It’s about time I introduce you to my ultra cute nephew, Grant. 

I can’t believe he’s almost 6 months old already!

Now that I’ve lured you in with some baby cuteness, on with the show…

Well, Grant was dedicated to his church a few weeks ago and of course I had to make him something.  I found this super cute race car fabric on Superbuzzy and knew it would be perfect for him since his dad (my brother) is a auto cross super star. 

I figured Grant would need to keep snug and warm when he’s out cheering on the track this spring, so the Baby in the Hood Jacket from Anna Maria Horner‘s Handmade Beginnings was just too cute to pass up.  I’ll be honest, I actually waited and waited to make this, it looks pretty complicated, doesn’t it?  Well, the directions are just awesome from Anna Maria, and so it was lots fun to sew up!  I threw in a mix of polka dots, a solid yellow and some Greenfield Hill by Denise Schmidt.  I was so excited when I finished. 

I ended up making the 12 month size and I think it’ll be just right for him through spring (hopefully, that is if he doesn’t bust out a big growth spurt). 

I decided to pair the coat with some fun wooden race car toys I found from Green Bean Toys on Etsy.  I love finding local etsians, especially with cute toys like this.  I even bought some for our house. 

Glad we could help celebrate your special day Grant, we love you!  Oh and Happy Birthday to your mommy today.  yay!

Here’s the second half of my projects for the urban goods home swap.  It took me forever to settle on just exactly what I wanted to make.  I had another idea in mind for a while and then as soon as Penny released her new Wrap it Up Bag pattern, I knew it was just the ticket.

I used up pretty much ever spare scrap of the fabrics I had leftover after making the sewing machine cover, so it was really an adventure in patchwork.  Even the some small cutting errors I made ended up being something I really liked in the end. 

I added in some hand stitching to the front of the bag, just because I love how it adds that little special something to the project.  I also included an interior pocket.  I’m hoping it’ll work for my swap partners knitting bag, but I think it’ll be a really functional bag no matter what she chooses to do with it. 

Of course the handy little feature I love most about the Wrap it Up Bag pattern is the little snap closure, perfect for rolling up and tossing it in your purse – once I make one for myself I know I’ll never be without a re-usable bag.
 

Well, Natalie did get her very own tee for two shirt.  I used the shirt pattern and the flutter sleeves.  She picked out this nice interlock knit by Patty Young that I had ordered from fabric.com.  They have a great selection of her knits here.

The sizing on the pattern is really great, I think it’s right on the money.  I can’t hardly wait to whip up a few boy ones for my nephew! 

And the best part is that this second round with the pattern went even quicker!  I think this shirt maybe took an hour to make. 

Now onto a few little things on knits.  I don’t know why there’s a lack of knit fabric sources online.  I’ve been asking around with not much luck actually.  I think fabric.com has about the largest selection of jersey knits (the one I used on emily’s dress), but you do need to make sure you take a good look at fiber content and I have ordered a few weird ones.  Luckily fabric.com takes returns, I like that. 

• I have ordered from Sewzanne’s (lots of quality knits) before, but it doesn’t seem like they have a lot of turnover in selection for whatever reason. 
• I asked Toni from Make It Perfect and she suggested Crafty Mama’s out of Australia, they also ship internationally – looks like I need to do some shopping there!
• Hobby Lobby (pretty poor quality – at least at my local store) is also a good place to check if you have one nearby.
• The other thing that Shelly (Patterns by Figgy’s) mentioned was to check your local shops for knits.  So I did.  I don’t have a joanns very close by (but I assume they also have a fairly descent selection).  But I do have a Hancock Fabrics.  I sifted through the WHOLE store and rounded up more than I expected! I found a section up front with some nice t-shirt knit and some ribbing, then I walked back to the clearance section and found a great selection of knits for 2.95 a yard! 
• I make sure to look for knits made mostly with cotton.  If you can find any with a small % of spandex, it makes really nice waistband, etc.  Jersey knit, bamboo knit, t-shirt knit are all good words to look for when searching online for knits.
• Oh, and I should mention that shopping the clearance sections of places like old navy and target are options as well.  Of course you’ll want to pick out the largest sizes to get the most yardage from a tee or dress.
• Update: a couple other shops suggested by readers, The Fabric Fairy and Girl Charlee 

A couple other notes on your first experience with knits:

• be sure to use a ball point sewing machine needle
• use polyester (or polyester blend) thread, using all cotton isn’t a great idea since it won’t stretch as much as poly.  I did sew Emily’s dress with cotton thread, only because I didn’t have another thread on hand that coordinated.