What's In My Crochet Bag - Sewing Edition

I don't sew. I should state this clearly for the record. I kinda hate to sew. It's nothing personal against those who love to sew, it's just that I wasn't built for it. My mother, however, proudly sports the "She Who Dies with the Most Fabric, Wins!!" bumper sticker, so I grew up with it. I learned how to do it. I own a sewing machine. I know how to do it and how to do it right. Most of why I don't like it is because I find doing it right to be sooo tedious. And the ironing. Ironing is the bane of my existence and also a core sewing skill. Iron your seams or you will regret it. Trust me, because I never do and I always regret it.

In any case, after asking for your opinions regarding a shower gift for my darling friend Lisa, I decided to embark on a sewing project. I started out making notes and taking photos as I went, tutorial style, but I actually followed Sew, Mama, Sew's instructions, pretty much to the tee - except with less ironing.

And here is the final result:

Changing Pad unfolded, wipes case open.

Actually, I can't complain about any of it. It went together fabulously easy and looks totally usable and even handy. The diaper pad seemed really small to me, but the truth is that I had ginormous babies and I always carried a blanket because the ones that came with my diaper bags were always bitty. I love that it rolls, though, that seems much easier to deal with than the folded ones.

My favorite though is the wipe case. This will hold a travel size pack of wipes (like the one poking out in the picture) and a couple of diapers. In other words, if you are out running around and don't need a full diaper bag for whatever reason, you could throw a couple of diapers in there, maybe your keys and cell and go. No bag needed. I totally wish I had one of these. I pretty much discovered this idea when Maren was already potty training. But I think I'll give one of these to everyone that I know, now.

Changing pad rolled, wipes case closed.

Lisa was doing her nursery in greens and yellows and other gender non-specifics, so I chose the fabric based on those colors, but with a touch of girliness thrown in, because it's really for her more than the baby anyway. Just a hint for new moms: your baby doesn't care about the diaper bag or anything in it, so get what you like.

One of my issues with my changing pad (the few times I used it) was that it was the same on both sides, so I never knew which side had been on the germy changing station last. Hopefully, the different fabrics will eliminate that issue.

I did buy fat quarters for this project because, well, why not? I love fat quarters. The total fabric cost was around $6, which seems unbeatable. Of course, I also bought a whole spool of that ribbon and had no basics (like velcro or um... thread) on hand, so the overall cost was more. But all in all, I think this was a pretty amazing little gift that didn't make me want to kill anyone. I'll probably be making more.