Black Rainbow Quilt

I just finished my first quilt, which I have dubbed the “Black Rainbow Quilt” because my 4 year old’s color choices were rainbow stripes on a black background. I had pretty much no idea what I was doing when I was piecing it, so I’m sure there are more efficient ways of doing it, but it came together nicely in the end. 6” square blocks, 9 blocks by 11 blocks, so approximately 54” by 66”, the perfect size for a little kid to drag around from room to room and tote to grandma’s. Self-binding (jury is still out on that one… I think I might prefer a bias-cut separate binding) and Warm and Natural fill. Not bad for a first try! Next one will be a playmat for the baby… can’t wait to go fabric shopping for that one!

SSC Hybrid Baby Carrier

I was disappointed with the performance and comfort of my first carrier, so I tweaked the original pattern mentioned in the Part One Pattern Making Tutorial and made a second carrier. It’s much prettier than even shown in the picture. Straps, waist, and reverse are made of coffee bean bull denim (such a lovely fabric for a carrier!) with a blue, silver, and brown brocade outer layer (inner layers of canvas duck and double-sided fleece for stability and padding). It is also a half-buckle with 4” wide and 82” long straps, but I put the straps in at a 45 degree angle instead of 60, which is far more comfortable for my build. Straps are padded with fleece, but sewn perpendicular to the strap edges, which compresses the padding less and gives a little more loft. I’m going to cut the straps down by at least 6-8” since I prefer to cross in front in a back carry instead of tie tibetan, which was the purpose of the long straps. Waistband is a 3-piece structured curved waistband and padded with layers of 1/4” yoga mat. LOVE LOVE LOVE this carrier, though the straps dragging in slushy parking lots are annoying, so I’m making myself a full buckle based on this same pattern.

Okay, maybe I’m a bit obsessive, but one of these days I’ll hit on my perfect carrier! This one is pretty close.

Half-Buckle Tai Carrier

Well, best-laid plans… I never did get around to writing the carrier sewing tutorial I promised in the previous post- I got into the “just get it done mode” and forgot to take pictures as I was constructing it.

This is a half-buckle mei tai baby carrier, sized for an infant. Body is 12” wide at the narrowest and 14” wide at the top. Top straps are 4” wide by 82” long, and waistband is a typical padded waistband meant to be worn apron style. Picture of the reverse:

I experimented with a lot of different techniques, including a detachable hood which didn’t work so well. I first tried using heavy anorak snaps, which just tried to pull through the fabric. I finally used regular snaps, which were then too thin to set right through the layers of cotton and canvas and just popped out when I used the hood. Oh well. I found that I didn’t like the 60 degree angle of the straps anyway, so this is destined for either my closet or the FSOT forum on The Babywearer. But it’s a very pretty carrier!

PROJECT: Faux Dream Carrier Half-Buckle – Part One (Pattern-Making)

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Andrea of Dream Carriers (www.dreamcarriers.com) should be quite flattered. I recently got a pre-owned Dream Carrier Original baby carrier, and it’s quickly become my favorite carrier. It helps that it’s the most beautiful Amy Butler print I’ve ever seen, but I digress. Anyway, point is, I’m on a “commercially” made baby carrier ban since DH doesn’t quite understand why anyone needs more than one, so it’s all DIY carriers for me, from here on out. I figured I would use the Dream Carrier body as my starting point for my half-buckle tai and make changes on future carriers from there.

Normally, I would post the measurements, but since I’m basing this off someone else’s work (for my own use) I don’t want to infringe on her intellectual property any more than I already am. :-) But you can certainly use my method to make whatever you want. One of these days, I will learn how to make patterns for real from one of the very good books out there, but right now, I’m just kind of developing a method that works for me.

I usually use newsprint for my patterns, but my entire stack got mistakenly thrown out with the trash over the weekend, so these are done on the back of last year’s Christmas wrapping paper. I’m finding it actually works quite well!

Below are pics of what I’ve completed so far: the pattern for the body and the carrier waistband. I used a half-inch seam allowance all the way around, except for the bottom where it will insert into the waistband, and the end of the waist strap where the webbing is going to be inserted. There I used a one-inch allowance.

So this is how I went about drafting the pattern.

1) I started with how wide I want the body of the carrier at the bottom where it inserts into the waistband and drew a line across, then marked the center.

2) From the center, I measured up how high I wanted the body to extend and marked it.

3) Measured down the center line several inches to where the widest point will be and drew a line across (this is the line you see marked below the half circle.)

4) Marked the body of the carrier at its narrowest point and then made a straight vertical line for several inches. I lso marked a horizonal line at the exact center, so I can shorten or lengthen as I need to without distorting the other dimensions.

5) The tricky part was creating the curves, as I don’t have a flexible curve rule or dressmaker’s ruler on hand. I used the good old fashioned “string and pencil” method to create the curves. The trick is to find the place where the distance to the starting and ending point of your curve is equal. Think of a pie-shaped wedge. (Yeah, I know, that’s as clear as mud.) Let’s just leave it at this: I will be going down to JoAnn’s for a flexible curve before I make another pattern!

6) I did the curves for the top and bottom the same way.

7) You’ll notice that I have two dots on the left hand side: that’s where the webbing and buckles will be inserted if I use this pattern to make a full-buckle. I like to think ahead!

In order to make it symmetrical, I made all the measurements and markings on the left side, then folded in half along the center line and cut it out. I will most likely cut the fabric on the fold, but I wanted to leave it full size in case I had a compelling reason to cut in one layer instead. (Pattern-matching maybe?)

The waistband part is pretty self-explanatory. I liked the Dream Carrier’s angled strap where it goes into the buckle, so I copied that pretty closely.

The finished product is a bit more hourglass than the Dream Carrier, and slightly wider and taller, but it will have the same contoured shape. I have yet to decide whether I’m going to make up a muslin to check the pattern, or if I’m going to go straight to cutting the finished pattern. Luckily I will be using inexpensive quilter’s calico and twill that I already have on hand; I’ll perfect the pattern before I go on to cut my very lovely Michael Miller “Birds of Norway.” I’m also contemplating making a two-tone outer body, with that top half-circle becoming the same fabric as the straps and reverse side. It would have a bit of a Babyhawk or Kanga look then. (Though I will probably be making a version with a headrest like those as well… ah, so many projects, so little time.)

Stay tuned to see how the sewing comes together!

RECIPE: Chewy Vegan Snickerdoodles

When my second child was a few months old, he was sensitive to EVERYTHING- soy, dairy, eggs, you name it. Since I was nursing, that meant I had to avoid those too. But I quickly started going through junk food withdrawal, so I started adapting my favorite recipes to allergen-free (and therefore vegan) versions. Here's one of my favorites.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup palm oil shortening (such as Spectrum)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
Warm water
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup flax seed egg replacer (or 1 egg)
Cinnamon sugar mixture

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together first four ingredients. Cream shortening and sugars, adding 1 tablespoon of warm water at a time until mixture is creamy and resembles creamed butter. (This may not be necessary.) Mix in applesauce and egg replacer or egg. Add flour mixture and blend until a soft dough is formed.

Drop dough by tablespoons onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will puff up slightly in the oven and flatten as they cool.

FLAX SEED EGG REPLACER: Boil 1 tablespoon of whole flax seeds in 2/3 cup of water for 5 minutes. Strain out flax seeds. This will produce between 1/4 to 1/3 cup of liquid, which will have the consistency of egg whites when cooled.

CINNAMON-SUGAR MIXTURE: Thoroughly mix 3 teaspoons of cinnamon with 1/4 cup of granulated sugar.

PROJECT: Kozy Mei Tai Slipcover

My Kozy mei tai is beginning to look a bit faded from washing, so I decided to spruce it up a bit with the slipcover. For those of you who want to try this yourself, I'll walk you through step-by-step.

There is, of course, easier ways to do this than making a pattern. You could just lay the carrier down over a piece of square or rectangular fabric, pin where you want to sew, and go. But my goal was to make a commercial quality pattern that I could use to do multiple slipcovers and know it would come out well. I also realized halfway through that I could use this pattern to make a whole new mei tai; all I had to do was add straps.

You could, of course, use this tutorial to make a slipcover for a carrier other than a Kozy, though I have not yet determined how to slipcover a buckle tai. When I get my Dream Carrier in the mail this week, I’ll have to take a look, and eventually modify the instructions to accommodate the waist strap.

The first section will walk you through making a pattern. The second will walk you through the sewing and creation of the slipcover. Happy sewing!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

MAKING A PATTERN

1) Choose your paper to make a pattern. I like plain newsprint, since it’s easy to work with, heavy enough not to rip, and easy to pin, but you can use kraft paper, butcher paper, even a paper bag cut open flat. Lay the carrier right side up on the paper and trace the outline of the carrier body. Decide how far you want the slipcover to go up the straps and add 1 inch… that’s how far you should extend your lines up the straps. Remove the carrier and use a ruler to make all your lines straight, even, and dark.

2) Next, decide what seam allowances to use. I used 1/2”. Use your ruler to measure and mark 1/2” outside the drawing all the way around, and use the ruler to connect the dots.

OPTIONAL: Mark notches on both sides and bottoms (using 1, 2, and 3 notches) to help you match up both sides of fabric. If you’re a sloppy cutter like me, this is essential to getting the pieces to line up properly.

3) Cut out your body pattern, including notches.

4) I decided that, in addition to two sides of the cover, I wanted a flap that would tuck around the bottom and Velcro the opening shut. Make a rectangular pattern the width of the straight bottom part of the carrier. How long it is depends on your seam allowance and the width of your Velcro. I used a 1/2” inch seam allowance and 3/4” velcro, therefore, I cut the pattern piece to 1 3/4” inches. If you want, cut matching notches.

CUTTING AND SEWING YOUR PATTERN

5) Now lay out your fabric and prepare to cut. You will want to wash, dry, and press the fabric before cutting, since it can shrink if it’s washed after sewing. Because you traced the carrier outline face up, you will want to place the body pattern face up the right side of your outer fabric. Pin and cut, including notches.

Lay out your lining/inside fabric right side up, and place your pattern face DOWN. This will insure that all notches match up. With factory made carriers, it may be possible to just cut both face up; however, most handmade or semi-handmade carriers are not symmetrical, so it’s very important that you cut the pattern from the correct side of the fabric.

Cut 2 of the flap pattern, preferably through two layers, folded right sides together. This will make sure that any notches will line up with the body of the carrier.

6) Press and pin seams on both front and back body pieces. Because I chose a 1/2” rolled seam on the strap channels, I folded over 1/2” and then another 1/2”, and pressed. Press and pin up the bottom opening seams by your chosen seam allowance, in my case 1/2”.

7) Stitch all strap channel seams and bottom seam on back panel. Do not stitch bottom seam on front panel yet.

8) Cut a piece of loop velcro to fit the width of the bottom back panel seam. Pin to the WRONG side and sew around all four corners of the velcro.

9) Fold over and pin seam allowances on the BOTTOM long edge (unnotched edge) of the flap pieces. Press, then sew.

10) Pin together flap pieces, right sides together. Sew around the 3 sides that have not been hemmed. Clip corners and grade seams to reduce bulk. Turn inside out and press.

11) The next part is the tricky part. Sandwich the pressed over seam allowance on the bottom of the front piece between the flap pouch. This means your raw edge will be placed in the middle of the pocket, with right sides of the pocket facing out. Pin and stitch.

12) Lay front panel out, right side up, with the pocket below. Pin the hook Velcro across the front of the flap. It looks different in the picture below because I sewed the Velcro last, after the cover had been assembled.

Pin right sides together and stitch all the way around, being sure not to close the strap channel openings. Clip strap channel corners within seam allowances. Turn right side out and press.

14) Insert your carrier, threading the top straps through the strap channel openings first. Then insert bottom flaps, smooth out carrier inside, and tuck velcro panel around the carrier to fasten on inside of back panel.

You’re done!