March/April Project finishes!

So G has had this horrible cold that just refuses to go away (we actually think it was 3 different colds) so he's essentially been sick for the last 5-6 weeks.  Baby L has been sick, gotten better, and then gotten sick again during the same period. I had a little sore throat and cough for a few days (thank you pregnancy immune system!) and Miss J seems to have made it through this whole ordeal unscathed. That means G has had some early nights to bed, and I've had a lot of time at my sewing machine!  I'm taking full advantage before Baby #2 comes along and whisks away all my sewing time.

So first, a quilt finish that I didn't share previously because it hadn't made it to its final home.  Now that it has, here it is!

A fun geometric pattern on front, and cuddly minky on the back

Next in the project finish list is a chair cover for a kid's Ikea POANG chair. I used an old shower curtain to save a bunch of time hemming, so this project came together in a little over an hour.  Now when Baby L wipes her snot all over the chair, we can pull the cover off and wash it.  She still prefers the big chair over her little chair, but I think that's more because she likes climbing more than she likes the actual big chair.  We're working on that...

POANG Chair Cover

I also made Baby L some bathrobes from hooded Ikea towels.  Since our amazing and beautiful apartment doesn't have any bathtubs, we've been teaching her to take a shower, and then walk from the shower to her bedroom so we can put on her diaper and pajamas.  She's not really coordinated enough to hold a hooded towel around herself, so I converted these 2 towels into baby bathrobes.

Before....

After some quick cutting and sewing....

Baby robes with sleeves!

In keeping with the theme, I decided Baby L needed one more towel bathrobe in her rotation because only have 2 is a little short based on our laundry schedule - especially when she's a little bit sick and super duper snotty all the time.  Rather than buy another hooded towel, I decided to make one from some terry that I purchased from another expat here in Dubai - and I wrote a tutorial about it!  I also made 4 extras of these little robes to give away as gifts since they are pretty quick but have a pretty good "wow, you made that?!?" factor.  Have I mentioned I love baby projects?  They are so fast, the instant gratification is just so....instant! I could have made 6 robes out of the terry cloth that I had, but I ended up cutting the the first one in such a way that the scraps don't really work out for making a second robe without adding a few seams...so those scraps will probably turn into bibs, burp cloths, and washcloths.

One of five toddler bathrobes that I created a tutorial for.  Baby L's is pink on pink, but currently in the laundry so I didn't get a photo of it.  

In between all this terry cloth, I made up some quick cloth bags as part of a volunteer effort for Dubai Sustainable City. While we don't live there because it's too far from my office, it's beautiful community! The mums that live light put together care packages for the workers every year at the end of Ramadan, and the package is housed in a "boomerang bag", which is basically just a cloth tote bag. I couldn't make it to any of their sewing events, so instead I committed to making 5 of these quick and easy bags at home.

Boomerang Bags for Ramadan care packages

And finally, the best project, for me anyways - my new sewing table!  I had been sewing in a little cubby area under the stairs (very Harry Potter-ish, I know), and I had to duck every time I went to and from my sewing machine.  No more!  With my new sewing table and the removal of a big ugly out-of-date treadmill from our stairway landing, I now have a big space for sewing.  My old sewing desk is now my cutting table, and I have tons of room to spread out - plus a nice big rug (not in the photo, I happen to be standing on it when taking this shot) that I can work on layouts with!  The only issue I've had with my table so far is that since it's mostly steel, it tends to shake a lot when I'm sewing fast (vs a wooden table), but I'm in love with how much s-p-a-c-e I have.  I'm pretty sure once Baby #2 is born, she'll be in a little bassinet or rocker sitting next to the sewing table while I work away.

Mama's new happy place!