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Baby Shower Embellishment Station

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The embellishment station at the forest wonderland baby shower was well received by so many guests, young and old.  The goal was to provide a variety of elements for clothes decorating so that there was something for everyone. You can find all the details on fabric and patterns for the layette in this post.
I have a thing for buttons.  When my cousin and I were little girls, we’d spend hours and hours playing in our Granny’s button drawer.  I guess it made a lasting impact.  I know my cousin appreciated the extra large selection of buttons for decorating her little girl’s layette.  
 
For appliques, there were a few options for guests.  I pre-made a variety of iron-on appliques, some simple, some layered and complex.  These were popular among guests; all they needed to do was peel off the paper backing and iron them right into place on the garment.  For the more adventurous guests, I provide scraps of fabric with lite heat’n’bond already on the back.  I also provided simple and complex cardstock templates for making appliques.  Quite a few people went to town creating their own appliques.  I cut the templates using the Cindy Loo cartridge with my Cricut.  I also provided scraps of fabric without adhesive, but I don’t think this was needed.  
The cutest little tags with the cutest little safety pins for guests to tag their work.  The tags are from Martha Stewart; found them at Joanns.  Safety pins from my stash.
Oops…another button picture.  How did that get in there?
And this….possibly my favorite thing (besides the teeny tiny baby clothes) I made for the whole shower.  A felted toadstool pincushion.  It’s kinda so fuzzy and irresistable, I just want to carry it around.  I like it a lot.  But, it’s made from styrofoam, so it’s actually not all that durable.  I’m thinking on a better way; for the purpose of looking cute and holding needles at the shower though, it did just fine.

 

Baby Layette – The Dresses

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For my cousin’s baby shower, I wanted everyone to be able to add their own special touch to a coordinating layette for the baby.  This meant that, with the exception of a few store-bought onesies, I sewed clothes and accessories for 35 guests to decorate.  For the most part, I used one fabric line:  It’s a Girl Thing from Michael Miller.   I also used a few other fabrics that color coordinated.  I kept everything within a specific color palette so that the embellishments/buttons/appliques would be interchangeable.  Today, I want to share the five dresses that I made for the collection.  For the sake of organization, I’ll list the materials, pattern used, and commentary beneath each picture.  
Itty Bitty Baby Dress: Free Pattern at Made by Rae
Fabric:  It’s a Girl Thing Quaint Cupcakes Pink by Michael Miller
Notions:  white piping, pink medium ric rac
Comments:  quick to sew, pattern is available for newborn and up to 3 months, this dress came out SO cute, I love the piping detail!
Ruffled Peasant Dress:  pattern adapted from a simple peasant dress, I use a simple peasant dress pattern.
Fabric:  main: Kona Cotton in Snow, It’s A Girl Thing Eiffel Tower Blossom Pink, (pink dot – not sure, I think it’s Robert Kaufmann),  Lost and Found, pink cream damask sparkle by My Mind’s Eye for Riley Blake, Mirror Ball Dot for Michael Miller
Comments:  Kind of my standard dress up a peasant dress design.  I add the rows of ruffles around the bottom and a pop of color on the gathered sleeves.  I think the white, plain top really leaves a nice space for some fun embellishment.
Itty Bitty Baby Dress: Free Pattern at Made by Rae 
Fabric:  more of that yummy soft jersey knit I picked up in the L.A. Fashion District during my 1-hour sprint last month.
Comments:  Making this dress with a knit made it SUPER fast, I didn’t even hem the bottom.  It turned out really soft and comfy, perfect for a teeny tiny baby.  Pictured is the dress after a guest embellished it – I LOVED what became of this one!!
 Knot Dress:  Tie Band Knot Dress Pattern by Whimsy Couture
Fabric:  Kona Cotton, It’s a Girl Thing Doily Dance Gray for Michael Miller, that pink dot again (sorry!!)
Comments:  I snuck this picture in before, but this is what I made it for!!  Cute, simple, good for embellishing, good for layering (though I did make it in a larger size for next spring/summer)
White Doily Dress:  I started with the McCall’s M5835 pattern, but I didn’t really stay true to the pattern.  I worked around the lace collar piece and I’m not sure how much I varied from the pattern (sorry, it’s been awhile now).
Fabric:  Kona Cotton
Comments:  This is my favorite piece in the collection. It was also the very first thing I made.  I was staring at the lace piece from my stash and just went from there.  For me, this combination of gathering, creamy whiteness, and the vintage lace, just equal perfection.  Love this one. 
Alrighty!  Hope that sparks some ideas/resources if you’re sewing for a little one.

 

You can find more pictures of the layette embellishment station here.
 

Forest Wonderland Baby Shower

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I have this incredible cousin.  Her name is Melanie and we’ve been the best of friends since we were born (just two months apart).  We know each other inside and out and grew up dreaming aloud of the day we would get married and have families.  Big dreams we had of living all together in a two-story, pink house with our own little kiddies running around, the best of friends just like us.  Over the past couple years, Mel and her husband, Mark, have prepared and planned for their first baby.  The road has been rough and finally, they are just weeks away from meeting their long-wished-for little girl.  It was such an honor to organize a baby shower to welcome my soon-to-be niece.  I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed creating the backdrop for such a special celebration. 
 
The shower was held in Mel’s beautiful backyard.  The decor was meant to be a reflection of the baby’s nursery decor, a forest wonderland of sorts with birds and owls and moss and toadstools, in pinks and greys, and whites.
 
 Remember the vintage typewriter that I painted pink?  Well, the whole rationale for bringing that beauty home was to set it on a secretary desk (which I also snatched from my antique guy and gave it the paint/distress treatment) to stage a “Wishes for the Baby” area for this shower.  Guests were able to write wishes on little tags and then I bound all of them together on a jump ring for a cute, little keepsake!
 
Melanie’s best friends, Keri and Erin, prepared a complete Vegetarian brunch for the shower – everything looked outrageously beautiful all set out and it tasted wonderful.  My sole contribution to the food table was a spread of lemon creme crepes, which my sweet mom made for me, so that I just had to fill them the morning of the shower.  I had a little fun with the dessert table, making a swirled flower cake to accompany the most delicious chocolate, peanut butter cake made by Melanie’s friend, Kerry.  For a little flare, I molded some cute owl pops and placed them in moss containers.  And I did up just a few cupcakes, with toasted coconut nests and cute, royal icing baby birds (thank you for the idea, Martha).  Oh, and some itty bitty eclairs, of course!  To round out the custardy, chocolatey goodness on the table.
 
 
 
 The most exciting part of planning this shower was creating the baby layette embellishment station.  I sewed my little heart out making tiny dresses and pants, skirts and bibs, burp cloths and blankets, all in coordinating fabrics.  I added a few store bought items, such as onesies and shoes to round out the collection (and because there were 35 people expected at the shower!!!)  I provided all kinds of embellishments that coordinated with the layette items for the guests to decorate and personalize an outfit for the new baby.  Buttons, appliques, ribbons, embroidery floss, everything that I could think of to make a fun activity that would leave the baby with a handmade piece from everyone.  I hung a blank tag on each item so that the person embellishing it could leave a note for Mel and the baby.
 
 Here’s a picture of my gorgeous cousin!  Isn’t she radiant with her baby bump?
 
And the two of us – thanks for letting me play baby shower, Mel!  I love you and can’t wait to meet that little princess!
 
 

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