Nursing Covers

Jen is expecting baby number two! In preparation, she asked if I could make a nursing cover for her as well as another for her friend. Since I don't have any personal experience with nursing, I turned to the trusty web to learn about best practices. Nearly all websites I read suggested the same features:

• boning in the neckline to allow the mom to easily see the baby
• flannel pockets on the backside that can also be used to wipe the baby's mouth
• d-ring straps for ease putting on and taking off

I pretty much stuck to the standard features and only took liberties with the pattern and color selection. Most examples I saw online were made with the same patterned fabric throughout the body and straps and white flannel pockets on the back. I felt that made the resulting cover a little boring. Instead, I accented the main pattern with a secondary color for the straps and the top and bottom edges and used a coordinating patterened flannel for the pockets.

Here is Jen's cover.

Here is her friend's cover.

Apple Of My Eye

My posts will be inconsistent these next few weeks. "Why?" you may ask.

I'm moving to New York!!! After much thought and consideration, I finally made the decision at the end of 2011 to take the leap of faith and move. I was scared that it would be a difficult process, but the entire experience has been the exact opposite. With the help of friends and friends of friends, everything fell into place very quickly. By the end of January, I had already lined up an apartment with two awesome roommates, moved two suitcases full of stuff, and purchased a bed and desk.

I've spent the month of February tying up loose ends, preparing for the move, and saying my goodbyes. I'm going to miss the Bay Area. California will always be my home, but for the foreseeable future, New York will be my great adventure.

Big Apple - here I come!

Hemming Skinny Jeans

The plight of short people: pants are always too long, including petite sizes. Thankfully, I am now very comfortable on my sewing machine where hemming pants is fast and painless.

I couldn't resist and happily hopped on the bright colored jeans bandwagon. I picked up a fun pair of blue legging jeans from Gap. Instead of trying to keep the original hem, I decided to go the easy route and made a new hem. Ten minutes later... ta da! Grace-sized jeans!

Before:

After:

I wanted to keep a little of the scrunching, so I left an extra few inches at the bottom.

Which one's the original hem and which one's the new hem?

Shin Pad Straps

If you've ever watched hockey, you know players get pretty banged up from getting hit by other bodies, sticks, and pucks, so it's very important to be fully and securely padded. My friend, Michael, plays ice hockey as a defenseman in a local league. He came to me asking if I would be able to make a new set of shin pad straps for him because his current set is falling apart.

These are his current straps. How have they not ripped apart yet??

Here are his new straps. They were incredibly easy to make.

I wonder how long it will take before this new set starts to look like the old set...

iPad Case

I've been wanting to make a case for my 1st-generation iPad for a while and finally got around to it. I found some discounted velvety material on the remnants rack at Joann's and thought it would be perfect to use as lining for the case. I installed a magnetic closure instead of using a button - it was so easy! The heavy stabilizer I used to stiffen the case was thick enough to provide ample structure yet soft enough to eliminate any need for holes to be cut to access the menu, volume, and sleep/wake buttons.

Given I didn't have any how-to instructions, I must say I'm quite proud my measurements and gut instincts were enough to get me through this project.

If I were to make the case again, I'd stitch some cute markings indicating where the buttons are and, of course, cut holes for the headphone jack and mute/rotation-lock toggle.

Also, I know this design isn't well suited for the 2nd-generation model given it has front and back cameras, so holes would also need to be cut for those. I won't think about it too much though until it's time to upgrade my iPad. ;)