baby in the hood

This may just be my most exciting piece of clothing sewing yet. {maybe after my wedding dress, but I had help on that} It doesn't get much cuter than this little hooded coat. And sewing it all up was surprisingly simple - thanks Anna Maria Horner!

Her new book of sewing patterns to welcome the new baby made the rounds around the web a little bit ago. I read nice reviews of Handmade Beginnings but didn't rush out to buy a copy. I lack the baby to be welcomed. Well, that was until our friends graciously decided to have a little one so I could do some tiny sewing. Ok, so it wasn't for me that they made that decision but I was certainly going to use them as a great excuse to sew.

Still, I couldn't justify buying an entire book. So I turned to one of my favorite places - the library! They had the book {with its accompanying patterns} and I didn't even have to wait long to get it. Oh boy did I have fun flipping through the pages and looking at all the pretty pictures! But deciding what to make? That was the tricky part. After first falling in love with this little jacket I read through the directions. Each step looked detailed and many had explanatory drawings. Not once in my read-through was I left thinking 'hmmm, how am I supposed to do that?' Some times I read through a pattern or tutorial and something either doesn't add up or a small, but important step seems to be missing. Not this time! I could do this!

Next it was a matter of getting fabric. I was bummed to hear that my favorite fabric store, Harts, was having a huge Super Bowl Sunday sale. Bummed because we had no plans to be in Santa Cruz that weekend. But then my sweet mother-in-law offered to go for me if I gave her a wish list. I jumped on that offer!

Harts has a great website featuring many of the fabrics they carry in store. Thank goodness! I browsed their selection, made a detailed list, and sent it off to Betty. The day of the sale she called me when she was at the store to double check some of my selections. She reported that it was a zoo there. I couldn't even imagine! Thanks Betty for finding everything I asked for!

My initial reading of the pattern turned out to be correct. Each step was clear and detailed, but there were quite a few steps. Still, I took my time to make sure everything turned out right. It was a joy to follow such a well written pattern.

Well, the library book has been returned and it has seriously got me considering buying this book. We'll see. There's another baby on the way for me to sew for. {no, I'm not pregnant - just have friends that seem to like having littles}