24 sewing projects that celebrate the joy of a new baby Come stitch alongside celebrated fabric designer Anna Maria Horner as she prepares for her own new baby. This stunning collection of nursery d?cor, keepsakes, maternity wear, baby?s clothing, and more is all breathtakingly photographed as Anna Maria progresses through her pregnancy. Mothers-to-be, grandparents, family, and friends will treasure this collection of sewing projects to welcome home a new baby. Stylish prints and colors combine in unique designs to give you 24 projects ranging from booties and a quilt to an embroidered family tree and a thank you note organizer?and everything in between. Includes seven bonus loose-leaf paper patterns neatly tucked inside - Includes a brief primer on sewing for babies, including fabric selection and safety considerations - Other titles by Horner: Seams to Me Saturated with gorgeous full-color photography, Handmade Beginnings gives new and veteran sewers colorful, contemporary, yet classic, patterns to mark one of life's biggest milestones. To download the patterns from Handmade Beginnings , please visit: http://www.turnerpublishing.com/books/detail/handmade-beginnings 24 sewing projects for mama, baby, family, and nest Come stitch alongside celebrated fabric designer Anna Maria Horner as she awaits and then welcomes her newest child. This stunning collection of nursery décor, keepsakes, maternity wear, baby clothing, and more is all breathtakingly photographed as Anna Maria progresses through her pregnancy. Moms-to-be, grandparents, family, and friends will find inspired, truly stylish sewing projects from the irresistibly cute to the pretty as a picture: Here We Go Bag Sixth Time's the Charm Quilt Cute as a Button Booties Mariposa Dress & Tunic Family Portrait Tree Saturated with gorgeous full-color photography, Handmade Beginnings gives new and veteran sewers colorful, contemporary, yet classic, patterns to mark one of life's biggest milestones. Anna Maria Horner is a fabric designer admired for her luminous palette and innovative patterns. Anna Maria continues to develop fabric lines for Free Spirit and is building an ever-growing library of textiles to inspire creative souls worldwide. Her fabrics and projects have been featured in several national magazines, including a designer profile in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, and she has been a guest on The Martha Stewart Show. Her blog is read by thousands every day at annamariahorner.blogspot.com. She is the author of Seams to Me (Wiley). Handmade Beginnings 24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby By Anna Maria Horner John Wiley & Sons Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-470-49781-4 Chapter One Baby Steps Perhaps the new baby in your life came as a complete surprise. Or maybe you've scheduled the beginning of your family down to the hour of arrival. The anticipation and joy of a new life beginning is the same, no matter the amount of planning that took place. With your sewing projects, however, a few pointers and a little forethought will help get you started. This small chapter should answer some of the questions you may have as you head into each of the sewing projects. A chapter orientation, pattern making tips, sizing guides, basic tools, and fabric selection advice are all covered here, so take a few minutes to give this chapter at least a skim before beginning your sewing. And if you're expecting, get a glass of milk and put your feet up while doing so, please. Sewing for Mama, Baby, Family, and Nest The four following sewing chapters, and the items found in each, are designed to include all that will welcome a baby home. The projects in each chapter are ordered from ideal for beginners to ideal for experienced sewers. So the first project in each chapter is generally the simplest to sew, and the last project generally requires more advanced skills. In some cases, the time involvement alone is what lends a given project to being ranked as more advanced. So if you're a beginner, there are plenty of projects that you can take on with confidence, and within each chapter you might try working through them in sequence. Mama Sewing As the Mama of many, I personally like the idea of thinking of Mama first! But truly, welcoming a new baby should always begin by taking very good care of the one who will first "house" the little one. It's a real treat for an expectant mom to receive gifts that are for her and her alone, long before the baby even arrives. The Mama Sewing projects are designed to transition with a pregnant woman from the beginning all the way to becoming a nursing mom. The added beauty of each and every Mama project is that you don't have to be pregnant or breastfeeding to make or use any of these stylish items. Each maternity garment project describes modifications that allow you to sew the same item into a non-maternity version. So have fun with them whether you're an