Happy Birthday, Nephew!

It is one of my nephew's birthday today! He turns 2!

He likes to wear hats. A lot. A few months ago, I saw a picture of him wearing on of his dad's scrub caps. That's when I decided he needed one of his own! 

(The pants are from Made by Rae's pattern Big Butt Baby Pants using the 2T size)

I have a pattern for adult scrup caps, as I made his dad one for Christmas (little boy's cap is from the leftover fabric!). So, I asked my sister-in-law to measure little boy's head. I just kind of winged it after that... I tried to follow the pattern for the crown but I didn't trust myself cutting out the top of the hat, so I just pinned the crown to a square of fabric and hoped for the best as I sewed around it :)

 Here's the finished product! I am crossing my fingers that it somewhat fits the little boy's head, but I'm not trying to get my hopes up...

Here's the back... if you read all the way to the bottom of the post, I'll show you how I finish off ties made from bias tape :)

 While making the cap, I was very, very worried that the finished product wasn't going to look at all like a scrub cap, but I didn't like envisioning my little nephew in a do-rag... so I used the stitches on my machine to put the little doctor's name on it... no mistaking this scrub cap as a do-rag, right?!

 One last picture. Yay for being able to sew for little ones :)

Semi-Tutorial ~ Finishing off Bias Tape Ties/Straps

As promised, here's how I finish off bias tape ties. I figured this out while I was sewing all those pillowcase dresses for Hopeful Threads' April project...

 I open the end of the bias tape up...

 ...fold it under a bit...

 ... then I fold in one side of the bias tape...

 ... and then the other (it's kind of like folding up a paper airplane!).

 Then, you just fold it onto itself. Pin it.

Sew it! Don't forget to backstitch!

For the scrub cap, I started on one end of a tie, sewed toward the cap, sewed the bias tape onto the cap, and then finished at the other end of a tie... all one continuous stitch. It's the same for attaching the straps to a pillowcase dress!

Baby Package

 Cali Baby was born about two weeks ago, and he couldn't be more loved!
A week after he was born, I was able to send my box of goodies - He received two bibs made from his grandpa's jeans, a tie-onesie outfit complete with matching pants, a crocheted blanket, two burp cloths, and a few more pairs of pants. His older brother got a bright red hat!

 Right before mailing it, I whipped up one more pair of "Big Butt Baby Pants" made with Made-By-Rae's pattern... I call them "old man" pants because of the pattern, but I think they'll be super cute on little Cali Baby!

 Finally, I sent the little boys a book. My dad always used to do "This Little Piggy" on my toes, so this book is quite fitting for my nephews - I'm sure Pop will do it on their little toes too!

I can't wait until Grizz and I can take a little trip this summer to SoCal to meet the new addition to my brother's fam!

Reversible Bucket Hat

 Remember I was talking about my new nephew arriving on Monday? Well, I decided to make his older brother a gift as well. He deserves something for becoming an older brother!

So, he gets this... a reversible bucket hat. I hope it fits!!! I found the tutorial and FREE pattern (score!) here. This was my second "Sew Much Ado" pattern/tutorial that I've followed, and both have turned out great. It's pretty amazing when someone provides a tutorial AND the pattern. 

 My brother's family lives in Cali, so I thought the sailboats and the fishes were perfect. AND, Cali Nephew seems to like red. I wonder which side he'll like better?

 I did change a few small things from the tutorial/pattern. I added a few lines of top-stiching that she didn't say to and I mixed up the coloring scheme a bit with the reverse side having a red top instead of having it all blue.

The fabric was all flannel that I got for $1.50 from JoAnn's on Black Friday! Those 3 hours spent in the cutting line was so worth it :)

I hope little Cali Nephew likes it!