Quick baby update

Afraid there have been no posts for a few weeks (due to the birth of baby Oscar) but here are a couple of photo updates

Megan and Oscar wearing their introducing new baby t shirts

Oscar's finished Quick, cheap, simple personalised nursery décor

Introducing a new baby

We're expecting a new baby, which will be a total shock to our little daughter who has been the centre of the world for the last 2 and a half years!

 

With that said however, she appears to understand a lot more than we originally gave her credit for. Her current favourite expressions are "Mummy has a baby in her tummy" and "Megan's little brother".

 

So as well as the buying of gifts from baby to toddler, and toddler to baby, I thought it would be nice to make these T shirts, reinforcing the importance of Megan becoming a big sister and the baby being her new little brother.

 

 

They took me about 15 minutes to make and approx £5-8 including the blank T shirts.

 

 

You will need

• Fabric transfers - I purchased mine ready printed from e-bay for £2.50, however, the paper can be easily purchased online or even from Tesco (currently £3.50 for 7 sheets). If you go for this option, you'll also need a colour printer.
• 1 plain baby grow  - I purchased a 3 pack from Tesco for £3.25
• 1 plain child's T shirt - £2 from Primark
• A sharp pair of scissors
• Iron
• Hard surface - not an ironing board

Lay the design on the T shirts just to check it will fit!

 
Then carefully trim off as much of the blank paper as possible leaving a 2mm boarder.

The transfer paper is transparent, but will be slightly visible, so it's better not to have too much blank space in the design.

The next step is very very important!  

Make sure there is no dust, hair or any other kind of muck between the T shirt and the transfer, then turn the designs over, so that the checked side of the paper is visible and the print is face down on the t shirts.

Failure to do this will lead to the design transferring to your iron rather than to the T shirt.

Now iron the transfer onto the T shirts, holding the iron onto each transfer for at least 30 seconds. Make sure that you go right to the corners and that heat has been applied to the whole design.

Wait a couple of minutes for the transfer to cool down and then carefully peel the backing paper off.

Job done. Two super cute outfits. Can't wait to see my two in theirs!

 

Am I silly to think this is wrong?

Earlier this week I had a Vertbaudet catalogue through the post.

If you're not familiar, they are the baby/child wing of La Redoute and do some lovely, but quite expensive clothes (often at discount prices). My daughter has had a few beautiful outfits and two gorgeous coats from Vertbaudet.

However, I've also bought a couple of maternity dresses from Vertbaudet and been disappointed by the fit.

Looking at their Before and After range of dresses, it dawned on me that the models couldn't actually be pregnant.

Aside from their bumps looking just a little odd, how could it be possible to have images of the same woman both heavily pregnant, and slim and beautiful?

 

So I asked them on Twitter, and guess what?

They aren't pregnant at all.

 

 

 

Does anyone else think this is silly? Wouldn't you rather see the dresses modelled by two different woman; A genuinely pregnant lady and a lady who has actually had a baby within the last few months?

 

Using someone who isn't pregnant just isn't representative of a pregnant body - you don't just grow a bump, you have bigger boobs, and bum and ankles and afterwards you don't spring straight back.

 

 

My husband says I'm just bitter that I'm fat, and Vertbaudet appear to have declined to comment any further.

 

I'd be really interested if you want to leave comments below!

 



 





How to make a simple but beautiful knitted patchwork blanket

This project is great for all abilities as you can make it as big or small, and as simple or complicated as you like!

 

 
It's particularly great for using up small amounts of wool, and if you do make a mistake or mess up a square you haven't got loads of work to unpick or to lose if you need to start it again.
 
You can also ask friends or family to contribute a square if you get bored before reaching the size you wanted!
 
I made mine using 49 squares and a pattern from a book I was given for Christmas. All in all it took me about 4 months, averaging about 1.5 hours per square.

Outline instructions...

1. Knit lots of squares! - for ideas, visit my gallery of squares, this is updated regularly so please keep checking back

 

2. Lay out all the squares in the order/pattern required

3. Tidy the squares into piles (keeping the order)

 

4. Sew each of the piles into a long strip and then sew the long strips together. When sewing the strips together, make sure that each square lines up with its neighbour. This may mean shaping or stretching certain squares with your hands as you go to ensure that they are all the same size and fit into the grid pattern.

 

 

6. Edge (see below for basic tips - full details can be found on my Full Patchwork Blanket Instructions page)

 

What you'll need...

• Basic knitting ability - cast on, knit and cast off is all that is needed for the most basic blanket, and even these look great if done in a mixture of colours
• Knitting needles - between size 3mm and 4mm, the exact size doesn't matter, but use the same size throughout to ensure that all the squares come out roughly the same size and shape
• Circular knitting needle - roughly the same size as the ones used for the main knitting. This is used to edge the work. You won't be knitting in the round, but the cable that joins the two needles is needed because of the large number of stitches that you will be working with across each edge, normal needles just wouldn't be long enough and you'd keep losing stitches off the end! (Edging isn't essential if you don't fancy it, just announce the blanket is finished when it has been sewn together and stop!)
• Wool - double knit wool, any colours, might be nice to make one of these in different shades of the same colour
• Darning needle or bodkin - to sew the squares together

Simple sewing project - bean bag nest chair

I designed and made this bean bag chair for my little girl after seeing one in the JoJo Mama Bebe catalogue for £45.

 
It was pretty easy to make and I'm actually surprised how much my 1 year old likes it. She flops down onto it and even sits on it like she's meant to! Now she's outgrown her bouncy chair this makes a good place for her to chillax.
 
Hopefully you can see from the images below the bean bag is shaped (not just a bag shape) so for small babies it can be used like a baby nest bed, and for toddlers as a shaped chair.

 

 

You will need

• 2m of fabric
• A sewing machine, thread and pins
• A pen
• A scissors
• A ruler
• A bean bag net (search ebay or amazon, they are about £1.50)
• 1-1.5 cubic feet of beans

 
The bean bag net is a safety measure so that all the beans are contained within a net within the fabric cover. This means that if a seam splits beans won't go everywhere (particularly important if it's for a toddler who might eat them!). It also means that the fabric cover can be made removable so that it can be washed.

What to do...

 

1. Draw out two sides and then cut around them approx 1cm from the line. Mark this piece (A)
 
2. Draw a piece 45cm by 45cm and the cut 1cm from the line (seat part). Mark this piece (B)
 
3. Draw a piece 70cm by 45cm and then cut 1cm from the line (back and half of base) Mark this piece. (C)
 
3. Draw a piece 45cm by 15cm and then cut 1cm from the line (top of seat) Mark this piece. (D)
 
4. Draw a piece 45cm by 40cm and then cut 1cm from the line (front panel and half of base). Mark this piece (E)

 

5. Start with pieces C and D. With right sides facing, pin the two pieces together along one of the edges (that are the same length). Then sew along the pencil line.
 
6. Continuing with this piece, create a 1cm hem on the top edge (edge opposite the one you've just sewed onto piece D) of piece C.
 
7. Next with right sides facing, pin the piece you are working on (C&D) to B and then sew along the pencil line.
 
8. Repeat this with piece E.
 
9. Finally hem the bottom edge of piece E. (The two hemed edges will come together to make an envelope in the end)

 

10. With right sides facing, pin the diagonal edge of A to B, then stitch along the line.
 
11. Next pin the 15cm edge to D and sew
 
12. Then the other 15cm edge to E and sew. E will also reach part way onto the base (But don't sew this yet as it will make doing the other side harder)
 
13. From the diagram you should be able to see how piece C will now fold and sew down the side - C is long enough to also reach part way across the base (But don't sew this bit yet or it will make doing the other side harder)
 
14. Repeat from step 10 on the other side.
 

 

15. Now go back and finish off the base. Sew all the way to the hem on piece E, and up to the same point on piece C, this will leave a flap on piece C that will tuck under piece E when the bag is complete (think envelope or pillow case)
 
16. Repeat on the other side.
 
17. Turn the bag the right way out and shake.

18. Tip the beans into the net. (I'd suggest doing this in the garden as it is not as easy as you'd expect - the static makes them stick to everything!)
 
19. Put the cover onto the bean net and make sure the flaps are on the base and closed
 
20. Watch your little one sit, climb, lie and play on their new bean bag chair. x

Quick, simple but really effective room/nursery decoration

 

Feel like you did it, but with minimal effort!
Make a beautiful nursery without any stencilling or faffing about with borders - really cheaply too.

These wall stickers are simple to apply and are meant to last 7 years, or come off without any damage to the wall.

More detail?

Ok, first steps, choose yourself a theme - butterflies, space and stars, jungle, trains, anything, then search ebay for personalised wall stickers. There are literally hundreds.
 
Below are instructions for how I finished off my little boy's room in less than an hour whilst 7.5 months pregnant!
 
All the stickers, including personalisation cost less than £20.
 
You'll also need sharp scissors and some masking tape.
 

• Your stickers will be supplied on backing paper - initially this looks terrifying!
• If your sticker isn't in one piece, cut it into sections to make it easier to apply (e.g. in mine I removed the name)
• You can also cut off some of the excess paper. But do keep the top edge straight so you make sure the design is straight before you commit to sticking it down. 
• Stick the design to the wall (the correct way round - NOT reversed) with masking tape.
• Very carefully start to peel the backing paper away, this leaves the sticker on the thin paper at the front. Again this can be done in sections, rather than one swift movement - cut the backing paper away and gently smooth the top layer (with the design on it) onto the wall. A credit card may be useful to help smooth out any bubbles

• For my sticker, I removed did the right side first, then the left, and then this left the middle. To get the backing paper off I then had to remove the masking tape and carefully remove the middle section from the top.
• Once the sticker is applied to the wall - still on the thin top layer of paper, smooth the full sticker down one more time and then leave for an hour.

• When you're ready to remove the paper, start from a bottom corner and carefully peel back (making sure none of the design is left behind)
• Again this doesn't have to be done in one go, it's quite easy to stop and cut chunks of the paper off as you go

• In addition to my main sticker, I also added stars randomly around the room (and then stood back to admire my work!)

Finally I'll add the name - this has been faked in paint.net as we're keeping the name secret until baby is born, but the name sticker is very easily applied in exactly the same way as the main sticker.

 
Hope you enjoy decorating your room and all the praise for your "hard" work!!