Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Monday's Child Poem Onsies



Weeks ago, I promised a "tu-tu"orial here on The Jaunts.  Well, life has caught up to me, after being busy with Easter, and a sick kiddo and various other pop-ups I have FINALLY finished it!  :)  So... Here you go.



I've always said that when I have a little girl, she will dress up in tutus Every. Single. Day.  I love tutus on little girls, and so I am in HEAVEN that they are so popular right now! :)  I was thinking about how dang easy it is to make a tutu, and was going to whip up a few... and onsies with tutus sewn on are just the cutest... ever.

So, I made little tutu onsies for every day of the week with a line from the "Monday's Child" Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme.

Monday's child is fare of face, 
Tuesday's Child is full of grace, 
Wednesday's Child is full of woe, 
Thursday's Child has far to go, 
Friday's Child is loving and giving, 
Saturday's Child works hard for a living, 
but the child who is born on the Sabbath Day, 
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

Well.... I didn't want those EXACT lines on my sweet girl's tutu onsie!  (Who wants to put that their child is full of woe on their shirt!?) So I changed them up a bit, and made up my own version:

Monday's Child is full of grace, Tuesday's Child has a pretty face,
Wednesday's child has no woe,
Thursday's child has lots to grow,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child plays hard for a living,
Sunday's Child is fair and wise.

 For these tutus, I didn't like the idea of having elastic around her waist, and I wanted them to still be comfortable enough that when she is lying down (and lets face it, babies lie on their backs stomachs a whole bunch!) that she does not have uncomfortable knots on her back/tummy.  When your tutu is done, you can press your hand on the inside of the tutu and feel that it will be pretty comfy for your little girl to wear.   

This really is an easy thing to do, and you can make one single onsie, or a whole mess of them.  Plus, you don't even have to pull out a sewing machine.  I think this is also a cute way to personalize a baby shower gift, just print off an initial of your recipient's little girl, flip it on the computer and print it on your iron-on transfer sheet and follow the same directions.  I'm sure it would be a very welcomed gift, plus hold a special place in momma's heart because it was personalized from YOU! :)

If you can make a single stitch and tie a knot, you can make these onsies!


So.  First off, you are going to need:

7 spools of Tulle.  I got mine from the craft store's wedding section.
7 white onsies in the size you need
1 spool of white thread
1 hand-needle
1 12 inch ruler
Iron-On fabric transfer sheet
Iron
Scissors
Fabric Marker




You will also need to download the PDF that I made for the Iron-On transfer sheets.  You can do that here:
Monday's Child Poem Onsies PDF File or make one of your own.  Just remember to print them off in a flipped (or mirrored) image so it looks backwards on the page when its all printed on the transfer paper.  Otherwise, it will look backwards on your onsie once it is ironed on!

Once you have all of your supplies, print off your iron-on transfer sheet (again, you can do that here.) and cut out your transfers.  Make sure to read the directions on your transfer paper and allow for the appropriate edge around where you are cutting.

   

Following the directions for the transfer sheets, iron on the transfer paper to the onsie front, making sure that it is centered.  I folded mine in half, then marked the middle with the fabric marker, centered the iron-on, and then ironed on high dry heat.

  

Once your onsies are all finished and have the transfer on the fronts, use your ruler to measure up 2 " from the waist of the onsie leg, about where your baby girl's diaper line will be.  Then make little dots all across the onsie for guidance when you are sewing on the tutu.




Next, you need to measure out many many many many many feet of tulle!  I used my ruler and wrapped the tulle around it over and over again (almost using up the whole roll of tulle, I probably use between 50-70 feet of tulle for each onsie.  Don't worry, there are 25 yards of tulle on each spool. You will even have some extra for some matching headbands if you wanted!) until you have a good "chunk" of the tulle rolled onto the ruler.  Then snip both ends so you have many, many, 12-inch sections.




No, you could just fold each section in half, but I prefer to fold the tulle diagonally first and then find the middle to sew on.  It makes for a bit fuller of a tutu. Find the middle of your tulle section, pinch, and sew onto your onsie by putting your needle through the fabric from the underside, looping it around the middle of your tulle, and then sending your needle back to the inside of your onsie.


       



Then knot it off and snip off the excess thread.  This part is very time consuming to knot each one.  BUT, by knotting off each one vs. sewing them all on in a big row makes it so the onsies keep their horizontal stretch, so they will wear longer.


Repeat again and again until your onsie is full of tulle all the way around!



Then, repeat for all seven onsies to have a complete set.  When done, your little girl will be able to wear a onsie EVERY day of the week! :)


Obviously, you will want to hand wash the onsies in cold water and let them line dry or tumble-dry on low or no heat in your dryer.  This will preserve the quality of your iron-on transfer and avoid any cracking, or loosing any of your tulle pieces.  The nice thing about knotting each one separately, is that if one tulle piece falls off, then it's only ONE!  And you can easily med it (or leave it if you made your tutu full enough!) without having to sew a whole line of tulle pieces back onto your onsie.

Enjoy!  Happy sewing!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Keep Moving Forward

Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long.  
We keep moving forward, 
opening up new doors and doing new things, because we are curious.
...And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. -Walt Disney



Ever see the movie, "Meet the Robinsons"? If not you need to.  The movie is just so good.  It has a good message about family, not looking behind you, and doing your best.  It's my grumpy day movie.  When I am a bratty stressball, I like to watch it and it makes me feel good. :) Anyways, the above quote is from the movie and "Keep Moving Forward" is an ongoing theme...  Go rent it... or buy it... or put it on your Netflix que.  Really.  You will enjoy it!

Monday, May 9, 2011

More Fun Pictures of Astrid!

Back in January, we did a post introducing baby Astrid Nicole to our blog readers.  Well, when we went and got those ultrasound photos, she was being un-cooperative and we had a hard time getting some good 3D Images for us to take home.  We got a voucher that we could come back anytime during her gestation and get MORE!  :)  Well, we decided to take advantage of it this week and we went to get more pictures of our sweet baby girl.  Luckily, we caught a few, but she was still an un-cooperative little bugger, so we get to go back AGAIN!  Anyway, here they are!
Don't worry-  She doesn't have a hole in her head!
She was smooshed against her placenta so it was hard to get a good pic.


I love this one... She is already getting some fat on those cheeks!

Fussing already!?

The fuzzy area to the right of her (kind of on her back/shoulder) is her placenta.
It's hard for the ultrasound to get a good image with it in the way,
but I like this one because it looks like she is snuggled up under a blanket. :)

During the whole ultrasound appointment she kept yawning.
We caught one mid-yawn.  It was very cute.   

Check back next Friday (the 20th) to see some more!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother's Day!

So, I really did think ahead this week and we bought Mother's Day cards Tuesday night and dropped them to the post office on Wednesday afternoon to be sure that the special Mommas in our life would get their cards BEFORE Mother's Day....  Well... Everyone did except MY MOM!  :(  I am so sad about it!


So, I decided to have a little tribute to my mom on the blog... :)  Sorry if some of these pics embarrass the heck outta you. It's out of love, I promise! :)




Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love.  ~Mildred B. Vermont

 


I cannot forget my mother.  She is my bridge.  
When I needed to get across, she steadied herself long enough for me to run across safely.  
~Renita Weems






When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts.  
A mother always has to think twice, once for herself 
and once for her child.  
~Sophia Loren,Women and Beauty






 What are Raphael's Madonnas but the shadow of a mother's love, fixed in permanent outline forever?  
~Thomas Wentworth Higginson

 




Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.  
~Marion C. Garretty

 
 

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights.  
~Terri Guillemets







A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  
~Washington Irving




Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds.  Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends - but only one mother in the whole world
 ~Kate Douglas Wiggin




If I was damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o'mine.

~Rudyard Kipling




I love you.  Happy Mother's Day.