Sewing (& Waiting) for Baby

Rainy Monday Greetings dear friends & readers

Last weekend I came across my scribbled list of all the things I wanted to make for my soon-to-be-born grandson, 
& flew into a bit of a panic

Verrry little time ...... still lots to make !!!!

When my friend Sally gifted me the gorgeous Peter Rabbit fabric above, I immediately knew I wanted to make a Baby Bag & then fill it with some handmade goodies

A quick google search for diaper bag patterns & I came across this one here that I really liked .... a decent size & not too fussy.

The bag came together quite easily - I tried to use what I had on hand & not have to purchase anything.

The green polka dot was a perfect complimentary lining fabric & I had lots of help from a certain quality control officer to ensure my measurements were all accurate !!!

The bag is fully lined & you can add as many inner pockets as you like

I purchased a few baby care products from my supermarket to tuck into the pockets.

The one change I made was, instead of using fusible interfacing for the bag I used some thin wadding I had - I find the fusible interfacing too rigid & prefer the wadding which is more pliable.

Of course - a label to complete the bag.

Recently while on an outing to Rotorua I popped into Spotlight & purchased some flannelette on sale
While chatting to the lady as she cut my fabrics for me, I asked her for some white towelling please to make bibs.
She leaned ever-so-slightly across the counter & whispered to me "go over there to those bins, buy a white bathtowel for $5 - its much cheaper & thicker than the towelling & you will get 6 big bibs out of one towel"

I was so very grateful & after a wash, it certainly did come up thick & fluffy
Another quick google search for free bib patterns & I used this simple one here

Bibs still waiting to be ironed

Whilst filling the bag with gifts - including the blanket & wheatie I made Here, I decided I wanted to make a little plastic zipped pouch for putting any wet clothes/nappy's etc into

I used the pouch gifted to me by my friend Claire in this post, as a guide

The pouch is fully lined with the plastic - the tiny Peter Rabbit print just seemed the perfect match for the bag & the cute animal bias binding came from my local woolshop

front of pouch                                                                                                          back of pouch

Frequently on my trawls through the Op Shops I come across half rolls of wallpaper for 50c - this pale blue was one such find.

I used it to sew up a giant gift bag to sit the Diaper Bag in with all the smaller parcels wrapped inside it

Ready & Waiting & now we just need baby boy to come into the world !!!

In my last post I mentioned how I had visited my friend Elaine right in the midst of a de-clutter
This tray below was one of several items that came home with me ....

I gave it a paint with my cottage cream wall paint, then I lightly sprayed the cane part of it as I find this gives better coverage than brushing ever does
My plan had been to find some pretty floral paper serviettes & then mod podge the flowers scattered over the tray
However, I had neither the time, inclination, nor funds to go traipsing around trying to find just the right paper serviettes .  .  .
 .  .  .  so the tray sat abandoned for a week

Yesterday whilst rustling through a drawer, I came across a lovely piece of scrapbooking paper - pretty vintage squares which I cut out & decided to display as a bunting across the tray
I mod-podged them on along with a small flat vintage lace to "string them together"

I was thrilled with the result & now just have to decide whether the tray is going for sale in the Cottage .  .  .  or going on display in Julie's house!!!!

Thank you so much for your entries into my pincushion giveaway & your lovely comments you left me.
I am not drawing this til the end of the month so you still have time if you would like to enter.
You can leave me a comment on my last post, or on this one here letting me know.
Finally dear readers, although we are full swing into autumn here now, my lovely planted suitcase is still flowering merrily away on my deck - it has done so well this year

Lobellia & Impatiens (busy Lizzies)

Wishing you suitcases overflowing with flowers this week
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0