Sewing Project : Gift for my boss

My boss is having a baby boy in early September and instead of buying a gift, I decided to make one. This was a great decision because, it's an excuse to make something and it's more personal than just buying something. But the most important reason I decided to make a gift is because they registered at really expensive places!!! I would have ended up trying to buy the cheapest thing anyway.

I found some baby flannel fabric for $1 a yard at Jo-Ann's before I actually knew what I was making. Then I asked our friends with 2 kids what they couldn't live without. They said their "bicycle bag" which was basically just a thing that you put over the baby for keeping it warm. So they let me borrow theirs and I set about copying it. I needed to buy a long zipper, some batting, another yard of fabric (this time at $2.50 a yard) and some snaps but that was about it. Total for the gift came out to about $10.

So here is the original which is being modeled by Steven's Patrick doll.

The top part snaps off and on and the entire rounded bottom is one large zipper.

Here's my version:

My friend Trista gave me the puppy applique that worked perfectly to try and break up that very busy pattern.

I kind of wish I had made the outside the inside because I like the way it looks with the busy pattern more broken up. Here's a shot of the inside of it with snaps and zipper opened.

Here's inside of it without Patrick in the way. I ran out of fabric for the edging so that's why one is blue and the other is the patterned fabric. I made one improvement by putting in a sturdier zipper. The original "bicycle bag" had a very small metal zipper that the fabric get's caught in every time you zip it.

Here's the outside with it opened up.

I think it turned out pretty good. There's some weirdness about it but it's still functional. Since I was learning how to make it as I was going, there were a lot of mistakes made and things that I couldn't fix because I ran out of fabric. If I ever make another one again for another friend's baby, i'm sure it will be perfect. Still, not bad for $10.