sewing Archives | Brie Brie Blooms

My daughter has seen a commercial for a stuffed toy with a secret pocket several times this week. She really wanted to order one until I suggested we make our own.

I told her we could use any stuffed animal she already owned. She chose her big Easter bunny from last year. She loves this bunny and I was flattered she trusted me enough to operate on him!

I started by cutting a long slit down the seam in the back of the bunny.

My daughter had fun pulling out some of the “bunny guts”.

We pulled about half of the stuffing out of the bunny.

Next I made a lining for the secret pocket. I cut fabric and velcro one inch longer than the slit in the bunny. The width of the fabric was the depth of the bunny’s tummy. I sewed the velcro along the edges of the rectangle piece of fabric.

Then I stitched up both sides to create a bag (with the velcro pieces properly facing each other).

I pinned the bag directly onto the slit in the bunny and used my sewing machine to stitch it in place.

I trimmed the furry edges around the bag and the project was finished.

My daughter packed a pretend picnic and ran off with the bunny to have a tea party with her dolls.

You can barely see the secret pocket in the back when it’s closed.

The bunny is going to preschool with my daughter for show and tell today. I wonder if she will tell her friends that her mommy made him.

I’m linking this post here.

I love putting together themed baby shower gifts. A few months ago I found a couple of yards of adorable pirate fabric on clearance. It was so soft and I although I didn’t have a project in mind for it yet, I knew I had to buy it. I was really excited to be invited to a baby shower this weekend where I got to make a boy gift! It feels like everyone I know having babies lately are expecting girls. The pirate fabric was perfect for a themed gift – blanket, burp cloths, and a lovey.

I had some bright green striped fabric that went perfectly with the the blue pirates. The blanket was very simple. I sewed the wrong sides together, turned them right side out, and then top stitched the edges.

The burp cloths turned out really cute too. I use cloth diapers as a base to make burp cloths. Previously I’ve hemmed the edges of my decorative fabric before stitching them on the diaper. This time I tried something different. I serged the edges instead of hemming. I will probably make all my burp cloths like this!

The lovey is just a smaller version of the blanket with added ribbon to the edges.

For an extra touch of personalization I made a matching card and gift bag. I stitched fabric, ribbon, and a message directly onto a piece of card stock and then used hot glue to attach it to the top of the card. I didn’t sew directly onto the card because I don’t like thread showing on the inside.

The bag has a cute matching ruffle along the top. I ruffled the two fabrics together, hemmed the edges, and used hot glue to attach it to the top of the bag.