Quick and easy baby gift.

Not sure if I told you but I have become an honory Nana to another baby girl called Kaira (pronounced Kiyra)  I made her a bunch of stuff that I posted about here.  I am seeing her again at the end of the month and as I am sewing for our grandson-to-be, I figured I would run up a couple of things for her.  Basically use Kaira as the guinea pig for new patterns.  

So I decided to sew up a baby ball using some scraps of fabric I had laying around.  I used the instructions from here and the template for the ball from here.

As this was the first time I had made this ball, I wanted to use fabric that wasn't the best, but was pretty to make sure I was happy with the pattern.

Now I wanted to put a "shaker/noise maker" in the middle of the ball, so I asked dd if she had any plastic centre's from Kinder Eggs laying around.  That is what the yellow plastic things are on the bottom left of the photo.  Above that is some rice, which I put inside the yellow plastic thing.  So if by some reason it breaks open, then all it is, is rice and won't do any damage.  You could put a bell in there, some lentils, dried peas, anything that makes a noise.  I used the smallest sized from the template for my ball.

 After I cut out the fabric I pinned them together in two groups of three, making sure I was happy with the arrangement.  I them sewed the two groups of three together, then joined the two groups of three together.  On the last side to be sewn, remember to leave a gap, so you can turn it right side out and stuff it with toy stuffing.

Also, if you are using a shaker in the middle of the toy, remember to leave a big enough gap so you can put the shaker inside of it; otherwise you have to rip out part of your newly sewn seam........yes I left too small a gap.

 Stuff it with toy stuffing, add your shaker (if using) around half way through and finish off stuffing.  Hand sew the seam up, and voila you are done.

There is a 1/4 inch seam allowance on the pattern, which I didn't follow, therefore the top points of the ball don't completely match up.............bad me!!  Overall I am very happy with the out come and I can see lots of baby balls in the future.  Now I have to ask dd to hunt around for more Kinder Egg plastic things!!

On a side note, if you're wondering why I didn't use the same material that I used for Kaira's original gifts, it's because the pattern on the original material was too big and wouldn't have looked right.  Smaller patterns I find are more pleasing to the eye.  I will post a photo of me and Kaira when I give her the ball.

Quick baby gifts..........

I am seeing a friend of a friend's baby girl for the first time later in the month; and although I bought her some outfits when she was born, I wanted to make something little for her.  She will be four months old when I see her so I decided to make her a mini Crinkle Ribbon Mat and Cloth Baby Rings for her.

Below is the finished project.

The Crinkle Ribbon Mat was from this pattern.  

You need:
2 x 12 inch square's of fabric
1 x "Crinkle" material, now I used a piece of plastic silver tissue.........you find it where you get tissue paper in stores.  Or use the inside plastic wrapping from a cereal package.  As long as it's clean and makes a "crinkly" noise.
16 pieces ribbon, 5 inches each in length
thread and other basic sewing supplies

Pin all the pieces of ribbon to the material (as pictured) and then baste onto fabric using a long stitch on your sewing machine.  Remove pins. 

Place the other material you are using face down as pictured. 

 Then add crinkle material on top pin and sew all around the edges, using a 1/4 inch seam.  Leave a 3 inch gap so you can turn everything right sides out.

 Turn right sound out, clipping corners and then top stitch all the way round the edge, closing off the gap.  You are done!!!

This is washable, I probably wouldn't dry it in the dryer, and if using an iron use a low heat so you don't melt the crinkle material.

I used two fat quarters of material, and had plenty left over.  So decided to make a set of Baby Cloth Rings, using these instructions.  

***A WORD OF WARNING IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SEWING FIDDLY THINGS, DO NOT TOUCH THIS PROJECT...................RUN FAR, FAR AWAY FROM IT 😊***

I have been sewing Barbie clothes so am used to fiddly things, but these even tried my patience!!

A bit of a head's up if you are from Canada.  Fabricland sells small craft bags, mine for 50 cents each that have odds and ends of fabric, trim and beads, like this one.

All the ribbon on the crinkle mat was from these bags.  I also used a lot from the 10 bags I bought for all the Barbie Doll clothes I made.  If you need little bits of trim without having to buy a full roll this is the way to go.  

In other countries I am sure your fabric/craft stores have these sort of bags as well.

The fabric I used is Wildwood by Dear Stella, it is hard to find, but you can find it here.