Welcome to Tulips and Turnips - Handmade for Baby!
The place of my creative journey. Most of my posts,
at least so far, have been about the processes involved
in starting a new business on my own.
My hopes are to have a few tutorials each month,
a giveaway each month, and previews of new items
and ideas, and various ramblings by me. Please feel
free to comment, share ideas, be a critic, etc.
Thank you for visiting and please check out my
Etsy shop!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Trailers and Trees set


A nice large blanket with a super soft matching Organic onesie in size 6-12 months, also offered in 3-6 months.

Exciting news about Tulips and Turnips!

So, a while back, probably lost in my archives, is a post about something exciting I was going to announce as soon as it happened and a lot of time passed since. I had no idea how complicated it was or how expensive. BUT, I am very happy to announce I hired an excellent trademark attorney to assist me with the process of trademarking my name Tulips and Turnips and my products, and as of just a few days ago, it has officially been submitted! Yeah!!
I'm starting to feel better from my surgery last week so I'll be slowly getting back into things, I have a very large special order to fill that will take me the next few weeks to complete, but after that I'll be getting back to my usual work. My next giveaway will be really cool and I'm interested in having another guest blogger to have a swap with, if anyone is interested?

Birds and Flowers blanket and Organic onesie


This is probably the largest blanket I've made, with Organic onesie in size 6-12 months.

Little Birdie Blanket and Organic T-shirt


The blanket is nice and big and so fun for Baby to look at! The Organic T-shirt in size small can also be ordered in medium or large.

Organic Little Elephant blanket


This super soft blanket is all Organic and a great size for baby to play on or cuddle up in!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

What's Happening?

A few posts back I had mentioned how busy this month and the first half of October was going to be. So to follow up on that, today I had surgery so I will definitely not be working too much in the next few weeks. BUT I will be laying in bed dreaming up new projects, tutorials, and great new giveaways! So don't worry, I'll be back with a BIG bang by the beginning of November! My goal is to have a really cool giveaway to celebrate being back the first week of November, SO keep posted for that!! I am still taking special orders, however they will not be completed until Late October.
I'll be posting again in a few days on some REALLY exciting news!!! Yeah : )

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Toddler Bedroom Set


This is a comforter cover and set of two pillow cases, along with curtains you can see on the right side. I made this set for my son but I will soon be offering custom sets for sale. I haven't worked out all the details yet about the custom order process. I might just put this set on Etsy as an example and allow people to place orders through "conversation" on Etsy. I made this set after looking around at various stores and feeling unsatisfied with the choices out there. I thought if people already had a theme, like we did, it would allow them to add a great, creative element to their child's room. I can make the sets in all cotton fabric, Organic cotton fabric, or any combination with or without minky or chenille. In addition to comforter covers, pillow cases, and curtains, I also make fabric wall hangings. Which I will post an example of soon. Please let me know if you have any feedback! Thanks! : )

What's coming up?

I've got some great tutorials coming soon, but I need to get through a few big things coming up for me and my family, my son is turning 3 years old on Friday, my baby is turning 1 years old on October 4th, my sister-in-law is getting married on October 9th, and then my grandmother and aunt are visiting from Des Moines, Iowa right after the wedding... Aahh, a lot going on! All fun stuff but can't help but set me back a bit on the business stuff and fun blog stuff. BUT, I'm going to try to squeeze one tutorial in somewhere during the busyness.
Also, I will be having another great giveaway sometime in October!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

New things


This set is made from 100% Organic fabric and is incredibly soft!
I've put some great new things in the Etsy shop recently and still have a bunch more that will be in the shop soon, check back later for more! Soon to come a great new tutorial for the wall! : )

Giveaway!

Check out the great giveaway! Amy at Nap Time Crafters is hosting my giveaway valued at $95!
Go on over to http://www.naptimecrafters.blogspot.com to enter!
Good luck! : )

* Giveaway closed, please try the next one!*

How To Make a Crib Rail Cover tutorial


Materials: fabric, batting, rotary knife, cutting mat, velcro, pins, and sewing machine.

I chose fabric that was similar to the other crib rail cover we have. And since we have a crib rail cover for the front of the crib and we needed one for the side, this tutorial is for a side crib rail cover. But, whether you are doing the front or the side of the crib, it really doesn't matter, you will just have to adjust the measurements accordingly. So, after measuring the rail you will be making the cover for, cut two pieces of fabric and one piece of batting, all exactly the same size. For example, for our crib's side rail, I cut the fabric and batting to 27 x 18 inches.

Next, cut fabric for the straps. I cut five strips of 6 x 4 inches. You may want to measure the slats on the crib to see how many you may need and what spacing would be ideal for your crib.

Cut the velcro into four inch strips.

Next lay the fronts of the fabric together on top of the batting.

Pin the batting and fabric together along all four sides, leaving a space open for turning it right side out.

Sew along the sides and when you get to the last side remember to leave the space open to flip it right side out.

Once you flip it right side out and straighten the fabric out and push the corners out as much as possible, the next step is to sew along the edge for a clean look. I like to sew fairly close to the edge, as you can see in the next photo. I always start sewing just up from the opening, and if it helps you could pin it closed so you don't have to hold it as you sew.

A nice clean edge!

At this point you can move on to the straps. Fold the first piece of fabric over so the front of the fabric is on the inside and sew along the edge and the top so that one end is closed. When you're done turn it inside out, and then sew along the edge on each side and top end to flatten the strap and make nice clean edges. I always sew the side with the seam first and then the other side.

Next step is placing the velcro on the strap and sewing it on. The easiest thing is to have bought velcro that has adhesive sides so that you can just stick it on and not have to worry about pinning the velcro. Sew all four sides of the velcro on to the strap.

Fold over the end of the strap and pin it to keep it in place.

Next thing you want to do is figure out the spacing from one strap to the other, I chose four inches for mine.

And sew them on to the rail cover. I like to sew in two places, along the edge of the fold and then along the edge of the rail cover.

Then sew the other side of the velcro on, just as you did with the straps, and make sure each piece of velcro you put on the rail cover side matches up with where the straps will fold up to.

All done! : )


Thursday, September 1, 2011

Guest Blogger - Amy from Nap Time Crafters

Hi I'm Amy from Nap Time Crafters!
I LOVE every kind of craft, but if I had to pick a fav it would definitely be sewing for my little girl. I also love decorating my apartment with very budget friendly projects. Nap Time Crafters is home to 100 free Tutorials {and growing!}, the American Crafter Competition, Friday Favs Party, & a Giveaway every Saturday!

Make sure you stop by my pattern shop for lots more fun!


Do you have a lil' chair hanging out in your house in need of a BIG facelift???
Kids LOVE those little foam chairs, but the covers get so gross. ewww... 
Or maybe you have a little princess in your house and the hand-me-down Buzz Lightyear chair isn't doing it for her:) 

Let's give it a whole new life!
It didn't take long at all to recover (1 naptime- promise!) and Little Miss absolutely adores her chair! She reads in it, snacks in it, watches a bit of Winnie the Pooh in it...

I decided to go with a nice neutral fabric that keeps our family room looking like somewhat of an adult space rather than kid world:) And now any little boys down the line can use it too
If you're feeling ambitious you could even start from scratch! If you go that route buy your foam as a foam pad (you know the cheapo kind for bunking guest on) NOT as yardage at craft store- you'll save lots:)

Let's get started!

Materials:
  • Lil' Chair: I found mine at a thirft store for $3! It's the Marshmallow brand I think
  • Fabric: It took 2 thrifted pillowcases to recover this size (so about 2 yards)
  • Tot:)


Here's a look at the before... You can't quite see since Little Miss insisted on sitting in it, but it was pretty gross. And I'm not a big fan of pink faux fur in our front room... 

1. Take off the cover and cut it apart at the seam lines. Save the bottom panel and zipper. Lay out all of the pieces on your fabric and cut around leaving a small seam allowance around all sides. 


 2. Sew the 2 back pieces together- the chair has a seam right down the middle back and then the "flaps" wrap around to both sides.

3. Sew the seat piece to each side- it will cover the arm rests and the seat. At this point I put it over the chair to see how the fit was coming along.

 4. Sew the top piece to the back piece along the long edge and the 2 short sides.

 5. Sew the seat back to the back piece (step 2) seat piece (step 3), and the top piece (step 4).

6. Once you have the fit all good to go sew on the front piece.

 7. Sew the bottom panel and zipper to the finished cover, put it on your chair and you're good to go! You can change the color of the bottom panel if you want, but I decided it wasn't worth the effort. You'll definitely want to keep the zipper so you can wash the cover every so often.

Enjoy your new "old" chair!

Thanks Shawn!







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About Me

My photo
My name is Shawn and I am a stay at home Mom of two boys and also a student. After many years of school and a Master's degree in Psychology, I decided to go back to school for Lactation Consulting. I spend most of my time with my children, and working on my sewing projects. Currently the sewing projects have to due with my little side business of making things for babies, which will be the main focus of this blog. I also love spending time with my husband but I see him very little now because he is busy with work and paramedic training. We have been together ten years now and married five! I love making things for special people in my life, I feel like it's something I can do to stay connected and maybe they will think of me when they see the blanket, pillow, curtain, or whatever else I have made. Since I am a somewhat introverted kind of person sewing seems to fit me, it's a way to express myself creatively, and put love into each piece, for each person. My life is quite challenging at times but I make sure to think about things I am grateful for each day.