Mary Jane Baby Booties

I am feeling quite sad this weekend. Apparently I am too small and my womb is too tight. Other than chowing down 2 Big Macs plus a KFC tower burger a day I don't know how else I am suppose to get bigger???? So it took until Sunday 4pm to get in the mood to finish the second nappy change mat and these booties for him.

So here is my second attempt at sewing the baby booties. Of course, I got a little too cocky this time and though oh yeah I know how it's done now. Read on for the big boo boo that I made. I did this pair using the remmants of the baby pouch sling that I made. 8 by 9 inch square is all that I required, that would be a TON of booties! :) So I decided that I would line it with cotton instead of wool felt. Perhaps this is not the best result as it was rather thin.


Thank goodness for fusible web, it is a lifesaver! So here's the little booties before top stitching. They look so cute already just look at the little soles.


Topstitching had been done and I proceeded to sew on the little ribbons. Once again, I am using the leftovers of the grosgrain ribbon from the bear booties. After sewing the ribbons on, I put them together to take a picture. Sigh... I had not flipped one of the tops on when cutting it. I had placed both of the right sides facing up! I made two of the same sides! DOH! What a boo boo, I had it correct at first but I flipped it over just as I was cutting it! Duh...
Anyway, I thought that's fine, he will not know his left from right for ages. Another sad Ling attempt at bootie making.


This time it was much easier to sew the soles to the tops as they were not interfaced. Thank goodness for getting the right materials. So check out the two right side booties. You just have to laugh!

Little Bear Booties

I wondered if I was over ambitious in attempting to sew these little baby booties after a LONGGG hiatus from the dusty sewing machine. But I could not resist ordering the patterns off PreciousPatterns - preciouspatterns.etsy.com
They looked so so cute and absolutely adorable compared to the plain mary janes. So at the first attempt, I decided to make the baby bear ones instead of the plain mary jane ribbon pattern that I bought as well.


I made the mistake of assuming that fusible web was the same as fusible interfacing. Instead of sticking the lining to the cotton drill material I used for the outside, I had to rely on top stitching them together. I think I will use both felt for the lining and topside in future as it is softer to handle. So this is what it looked like after the top stitching stage. I thought my crooked stitching created quite the cheeky bear. Mick was running in and out trying to clean the house and help me with the little bears. At this stage he was cooing about how adorable they already looked.



The bear ears were handstitched onto the head. I did not think my machine could take all the layers. Top stitching the ears were the most difficult part of the exercise. They were too small to turn so I had to stitch one stitch, leave the needle in the material, lift up the presser foot and turn the ear. Mick was really excited at this stage and said it was the cutest little thing he had ever seen. By this time my finger hurt from handstitching and forcing pins into all the layers of materials. I persisted on as he was really enthusiastic!



Correction on the above statement, the hardest bit was sewing the soles to the tops of the shoes. I had to enlist Mick's help in pinning the soles ready for the machine as my fingers were hurting so badly from pinning earlier. Some parts of the sole was not stitched down to the body but I went back and handstitched them together. The above is my final result. My bears are indeed lopsided and cranky pants. If you look at PreciousPattern's shop you will see their sample pieces that are so cute and loveable! But as you can tell my finishing leaves much to be desired! i am sure that Pork Chop will forgive Mummy for shoddy work. I am now looking forward to making some more booties! Perhaps the ones that are larger sized next time. These bear ones were for 0-6 months.