A Gift for Amelia

A few weeks ago my friend April gave birth to an adorable baby girl named Amelia Liliana!! 

I was so excited when I found out she was having a girl.  Two of my brothers have six kids between them and five of them are boys.  We haven't had a baby girl around here for 12 years.  And I didn't even know how to work a sewing machine when she was born.  The boys have been a lot of fun to craft for, but the older they get...the less interested they are in the gifts I can make for them.  That is until I learn how to build my own Wii or PlayStation or remote control helicopter.

So, of course I was just tickled to get the chance to make baby girl presents!  I definitely went way overboard, but it was a lot of fun.  I started with the moses basket in the picture above.  The bumpers, the ruffle, the ties and the sheet are all made from flannel to give Amelia that extra soft coziness as we get into the cooler months.  I love giving a moses basket as a baby gift...almost as much as Amelia seems to enjoy sleeping in it.  You can get pretty extravagant and creative with how you make the lining and most moms are so appreciative to have this for the first few months.  You never have to leave baby sleeping alone in the room while you are trying to catch up on things.  Plus, the lining is so quick and easy to make!!

Unfortunately, we live a couple thousand miles away from each other, so I wasn't able to make it to the baby shower.  But, I sent a bag filled with all homemade gifts...

The whole group

I always like to make a little something for the siblings, and Amelia's big brother Jacob loves the Care Bears.  So, I made Care Bear Big Brother/Little Sister shirts for the two of them.

I got this great tutorial from Dana's blog Made for the knit dresses and used a Dumbo picture to create my own stencil, like I did here.  A little blue knit to trim the neckline and a pair of blue knit bloomers...what an adorable outfit!! 

Recently, I discovered elastic thread and how to create these adorable looks with it.  And, I love it!!  Plus, I added a pair of bloomers to go with the dress.  My niece is always asking for dresses like these, but the pre-made fabric with the elastic section is so expensive and the choices are so slim.  Now I can make her a dress like this out of any print!! 

One more outfit with the elastic thread...this one is a one piece jumper with snaps in between the leg holes for easy diaper changing access.

And last, but not least, I made a small diaper bag for mom.  When she had Jacob a couple of years ago, I made a large diaper bag.  She wanted something smaller for the little trips.

So, I hope they enjoyed all of it. And maybe if I am lucky (and April is reading this), she will send me pictures of Amelia wearing the outfits. (hint. hint.)