Getting Creative

This week I've been home dog sitting while my husband's been away on business.  So I've been able to spend some time sewing, although not as much as I'd like since I've got to spend time with the dog and keep her happy as well.  I've never been a really big dog person, but my husband is, so I'm working on warming up to the idea of having a dog.  Some days I make some progress....and some days I don't....we're watching the dog for 3 weeks so I've got plenty of time!

In the mean time, I've been working on some new items to sell and have come up with this bib and burp cloth set:

I had made a little blanket out of the doggie print for a friend and decided to go a little further and make a couple of burp cloths and a bib as a gift.  I like making smaller items because they are easier to maneuver and take less time to make.  I really like how they turned out, but it's funny to think that all these will do is catch spit up and spilled food...they're really just personalized designer rags.

I hand embroidered the baby's name on the set.  I've been reading up on hand embroidering and trying to improve my stitching and the variety of stitches I can do.  I really like the way hand embroidery looks.  Maybe one day I will invest in an embroidery machine, but for now, hand embroidery is the cheaper (although more time consuming) alternative.

And to top it all off, I just couldn't resist making these with some scraps of fabric to include in the gift.  They are just too cute!

To make these, I used a pattern from a fellow crafter's site and have made quite a few pairs since.  I can't sell them, but I sure do love making them as gifts for other people.  Perhaps one day I can spend some time developing my own pattern for little shoes and can start selling those.