?

My belly! :)

I can't tell you how happy & blessed my little family feels to add a sweet baby girl to the mix. It's been a long journey to have kids... Miracles are real, folks.

Also, we finally moved into our brand new house!

Moving while sick & pregnant was a challenge to say the least. Yikes. Thank heaven for my husband, parents, little brother, and a couple of kind friends who helped SO much. The nausea has subsided in the past few days, so get ready for lots of decorating and baby girl projects in the very near future!

Lastly, remember the fabric design dreams that I posted about?

Well, two of my designs were picked to be sold on Minted.com!!!

"Looping Scrawl" Fabric by Kacey Kendrick Wagner for Minted.com

"Tangle" Fabric by Kacey Kendrick Wagner for Minted.com

I got to make a bunch of different color ways that will be sold very soon. Eeeeek! I'm so excited. I'll be sure to post when my fabrics are live on the site.

Yay! Thanks for letting me share my happy thoughts.

(I've missed this dear blog-o'-mine!)

aqua, orange, & lime green baby boy's room...

Now that my kiddo is a year old, I guess I'll go ahead and post some pics of his nursery.

FINALLY.  Sheesh.

There wasn't the best light for picture-taking today...but the toys and books and laundry were all cleaned up, so I had to strike while the fire was hot!  His room is also really small and kind of hard to photograph, but whatev.  You'll get the idea.

I love the color palette and the dinosaur theme is there, but not over the top.  My goal was to make things easy to swap out if/when his interests change as he gets older.

I edited out my little one's name in this shot. 

Trying to protect his future privacy.  (You're welcome, son.)

Just imagine SUPER cute orange wood letters spelling the most adorable little boy's name you can think of. :)

I'm really glad I made this little gallery wall in the corner here.  Since it's right behind the glider where we often sit, he looks at all of the fun decorations back there all of the time.

I really need to put some stuff on his little cork boards, though.  Another one of those things I've been meaning to do...

And how cute is this stuffed triceratops?  I was searching for a good dinosaur with no luck, but grandma came through!  It even matches the nursery's color scheme.  Can't beat that.

The decor is pretty simple on this side of the room.
The gallery wall on in the other corner is plenty busy.

Putting a mirror above the changing table has proven to be great choice.  It's helpful when the kid is grumpy after a diaper change or whatever.  (Heaven forbid he hold still for 30 seconds!)  His own cutie face cheers him right up.

And I love seeing his newborn portraits all the time.  He has grown up so fast!  It's sweet to reminisce on his itty bitty baby days.  Well, as itty bitty as a 10 pound newborn can be... :)

Anyway, it's a happy little room that came together much like I had imagined.  I like being in there, and I like to think my son does, too!

Here are some links to other posts involving the decor in this room:

Dino Quilt

Graphic Alphabet Canvas

Mod Podge Dino Wall Decor

Song Lyric Canvases

3-D Wood Dino Puzzle

Changing Pad Cover

Adjustable Fabric Bunting

adjustable fabric bunting...

Ummm...I accidentally took a 3-month-long blogging hiatus.

Whoops.

I guess I figured I wouldn't look back 20 years from now and wish I had blogged more often.  And I spent years praying for a baby, so I'm going to enjoy him!

With that said, I have really missed documenting my creative endeavors.  I {obviously} don't spend as much time making things, but you didn't think I'd given it up entirely, did you??

Anyway...

Now that my son is 10 months old, I'd better finish sharing the little DIYs I did for his nursery. (And then I'll show you the finished product!)

Fabric buntings aren't anything new.  However, I wanted one that was easy to rearrange or change-up.  A lot of tutorials out there have fabric flags sewn onto a ribbon or bias tape or something... I made mine adjustable!

I began with 6 fabrics that I had leftover from my kiddo's quilt.

I cut twenty-five 5x12 inch rectangles.

I'd like to share some brilliant mathematical equation I used to come up with this number...but I pretty much just looked at the wall where I wanted to hang it and guessed how many flags I would need.  I estimated perfectly...a.k.a. got lucky. :)  But if you over- or under-estimate it's no big deal.  It's adjustable, remember?  You can easily add or remove flags.

Next, I pressed the both of the short ends 1/4" toward the wrong side of the fabric.

(Don't mind my hideous, water-stained ironing board cover!)

Then I folded each rectangle in half, right-sides together, with the pressed ends at the top and sewed 1/4" down each side, leaving the top open for turning.

Then I clipped the corners, turned right-side out, and pressed flat.  The top is still open, but the raw edges are inside.

Next, I pressed the top edge down 1/2" and stitched as close to that open edge as I could to create a little pocket.

I threaded some twine through the top of each flag, hung it up, and slid the flags around until they were spaced to my liking.

The bunting looks bright and festive hanging over my little one's closet.

And if he decides he hates dinosaurs when he gets older, I can easily swap out the offending fabrics.  Or if we move into a new house, I can add or remove flags to fit it to a different length of wall without having to re-do the whole thing!