I AM THE COOLEST MOM EVER!

See what I did today?  Well, in the last HOUR!!

I am going to Comic Con tomorrow and taking some kiddos with me.  Keith was Obe-Wan for Halloween one year, and then Darth Maul another year.  Plus I just bought a Worf costume for him, too... just in case I could talk him into it (take off the sash and it is a Star Trek TNG engineering/science officer uniform... no Klingon makeup required).  So the boys have those costumes to choose from if they'd like to dress up tomorrow.  But little K2 had nothing to wear that showed our family's geek side.  Of course that didn't stop ME though!

While at Wal-Mart, I saw the Men sized geek shirts.  There was Sheldon saying Bazinga! or Green Lantern or Batman (which of course my little Superhero wanted desperately).  I love blue so I was drawn to the Superman shirt.  I bought it for a mere $7.50 in a Men's Small.  Then I came home and got to work.

I found THIS BLOG about how to make an old shirt into a toddler dress, looked it over, and realized that I could do this REALLY easily!

I found a dress of K2's that I really liked, though it's getting a little small.  But I liked the lines of it.

Next, I folded both the shirt and the dress in half.  I lined things up so that the front collar of the blue shirt could be used on the dress, and made sure I got ALL of the Superman emblem.

Then, I got out a dry erase marker and a ruler, then started drawing my cut lines on the blue shirt.  There needs to be enough space for a 1/4" seam PLUS, since the dress I'm patterning it from is a little snug, I gave it some extra space, too.  And I wanted it a little longer, so I did that, too.

I cut it out and began sewing.  Oddly enough, once I opened up the shirt, it sewed together nearly the same as the Taylor Gown that we just posted about!

I cut off some of the back collar from the blue shirt's scraps and sewed it onto the shirt.  I could have just left it on to begin with, but this was my first attempt at making an adult shirt into a kid dress.

Next, with right sides together (shirt inside out), I sewed the shoulder hem, followed by the sleeve hem (easier to do when you can still lay it flat).

Then, still inside out, I sewed the side seam.  Then I hemmed the bottom.

Turn it back right side out and this is what I had:

The fabric makes it look kind of like a night gown, but once I get some red tights under it and fix her hair so it isn't "I just woke up" hair, it's going to be PERFECT!!

So, yes, I am the coolest mom EVER!  I just made a dress for my toddler out of a men's shirt so that she could go to Comic Con with me!!

August

August was a pretty big month.  It started off with Seth's birthday which included a visit out to his grave.  We took balloons and flowers, and after dinner out we had cupcakes at home.  We took our two Molly Bears with us and the boys doted on them quite a bit.  Mitchell cradled and cuddled and Keith hugged and kissed.  They're both so very sweet with their angel siblings!

Next, I was able to send off a package to Granting Hope Ministries to help with some baskets and donations they were taking to hospitals to honor the 5th birthday of their angel son, Grant.  There were 25 outfits, most crocheted but some sewn, and diaper pairs included.  My dear friend, Stacy, included a couple outfits made specifically in remembrance of Seth & Taylor, as well as some sewn outfits that are just gorgeous.

Next up was sewing with the Mia Maids in my ward.  They helped sew LOTS of angel sized blankets (because a newborn sized blanket is just way too big for these babies)!  The girls did so wonderfully!  They completed 13 blankets, had 5 with top-stitching only to go, and cut another 6, plus cut several diapers, too!  All in all, for the month, we completed 24 blankets!

As if all this wasn't enough, there's still more.  Stacy and I created a new sewn angel gown!  There are two patterns frequently used.  One (the Tea Towel Gown under the Patterns tab) is absolutely beautiful with a back-closure (easiest way to dress an angel) but the sleeves intimidate me with my lack of sewing skills mixed with my perfectionist attitude.  I've made a few "shirts" that I never finished because I always stop at the sleeves.  Then, there's a second pattern (the Share Kimono Gown pattern) that is much easier in the way of sleeves, but it has a front-closure (harder for dressing angels) and a neckline that I am not so good at so I always send out the gowns to a neighbor-friend who serges the neckline for me.  I really wanted a back-closure gown that had short sleeves and where I didn't have to add on the sleeves to the rest of the body.  So, we created one!  The TAYLOR GOWN (after my little Taylor) was born!  I don't have to send out my gowns anymore!  I can now sew them myself!  Each has their place, we just added another option.  These pictures are ones Stacy did with scrap fabric as we tested the design...

Left:  Tea Towel gown (back closure, long sleeves)
Center:  Taylor Gown (back closure, short sleeves)
Right:  Share Gown (front closure, short sleeves)

After working long and hard on this, making several tests and changing a few things here and there, testing again, and dreaming at night about how to make the pattern better, I'm so excited to say that the pattern is ready for use!  Remember, my sewing skills are lame, I mean minimal, at best.  This pattern was made so that I could make it without having to have someone help me.  If I can do it, I'm pretty sure you can, too!  It is available to download by clicking THIS link, or you can go to Stacy's blog and see her beautiful workup of the gown HERE, or among our favorite PATTERNS.  This is the second pattern that I've been a part of creating.  The other was the WAVY BLANKET crochet pattern that I worked up a few months ago.  I'm really enjoying all this!  Anyway, more sizes to come soon, but this is a size bigger than we can easily crochet, so I hope you'll give it a try!

And still working....

For almost every blanket, there was a matching pair of diapers.  And then extra diapers, too.  My goal was to make sure each blanket/diaper set had a gown to coordinate with it.  I crocheted, and crocheted, and crocheted, and don't you know I'm still crocheting.

Pictured are 35 hats donated by Annette - my mother-in-law posted pictures of the diapers they were sewing and Annette asked what she could do to help.  Is that not truly amazing?!  To the left of the hats and scattered throughout the picture are lots and lots of diapers that my husband's parents and uncle helped sew, around 35 sets total, so 70+ diapers (lots of the fabric donated by Ashley who also cut patterns for many of them).  18 of the 24 blankets are also pictured, along with 2 no-sew hats, 5 Share pattern gowns, 15 crochet outfits - 1 small, 12 medium, and 2 large... plus one of my Taylor Gowns!  I'm fixing the collar on 2 more, but this works for now.

Total this month:

24 blankets (thanks EM 6th Ward Mia Maids)
70+ diapers (thanks Ashley, Shari, Milt, and Morey)
8 sewn gowns (thanks Brittany)
25 crocheted gowns
35 knitted hats (thanks Annette)
6 no-sew hats

Also...  I'm now 30 weeks pregnant and feel baby "Vash" kicking often!  This is my first experience with a baby who gets the hiccups, too!  Hubby felt her hiccups one day, the first he'd really felt this baby at all, and his face just lit up like you wouldn't believe!  He's so sweet and excited about this little girl!  There's still 57 names on our list (we start with every name possible and take names off - rather than seeing a name we like and adding it to a list) so don't expect her to be called anything but "Vash" for a while yet!  In the mean time, I'm crocheting a blanket for her, trying to get out all the newborn/0-3 clothes for her, cleaning up the car seat, arranging our bedroom for both the birth and a pack-n-play, and feel the testing kicking in big time!  She's around 3 lbs already and just under 16" long, according to the estimations various baby sites post.  She's a joy already and I'm getting very excited to meet her... though not TOO soon!

A few outfits...

 

 

 

Sewn Gown Patters are found HERE and Sewn Diaper Patterns are found HERE

I put the extra small gown with small diapers and a 10-15" square blanket (12" most popular),

and the small gown with the large diaper and a 16-22" square blanket (18" most popular).

No-Sew Hats Pattern can be found HERE.

Crochet Patterns, including those for gowns, diapers, buntings, bonnets, hats, and blankets, can ALL be found HERE. Feel free to mix and match the crochet patterns with the sewn patterns!  If you're a knitter (unlike me) let me know and I can post some knit patterns, too!

This set is being given to Brittany in memory of her recently lost 16 week son, Brighton.
Love and hugs, aching mama...

The sewn items need a thank you to Lynnette, Brittany, Anna, and Rachel.  THANK YOU for cutting and sewing!  The hats were a donation from a neighbor, THANK YOU Kelly!  And I did the crocheted gowns/dresses, diapers, and blankets.  I still have more to take pictures of, but I thought I should show you a little more of what I've been up to.  (not pictured but important to note - Tricia donated several spools of serger thread, very necessary stuff when you're trying to sew!)  All but one of these are headed to Sew Much To Share for their Mother's Day Supply Drive - yes, I realize it's late, but Kiersten got pink eye so I didn't go up that week, then I thought preschool ended at graduation but I mis-read the paper so I didn't make it up this week, so I'm going to try to get them up there next week.  I'll just keep on making more stuff until I get there!  If you have anything you'd like to donate (yarn, flannel fabric, thread, outfits, etc), PLEASE contact me ASAP so I can deliver it!  Also, I take yarn donations, too!  Caron Simply Soft and Bernat Baby are my favorites for making these angel items!

Again, THANK YOU to all of you who have helped!  Lynnette, Brittany, Anna, Rachel, and Tricia, I am certain you will be blessed for your generous help!  And (other) Brittany, I am so very sorry for your loss.  Breckin and Brighton - angels to remember.

And as always, much love to my angels, Taylor & Seth.

Angel Blanket Crochet Pattern

Ch 52
(to increase size, the formula is a multiple of 12 +3, then add a ch 1 to turn)
Approx. 20+ week gestation size

White - sc across, ch 1, turn

Color A (pink):
row 1 - *sc 3, hdc 2, dc 5, hdc 2* across (ending with sc 3), ch 1, turn
row 2 - sc across, ch 1, turn
row 3 - repeat row 1, (should have sc on top of sc, hdc on top of hdc, and dc on top of dc), ch 1, turn

White - sc across, ch 3, turn

Color B (blue):
row 1 - *dc 3, hdc 2, sc 5, hdc 2* across (ending with dc 3) ch 1, turn
row 2 - sc across, ch 3, turn
row 3 - repeat row 1, ch 1 turn

I started with a chain of white, then sc all the way across.
Then I took color B and did only rows 1 and 2, followed by the white sc row.
At the end, after a white sc row, I did color A's row 1 and 2 only.
Skipping the color A row 3, I did the white sc row and then did the border.

Does all this make sense?

By the way, this pattern was adapted from an awesome hat pattern! 

To the EM 8th & 9th Wards

Thank you so much for letting me join your Relief Society Activity last night!  You were all so very kind!  I know Heidi wanted to be there, but knowing she would have had to hurry off to accomplish another something, I'm glad I was able to fill in and answer questions.

There are a few things that I thought might be helpful to you, but of course they didn't cross my mind until I was laying in bed.

First, fabrics and yarn:
Choose the type of fabric you use carefully. Flannel works wonderfully, as do many cottons. Choose a fabric that is not so lightweight that it is see-through, unless you plan to line the gown. Fleece, while cuddly and warm, should only be used for larger gowns and should be a lightweight fleece. When you put a fleece gown on an 18-weeker, the bulk of the fabric drowns out the baby. Same thing if you make a matching hat, fleece simply doesn’t work well for our tiniest babies. Knits finish up nicely, but can be a bit more difficult to work with for beginners.

When selecting your fabric, keep in mind who will be using it. While a Sesame Street sleeper might be adorable on a happy little newborn, it just feels out of place on our precious angels. Pastel colors work best. If you do choose a fabric with a pattern, keep it subtle. Remember that pictures are usually taken and we don’t want the pattern in the fabric to compete for attention in a photograph.

If you choose a patterned fabric for a blanket, try to pair it with a solid gown. If the pattern of your fabric is a little loud, consider choosing a more subtle coordinating fabric for the back of the blanket. This will enable the photographer to use the less distracting side of the blanket for pictures.

Yarn: I use the Caron Simply Soft yarn for the crocheted outfits. It is a thinner yarn but really soft. Walmart usually has a decent price on this type of yarn. They will also price match any ad so you can get an even better deal if you're watching. You can make these outfits out of almost any yarn - I just prefer how soft these are. If you use a thicker yarn your outfit will turn out bigger. If you use a thinner yarn they will turn out smaller. Outfits of all sizes are needed.  Thicker yarns, like Red Heart, are also more scratchy which isn't always the best for peeling skin of these tiny babies.

Colors: We do a lot of white and cream outfits. These are gender neutral which work really well for any baby. Light blue and light pink are also colors we use a lot. Many angel babies are born with bruised or discolored skin. Certain colors really don't good next to that sweet baby skin. Some Heidi has warned me to stay away from are fuchsia, turquoise, bright yellow, orange, green, royal blue, and in general, really bright colors. Another thing she warns against using is variegated yarn - or yarn with more than one color. In these tiny outfits it generally turns out looking blotchy and just doesn't work well when photographing these tiny angels. If you do want to use variegated yarn, use it as more of an accent rather than the main yarn. Or just stick mostly to the basics of white, cream, blue, and pink. Simple, muted, solid colors work best.

Next, size chart: (**if you're trying to make neck/bow ties or headbands, the size chart in that link is VERY IMPORTANT for you!**)

For under 18 week gestation babies, use the Tiniest Angel Gowns crochet pattern with the Small/Medium diaper crochet pattern.  Also, fleece transfer-pads are nice for these smaller sizes, 10-14" square.  A burial pouch would also be nice in this size (or another version found HERE or HERE).

For 18-23 week gestation babies, use the X-Small gown or the Large Kimono crochet pattern, the Small sewn diaper or Large crochet diaper, and a coordinating 18-20" square blanket. 

For 24-29 week gestation babies, use the Small gown or Size A Gown (under Patterns tab), the Large sewn diaper, and a coordinating 20-22" square blanket. 

For 30-36 week gestation babies, use the Med/Lg gown or the Size B Gown (under Patterns tab),
and a coordinating 23-25" square blanket.  A 3.5 - 4.5" bracelet is also a nice touch for this age group.  A disposable preemie diaper is much easier than sewing a large enough diaper at this size.  I don't know of any sewn diapers this large.  If anyone else knows of some, let me know.

For larger/older babies, you can more easily go to the store and buy preemie or newborn sizes to fit these babies.  So, while there are still bereavement needs after 36 weeks, the need for homemade outfits decreases as stores carry these sizes.

Coordinating hats are also nice in each size - either knitted or made with a jersey knit fabric.  For these, I'd keep them one solid color.  We don't want them to distract from the very tiny baby being photographed.  Keep in mind the color suggestions listed above, too.

Alright!!

If you can think of anything else you need, let me know!  If anyone wants to add more pattern links, comment with them and I'll add them into the post!

Be sure to note THIS link, too.  It is to the current needs as determined by the Utah Share group.  Heidi and I can both get things distributed where they are needed, including to this group and to hospitals and to NILMDTS photographers. 

**EDIT** 
I wanted to add that I found the cutest PILLOW crochet pattern!  I shrunk it down (16 chain, F hook) and put it with the 18-23 week gestation patterns.  Look at this:

Patterns and a short Video

I have had several people ask me for patterns so they can help!  I am SO HAPPY that people want to help!  I now have 14 custom requested boxes in the works, plus I want to donate to hospitals, and the need just never stops.

First, I want to show you the amazing slideshow my friend, Lynnette, put together recently:

Next, let's start with the basic patterns:

These precious diaper patterns are found HERE.  The smaller size fits 18-23 week gestation babies.  The larger size fits 24-32 week gestation babies.  If you would like to sew some, or even just cut some out of some flannel and send them to me to sew, PLEASE contact me!  Leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.

The gown patterns can be found HERE.  If you want to make sets of diapers and matching gowns, here is the match up:

X-Small Gown with the Small Diaper with 18-20" square blanket

Small Gown with the Large Diaper with 20-22" square blanket

Md/Lg Gown can be paired with a Large Diaper OR a preemie Huggies diaper with 23-25" sq blanket

Take a look at the other patterns available on that website, too!  Utah Share is FOR angel babies and their families left behind.  And please be sure to see THIS PAGE for helpful hints such as appropriate fabrics.

Next up is for bigger babies (and by bigger, I don't necessarily mean big):

This Tea Towel Gown is found HERE, then click on the Patterns tab.  Aren't they sweet?  This site/blog is kept by the amazing NILMDTS photographer that took Seth's pictures.  This is a picture she took after a craft day she recently held where women gathered to iron, cut, sew, and finish these amazing angel clothes.

Crochet Diaper-Shirt patterns:

I absolutely ADORE this pattern!  I learned to crochet basically JUST so I could make one of these!  No, this one is not mine.  You can find this pattern HERE along with relevant information and other patterns to complement it.  There is one set of instructions that is just written out and a second set that is a complete and AWESOME photo tutorial that has really helped me as I've been trying so hard to make one.  Also, see THIS page to see it opened up and also what a dress would look like on this.  The dress photo tutorial is newly posted, too!!  Isn't Stacy just AMAZING!!

Other links:
Sizing chart - HERE

Knit Hats - HERE

Burial Pouches - HERE for tiny babies too small or too delicate to be dressed for burial

And please contact me if you're interested in donating anything.  The need is great and what a great way to spread some comfort and love.