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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sewing Projects

That's what I've been up to. Lots & lots of sewing! It all started last year. The plan, that is. I bought the kids Easter baskets from Pottery Barn (on sale & not full price). Glad I did b/c they are sold out again this year. The liners I wanted were out of stock as well so I figured I would wait until this year to get them. Turns out that I HATE the liners they have this time around. Last year's liners were bright. I love me some bright colors!

Here are the liners from last year. I can't find 1 of the boys. I wanted to get the girls the pink polka dot liner & the green polka dot one. I didn't really like any of the boys so I went w/ a blue polka dot.


I also have to admit that I wanted their names embroidered on their lining. As you know, having triplets gets expensive very fast. I couldn't have afforded to purchase them anyway. So, what did this crafty momma do? I made my own. From scratch. Yep, that means making my very own pattern.

THAT was not easy.

As a matter of fact, it was frustrating at times. I'm not a seamstress by any stretch of the imagination & I hate patterns so this proved to be a tough project. I had no idea how to sew the bottom of a basket liner that was in the shape of a circle, to start off. As a matter of fact, I had never sewn a liner for A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G so I really didn't know where to start.

Ian's was first. I picked his b/c the dark blue is forgiving. Glad I did. It didn't turn out badly at all though. I at least had have the mind to 'look' at a liner in an Easter basket at Joann's last weekend otherwise I would have never figured out how to do the sides.



I embroidered Ian's name after I put it together, another mistake. Much easier to embroider BEFORE you sew the pieces together. Duh.

Then it was time to hone my skills w/ the girls' liners. I cut out all the pieces, embroidered their names on the appropriate piece & sewed my little heart out. The 2nd liner actually came out worse than Ian's but at least it was only on the bottom & will be covered. I once again figured out some 'tricks' of the trade as I went along.

By the time I got to the 3rd liner, I was a PRO. Not really but I felt like it.



All in all, I'm happy w/ the finished products & I think these liners are classy & will grow w/ the kids for the years to come. Trust me, I don't plan on sewing another round basket liner for quite some time!


Cost of a Pottery Barn liner w/ embroidery...
$34 for the large basket x 3 = $102
$18 for the large liner x 3 = $54
$9 for the embroidery x 3 = $27

The grand total had I bought it all, $183.

Cost of Mommy's version...
$18 for the large basket (on sale after Easter last year) x 3 = $54
$3.99/yd of fabric x 3 = $11.97
$0 for embroider (I already had all the thread & machine) x 3 = $0

The grand total for MY version, $65.97. HELLS YEAH. That is a savings of $117.03. That's what I'm talkin' about! And, they get something made from Mommy w/ love. Can't beat that!

4 comments:

Kristen and Mike said...

I came across your blog when I was trying to find out information on triplet pregnancies. It has been great reading about your experiences and getting ideas from you. I am expecting triplets this spring and am 28 weeks along. I really want to try to breastfeed as much as possible and get the babies on a schedule because I am planning on going back to work when they are about 4 months old. I wanted to talk to you more about both of these aspects of having triplets. If you have a chance and do not make helping me out, please email me at flybase21@comcast.net. Thanks so much!
-Kristen

Susan said...

Cute! Can't wait to see pics of the kids collecting easter eggs!

Lauren Danos Manuel said...

hi i am a mom of two and was hoping you could share your steps of making the baskets..i have had so many failed attempts that i gave up but the hubby said no to PB! HELLLOPPP!!
thanks in advance

Unknown said...

Hi! I am trying to do the exact same thing you did with the baskets - Can you give more detail on how you did the pattern? Did you look at an existing one? Also, how did you do the embroidery? Did you take it somewhere or did you do it yourself? Just curious! Thank you! Great work!