Cooper's bib set and bonus!

This is the set I made for Bryan's cousin Traci and her little one. Before the shower, I was nervous that I might not get it finished in time because I haven't been feeling well (I didn't wear the 1st 20 weeks of pregnancy with grace... let's just say that).  But I did get it finished just in time, and I love how they turned out.  I hope Traci likes them too! :)

 

 

Shortly after the shower, Traci also texted me and asked if I could put Coop's name on a hat if she could find a plain white one.  I told her that I would try, but that it might be difficult.  The rest of the school year took over and then Bryan and I were walking around in Babies R Us 3 days before Cooper was due and I found a 2 pack of blue hats.  I honestly had forgotten about it (sorry Traci), but figured it couldn't be too hard... all I had to do was add it to the blue hat.  The hat had this monkey on the front of it, but the back was plain and I thought maybe I could do a switch... and no one would ever see it. 

 

I was wrong, and couldn't figure out how to get rid of the monkey.  I spent about an hour doing a practice run on the first hat and messed up several times.  My plan was to figure out just what I was doing on the first hat to then embroider perfect on the 2nd hat.  Well... let's just say that with all of the planning it didn't help.  The second hat is the one in the picture above, and while some of you would say that it's adorable (my mom) it was not centered and the letters were too close to the top.  I couldn't stand it.  I realize this may be me being too picky, but I can't help it.  I also realized at this point that there was a size inside the hat.  Who new newborn heads were smaller than 6 month olds?  I hadn't factored that in and started to get angry at myself for the whole situation. 

 

Sitting in defeat and frustration, I decided to disassemble the first hat just to see how they did it.  It would be much easier to embroider first and then cut out the pattern so that I could make sure the letters are in the right spot. (Is this just me, or am I doing it wrong?  Anyone have tips on how to embroider on store bought items?)  With a completely messed up hat, I realized that it wouldn't be that hard to sew a baby hat.  I Googled tutorials on making baby hats and found this website.  It had adorable pictures of little hats and has given me several ideas for the future.  I wasn't crazy about her pattern and felt like the torn up one in front of me would be easier to assemble.  I started digging through my fabric stach to see what I could use to make my own. I took a little from the website and from the one in front of me to come up with this:

 

 

I just love how it turned out.  The white material is actually a onesie that I had messed up on and used the scrap from it to make the inside of the hat.  It is super soft and will be perfect for Cooper's skin.  The outside is the same material that I use for bibs.  It isn't as stretchy, but I hope it will work the way I envisioned.

 

I used the blue hat as a pattern to cut out and then with the stich allowance, made it smaller.  I am not positive that it's the right size, but I figure it's got to be closer to newborn size.  When I have my little one, I'll know better. 

 



 

I just love how it turned out and I am very proud of myself on this one.  I spent too long working on the project, but now I know what I'm doing and I think I'll be able to make them now in now time flat.  

 

 

What do you think?