Baby shoes, baby shoes, baby shoes

KCWC is over. I didn't make as many thing as I'd have liked but I got a lot more done that I would have otherwise. I didn't end up making the shirtdress yet because I'm intimidated by all the pieces and the collar. I've learned something from this months challenge though. I plan on participating in the next one and will definitely remember to have my patterns cut out, thread at the ready, and everything organized by day.

Last night I did a good bit of sewing. I sewed another wraparound onesie and one of the hats from my list. I didn't take a photo of them though. I'm still getting used to swing with knits and how much to stretch the ribbing on the edge. I sewed 5 baby shoes. I made one shoe, my first, the night before last and was traumatized. When I went back to the pattern again last night it was so easy and really enjoyable. I want to make all the baby shoes now. My mom calls them moccasins, haha. The night before last I crocheted a baby hat out of Mirasol Sulka. I love that yarn so much. It is absolutely lovely. I forgot to get a photo of that. I should have posted it on Sunday.

My sister in law hit 30 weeks today. Where has the time gone? I'm so nervous. It's her first baby and I've been faffing away the time when I should be knitting and crocheting warm stuff for her. Tomorrow I'll start knitting a pair of socks for the baby's tiny feet. I should probably do a gauge swatch tonight. I t need to make sure and not peter off with these like I did when I made the ones for my nephew. One is totally done and the other is 90% done but they've just been laying around since last winter.

Pattern: Reversible Baby Shoe pattern from the Weepereas shop on Etsy.

Materials: 

Pink Gingham (3-6 months): Outer: Lisestte Gingham (Pink) from Joann Fabrics Inner: Tiled Primrose (Canary) - Heather Bailey, Organic Cotton Sherpa - Michael Miller 

Black Cars (3-6 months): Outer: Echino Car (Black) - Etsuko Furuya Inner: Kelp Stripe (Brown)- Heather Ross, Organic Cotton Sherpa - Michael Miller

Black Cars (0-3 months):  Outer: Echino Car (Black)- Etsuko Furuya Inner: June Dot (Black)- Alexander Henry, Organic Cotton Sherpa - Michael Miller

Notes:

The wonderful Beth from Weepereas sent me this pattern during KCWC and I can't thank her enough. I really wanted to make a baby set of matching bib and shoes but was not finding a pattern that inspired me enough to make the shoes. Beth's pattern is for totally reversible shoes which is just what I wanted. She includes lots of photos and great tips in her pdf pattern. The best thing? It's multi-sized and goes from 0-3 to 12-18 months. I'm thinking about making a pair for my 14 month old nephew.

I started with the 0-3 month size first. Since it was my first time I probably should have practiced with a bigger size so it was a little less fiddly but they look great. When I got to the part where you join the heel to the toe section I must have stared at the text and photos and pinned and re-pinned my fabric for at least 15 minutes. It just wasn't making sense to me even though it was very clear. My brain plays tricks on me like that sometimes though. Once I finally breathed out and followed the instructions I was ready to go. I think this and pinning all the layers together is the hardest part. I made the first shoe, looked at the pieces for the second and called it a night. Last night I came back to it and all I had to do was skim the pattern to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything and dive in! It's so easy once you've gotten the first one done.

On the next 2 pairs of shoes I made I made small adjustments. Putting these here mostly so that I remember for next time.
 1. I was putting thick cotton sherpa to line the soles so I sewed the inside layers together and seamed on the outside. I wasn't sure of my ability to try out a new seaming method with the fabric
 2. I got smart after having ankle openings that looked different sizes. I marked where I would stop pulling each end of the elastic with a dot from a water soluble fabric marker.
3. I like the look of topstitching, so I topstitched at the very the top edge of the toe sections after they were sewn to the heels.
4. I cupped the top of the shoe to the outer sole and pinned into place then cupped both pieces to the inner sole and repinned. Takes a a while but helped me get things more smoothed out.
5. I used wonder tape to keep the heel pieces in place as well as pins when sewing them to the toe pieces.
6. I used this invisible seam tutorial to close up the turning holes.

These shoes are lovely for scraps. I want to go looking in my scrap bags with the pattern and just lay it on everything to see what shoes I can make next. The pink gingham is leftover from the dress to the right. I gave it to the little girl I homeschool. She loves it. The cars and kelp stripe are left over from a quilt I made my baby nephew. Sadly I don't have any more of the car fabric left :( The tile primrose fabric is left over from a knot dress I made without and apron. I don't have any kids so i also gave that away. The sherpa is from a burp cloth I made 2 years ago abut never gave to anybody. I usually throw things away when I haven't given them to someone so I'm really glad I didn't do it this time. The fabric is so soft. I have another burp cloth waiting for the seam ripper so I can 'harvest' the sherpa, too.