Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Lil' Bunny Bathmitt

I've found that stuffing an Easter basket for a toddler can be a bit tricky, not enough teeth for candy & too young for cash. (Hm, I'm not sure how appropriate that'd be anyway)

That's why Samster's going to find things like this Bunny Bathmitt in her basket.All you'll need to make your own is 1 handtowel, 1 washcloth, a bit of black felt, a sewing machine & about 20 minutes.Oh & here are the patterns I drew up, print these out too so they're full page size. "Fit to page"
*If you've never used a pattern all you need to know is that solid lines are where you cut, dashed ones are where you stitch & when cutting on the "fold" it means that side is the fold in the fabric. That way when you open it up it's twice as big & even on both sides. This only applies to the loop piece for this patternStart off by assembling the ears. Cut them out with the bottom of the ears coming from the finished hem of the towel, this way it won't unravel on you. Once cut you'll need to pin the smaller inner ear to the outer ear piece with the right sides together. To get it even I started with one pin at the top center of the two ear pieces & a pin holding each bottom corner together. Since one is smaller than the other you want to make sure the gathering of the bigger outer ear is even, pinning them this way should help. In the pic below you'll see the pins I started with & then how I started working from the bottom up...Once you get both ears pinned they should look something like this. (front & back views)Stitch or serge around the edges well leaving the bottom open for turning. Terry fabric & I have a bit of a jaded past...the seams always comes undone after a few washings. But last time I made Samster a hooded bath towel I stitched all the seams multiple times, it's held up perfectly for several months of washings so far. All that to say with this mitt now that I have the serger I went ahead & serged all my seams, twice, if I was using my regular machine I would've stitched all the seams at least twice with a small zig-zag stitch. Turn the ears right side out & set them side.

Now we'll make the little loop so you can dry your bathmitt & hang it by the tub. I cut mine out with one long side of it using the hemline of the towel, you know that sturdy decorative part? This way it was easier to sew. Fold it in half & stitch down the long end, set aside.Next cut out your mitt pieces, be sure to line up the fabric so the finished bottom hem of the towel is the bottom of your mitt too. This will make it look totally pro. (;Pin the mitt pieces right sides together (if your terry has a right side, mine looked the same on both) with the ears & loop pinned on the inside too. The bottom edge of the ears & loop should be lined up with the edges of the mitt.Stitch around the seam being sure the catch the ears & loop. Turn right side out, whenever I turn something I like to run my finger along the inside of the seam just to be sure I caught the edges everywhere, if you noticed you have a little hole you can just turn it inside out again & re-stitch.

Now it's time for bunny's face & tail. (sorry I don't have a pic of the tail, the camera battery died & I'm anxious to get this post up, it's pretty darn cute though, & pink) First I used Wonder Under
on the cut-outs. It doesn't hold terribly well on terry but is good enough to give it some stability (like I said, terry tends to unravel) & also hold the pieces in place while I stitch them on. I just used regular thread to stitch on the pieces & was sure to stitch them on well. Like twice around well.

That's it! Little bathtime bunny is ready for action! And not a minute too soon, Samster has a terribly stomach bug & has been getting 3 baths a day. But that was more information than you were looking for wasn't it...

14 comments:

  1. thats looks so professional! I am going to have to make a couple of these! Thanks so much :)

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  2. Oh my gosh, Natasha! That is the cutest thing that you cannot buy! I love it!

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  3. You are so creative! What a great idea!

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  4. Hi..loving this bathmitt idea. Such a sweet bunny for your daughters Easter basket. Thanks for posting your creative idea, pattern and how-to. Appreciate it.
    p.s. Hope Samster has kicked that terrible stomach bug to the curb. Poor thing.

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  5. Natasha, that's adorable! I love it! I'm so heading to pick up a few towels and washcloths tonight! Too cute!

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  6. This is *adorable*! I am going to make them for my kiddos! :) Thanks! :)

    mommyoftwo247.blogspot.com

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  7. Just a thought-have you ever thought of serging or sewing your terry pieces together on your sewing line and then cutting close to your seam?
    You could even do an enclosed seam (sew with wrong sides together, turn inside out and sew with right sides together.)

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  8. Very Cute! I love this idea!
    Kristin
    peapodcreations.blogspot.com

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  9. You are so talented. I love all the stuff you make. I haven't tried it yet. At the moment i don't have much time. I work full-time and have 3 kids (sarah - 13, Hayden - 5, Hudson - 1). I just wanted to let you know that you are very talented. Thanks for doing this blog.

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