Soft and Cuddly

My cousin Amy has been in the process of adopting a little girl for three years. Well, about a week ago, their prayers were answered and little Molly joined their family. That means I get to make my favorite baby gift....hooded towels!

Now, you can buy hooded towels in the store, but they are either those thin, oddly-shaped things, or they are relatively expensive without a lot of character.

These are big and soft, made from a full-sized bath towel and a handtowel cut in half for the hood. There are lots of tutorials on line about making hooded towels....I use a method given to me by my sister-in-law.

Ribbon trim sewn across the hood gives them that right amount of character and cuteness, and I try to pick out the perfect combination of towel color and ribbon for each gift. Anytime I can give these as a gift, I do...and they are always a hit. I even whipped up a couple for my kids to use at the pool this summer out of nice oversized towels.

When I give them as gifts, I like to roll them up nice and neat and tie them with a matching ribbon. These are going out in the mail today....I hope little Molly enjoys them!

And Now for Something Completely Different….

Let’s face it: sewing little girl’s clothing is infinitely more fun than little boy stuff. Before I had my daughter, I did sew for my son….I made him jumpers, overalls, pajamas, etc. But now that he’s a big first grader, his taste in clothes have moved beyond “cute handmade.” And he isn’t even really wearing pajamas anymore…he mostly just sleeps in boxers. Sigh. So now I mainly sew things for little girls.

But I have had a few people say to me, “Let me know if you do something for boys,” or “you should do something non-gender specific.” Well, I haven’t been inspired to do any little boy clothes (although my new little nephew will probably be getting some things from me!), but I did create something that will be perfect for a little girl OR a little boy.

With back-to-school on the mind (my son already started yesterday!), I thought I’d create some kind of backpack, targeted for the preschooler. I wrote before about how much I love the drawstring backpack I made for myself from a great online tutorial, but it’s a little large for the preschool set. My friend Tracey showed me an adorable quilted drawstring backpack in a sewing magazine, but there were a few things about the construction of it that I didn’t quite like. So I thought: why not combine what I like about the two of them? And that’s what I did! I’m very pleased with the results.

This bag is just the right size for a preschooler (11 inches by 15 inches), and the outer cotton denim fabric will withstand a school year's worth of use. Plus, it's completely washable!

There is plenty of room for all the preschool "necessities," like a change of clothes, and the drawstring opening is easy enough for a little one to open...

The outer pockets are perfect for a large sippy cup and even a little friend!

The interior fabric coordinates perfectly with the fabric on the outside pocket....

And the quilting on this bag gives it such a cute look and plenty of charm! I will be offering this bag on my etsy site! http://www.itssewsweet.etsy.com/

If you like this bag, but would like different fabrics, contact me, and we can work together to come up with the perfect bag for your preschooler!