Sunday, May 28, 2017

DIY Very Easy Baby Bow Headband

Truthfully, I didn't think I'd be a one to put a bow on my baby girl. We mostly stay pretty genre neutral, but here we are. I had some yarn left over from my cowl and I thought "beige isn't too girly, right?"
This bow takes both very little materials and very little time to make. All you need is some yarn and a pantyhose. That's right, a pantyhose. It makes a perfect headband for a baby, because it's soft and very stretchy. It's comfortable and doesn't leave a dent.
Sorry for the weird plant photos, it's so rainy and dark and by the window was the only place with any light, but  to make the band, just cut a about 4 cm wide piece out of the thigh portion of a pantyhose.
And stretch!
For the bow cast on 11 stitches.
Row 1 "knit 1, purl 1" repeat until the end, turn.
Repeat row 1 for 10 cm. Bind off.

Place the rectangle you made against the headband and wrap yarn around the middle binding the bow and the headband together. Knot together the ends and weave them in. You're done! Put it on your baby and go "

Monday, May 22, 2017

DIY Breastfeeding Pillow

When I was pregnant I wasn't sure if I wanted or needed a breastfeeding pillow. I mean, before you give birth to your first baby you really have no idea what you will actually use. There are so many things for babies and mommas, and it's like "I have no idea if this is essential or useless". Hint, a lot of it is useless.

So what I did was buy what I thought bare essentials (a bed, clothes, stroller...) and bought all the rest after we had the baby as it became apparent that we did need things (baby monitor, bottles, swaddler...)

But despite not knowing if I actually needed a breastfeeding pillow I did decide to make myself one. These things can be pretty pricey and it seemed fairly easy and cheap to make one. And with uncharacteristic foresight I thought I'd not get anything done once the baby was born. Yup.

The materials cost only about 4€ and I figured I could just take it apart if I didn't end up using it.

This is based on the popular Boppy pillow. I found the pattern for a slipcover from blog called vanilla joy

I used the pattern to make an insert pillow from an old sheet, stuffed it with poly-fill from an old pillow and sewed it shut.
I then made a removable (read washable) cover with a zipper from an old bed spread I found at a thrift store. The pattern had the zipper on the underside, but I put mine on the back edge.
So was it worth it? Yep! I used this a ton when Zelda was a newborn and I was just learning to breastfeed. Because my episiotomy I mostly fed her lying down for the first few weeks, but after that this was great. 

Where it really shined was when you are exhausted and hangry and the baby wants to feed. I'd just sit at the table, plop this on my lap, support the baby with one hand and proceed to eat with the other. During those first few months when it felt like the baby was feeding constantly, this allowed me to eat as well.
Totally recommended. You can also use it later on for tummy time or to help support the kid when she is sitting.

Only thing I'd do differently is to make TWO slipcovers. Things got a bit, ahem, messy at times.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Basket Tune Up

It feels a bit ridiculous to include this as a DIY, so I'll call this a "tune up". 

This isn't exactly something you can replicate either, since it relies on finding a basket like this. It's more like: if you find something fun, but it isn't the color you'd like just paint it!
What this means is: I found this interesting basket with an elephant on it from the Red Cross flea market for 4.90€. I thought it was cool, but you know, bright pink
Well, luckily  that's easy to fix. Enter a can of white spray paint. I removed the eyes and just sprayed away.
Only it was kind of tricky to get all the nooks and crannies. The pink kept showing from underneath and in the ended up taking the whole can of paint. Not the cheapest thrift store project, but I think it was worth it. 

I replaced the eyes a bit wider, because I thought it looked cuter that way. Then I left it outside for a few days to remove the paint smell. (Side note, I'm not giving this for the baby to play with.)
I think it'll look really cute in the kiddos room. Once we get that set up, for now she just has a nursery corner which I've tried to keep very calm and minimal as she pretty much just sleeps there.
But someday!

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Daisy Flower Crown

Happy Mother's Day! It's my first Mother's Day as a mother. Kind of weird to be on this side of the equation.
I'm really into flower crowns at the moment, but unfortunately they are a bit hard to pull off... Luckily I have a baby and babies can totally pull off anything!
I've really wanted to make crocheted flower crown for some time and when I came across this Daisy Chain pattern by Frankie Brown I was like "YES! That is genius!"  Because like a crown made from real flowers all the flowers are separate and to quote "The flowers have a hole in the stem so they can be threaded together just like the real thing."
I've never seen anything similar. Obviously I had to make one. I was a bit skeptical whether the chain would hold up, but once you've chained them together into a ring it's in fact really sturdy.
 
I wouldn't give this to a baby to play with, but it would make a great photo prop. And once the baby is a bit older it will make a great addition to dress-up clothes.


I already have plans to make more with different kinds of flowers and leaves! Seriously, I'm so exited.
I can't explain how much fun it is to have a baby and get to make this kind of stuff without shame.
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