Crochet Shorts

I love making crochet shorts, and kooky granny square shorts are the best. I have two pairs I made for myself that always get compliments from people in the street and I absolutely love them. I made these from the leftover yarn from all the rompers I knitted for her in her first year so it was a great way to use up some of the bits in my yarn stash.

Crocheted Spring Cardigan

After not making any clothes for what seems like ages little Mio finally needed a cardigan to wear in the early mornings and evenings. I wanted something loose to wear over dresses and tops, and something that I could make quickly.
I crochet a very basic cardigan based on rectangles from some bamboo/cotton in my stash and finished it off with a lovely handmade wooden button. For such a simple design it looks quite sweet and pretty and is exactly what Mio needed.

Mio's Pink Romper

I started out with the intention of crocheting Mio a little top from some recycled denim yarn I had in my stash but I just couldn't get it to look how I wanted so after pulling half of it undone multiple times I decided to just crochet the top part and have fabric for the body.

I have already made a pinafore/top with a crochet bust and fabric body before so I wanted to make it a bit different and I thought I give a romper a go.

I've never made a romper before and I wanted to use woven fabric so this was a big experiment for me. I copied the basic shape from one of Mio's rompers making it wider across the crotch and adding width to the waist to accommodate the lack of stretch.

I sewed the sides together then gathered the top of it and sewed it to the crochet part. I then made some bias binding and finished the edges around the crotch and legs.

I sewed a button to the back of the crochet section and crocheted a loop as a button hole.

I had some sew on press studs for the crotch opening in my sewing box that had been in there since Dave's mum gave me her sewing box. Then with a bit of elastic that my friend unpicked from her dress one time when she was over, I sewed along the edge of the legs so they would be slightly gathered.

And that's it, it came together surprisingly easy since I had no idea what I was doing to begin with. I like happy mistakes and adventures that end up with a piece of clothing that I'm happy with!

Crochet Bibs

As is probably very obvious by now, I'm very keen to make as many clothes for my children as possible and with Mio beginning her adventures with food I needed to make some bibs.

I have plenty of yarn that my mum gave me recently so I figured I should put it to good use. I didn't follow a pattern, just made it up as I went.

I still need a few more for the collection but this is a good start.

Knit, Sew, Crochet

At the moment it seems I have an endless list of ideas and projects on the go but over the past few days I seem to have put the finishing touches on a few things I've been working on. There's nothing like freeing up some mental space for new ideas.

The most recent additions to Mio's wardrobe include a beautiful pale blue pinafore that will allow Mio to grow into it turning it from a pinafore into a lovely top. I designed it so she will hopefully have several months of wear out of it which is always a bonus.

After working on a prototype and sourcing materials for an idea that popped into my head while I lay half asleep one night, I completed some gorgeous baby knickers for our adventures with elimination communication.



Mio's new top has a stretchy garter stitch section at the top which gives plenty of room for her chest to grow. I really love the delicate dot stitch for the body, it gives the pinafore a pretty, feminine touch. Garter stitch also makes for great edging on the sleeves and around the bottom of the top.

As you can see it passes the baby taste test. It's made with a soy/ cotton blend so it's super soft on baby's skin.

I made a nice wide opening at the back so it's easy to get on and off, and I fastened it with a shell button. 

Dot stitch and garter detail.

Neckline detail.

I'm a fan of wide sleeves, they go so well with this pinafore... And look, she's sitting already at 4 months, my how fast they grow! 

... And here are the baby knickers.

I'm really happy with how these knickers turned out, it was exactly what I had in my head, I even managed to find the fabric I imagined.

I lined the knickers with waterproof bamboo fleece so it's extra soft for her little bottom.

I blanket stitched the top of the knickers and then crochet a band with a draw string to hold them up.

Because the knickers are made from woven fabric I made sure they would be a bit roomy so they would be easy to get on and off.

no bulky nappy means she has easy access to her feet- her favorite play thing. 

I like the wide band at the top, it's made from recycled denim yarn.

These knickers are great for elimination communication, I'll be making some more of these for now and as she grows.

Crochet

I was recently given a whole lot of yarn from my mum who because of an injury can no longer knit or crochet. I find yarn incredibly inspiring so I was excited to get started on creating a few new things.

I decided to try my hand at making a doily without a pattern. It was a great little project for the train ride to and from school and when I had a few spare moments at home. When it was finished (it worked up pretty quickly) I sewed it onto a shirt I found in an op-shop for $2. It's a great way to add feminine touch to some clothing.

Now that the weather is warmer and the washing doesn't take two days to dry inside I've decided to start elimination communication with Mio. I've noticed for a while her cues when she needs to wee or poo but being a Winter baby she needed layers of clothing to survive our cold house- not the ideal thing when you are learning your baby's toilet cues. So now that it's warmer and we can forgo the many layers of wool (well most of the time anyway, Melbourne can be a bit moody) we need a whole lot of little baby knickers. Of course I am keen to make whatever I can rather than buying it so I quickly thought up a few ideas and set to work. Here's one I crocheted quickly in one evening, my design still needs tweaking but I'm pretty happy with it. It could probably function as a nappy cover for a new born as well so the design potentially has long term use. I used painted and engraved coconut shell beads and some left over cotton I had from making India's doll.

Making daily trips to and from school means that I have a few short periods where I can sit and enjoy my baby or if she's sleeping and I feel like I need to be doing something I can do some work on a small knitting or crochet project. This bonnet crocheted up pretty quickly and is great for a bit of extra warmth on cold Spring mornings or for protection from the warm sun in the middle of the day. I made it from some gorgeous organic cotton yarn which was so beautiful to work with.

India's Little Doll

We recently made the big decision to cut India's dreads off. After nearly three years she was ready for a change so we gave her her first haircut. I couldn't bring myself to through her dreads out though so I put the aside and set to work on a doll I could sew them onto.

Here's the result of my work...