Pony Mat

A while ago, I saw a pony mat on Pinterest.  Genius, I thought.  Emily enjoys the car mat I made for her a couple years ago, and she doesn't play with cars that much.  Ponies, she plays with.  And how fun would it be to have a play mat for them, where they could be tucked away and travel with us?

I knew I wanted to do my play mat differently than the one I saw; that one was a pony farm, and used brown as the base fabric, and I believe that ponies should get to play on grass, instead of in the dirt.  So, I picked up some green fabric when I hit the sale at the JoAnn's that was closing near us.  Emily helped me choose which fabric to get.  She was pretty sure some of the green fabric we considered could not be grass for her ponies.  I also wanted the mat to be like the world on the My Little Pony show that Emily watches sometimes.  So the ponies have houses (which double as their holding pockets) and there's a little forest.

Besides the green for the grass, I had all of the materials for this on hand.  (Do you recognize the leftover fabric from covering the chair? I used it for the back.)

I knew it was a hit when Emily played with it while it was only partly done.  After it was done, I showed it to her, and she was very excited about the houses.  Which was gratifying, since I spent the longest on them.

Baby pillow [redo]

Back in October, I whipped up a couple pillows so that Tabitha could have some support sitting (and because Emily had to have one, too).

I brought them out with the rest of the baby stuff, but they were decidedly girly.  Plus, I didn't like how heavy and stiff they were since I just stuffed them with random pieces of fabric, which also made them look funny on the outsides, since you could see the different colors of fabric through the covers.  I pulled them open, sorted out the heavier fabrics from the lightweight ones, and cut the lightweight ones into small strips.

I used some of the fabric I bought out in New York; a bright boy-ish fabric that I found as a fat quarter, and had no idea what I would use it for, but was also sure if I didn't pick it up, I would regret it.  Since there was only enough for one side, I paired it with some bright yellow fabric I had in my stash.  I lined the fabric with batting, so the stuffing wouldn't show through this time.  It's about half fabric strips and half stuffing, and is a nice weight.

I also altered the shape of the original pillows just a little when I cut out my new fabric.  Before, it curved in a little to much at the ends, and the top was too bulky.  Between the new stuffing and the new shape, this pillow bends easily to fit around my tummy, so it can be used as a nursing pillow.  I've never had a nursing pillow, but my sister-in-law, Cora, swears by hers.   Now if only the baby would decide to arrive, so we could try it out.

Skirting the Issue at Project Run and Play

One of the blogs I like to read is Project Run and Play.  The name is a play off of "Project Runway," the TV show about fashion designers competing to win a prize and gain recognition in the fashion industry (which I watch with my sister via the internet).  Project Run and Play is a competition blog for designers of children's clothing.  They start out with 10 designers and end up with one winner, after weeks of making cute clothing for kids.

When they are not in competition mode, they have other stuff on their blog.  Right now, they are holding a giant service project, encouraging everyone to sew skirts for girls in foster care.  If you want more information, you can click here.  They have a couple addresses in Utah you can send skirts to, or you can find a local foster care organization to donate to.

Why not make some little girl feel special?  Especially some little girl who needs some extra love in her life.  The writers of the blog will have tutorials on skirt making, in case you need ideas.  I've got a couple ideas already.  I should probably hurry and get them done before the baby comes.  Unless, of course he waits until his due date.  On the 29th.

Baby Blanket

One of my favorite things I made for Tabitha was her flannel baby blanket.  It was the perfect size for nursing under, and it folded up small, because the fabric wasn't too bulky.  And when she fell asleep at church, I could wrap her up in it, or spread it out on the floor for her to play on.

I wasn't planning on making a flannel blanket for the little boy on his way (who will hopefully get here soon, since I am measuring two weeks big, despite not really gaining any weight recently).  I may have mentioned this on my blog, and I know I've told lots of people when I see them, I'm making a quilt and matching sheets for little boy Boling.  Plus, I have a bunch of blankets already, and my mom gave me a really awesome knitted blanket for this baby.  And, well, I don't know how often the baby will actually sleep under a blanket.

Blankets technically being a SIDS risk.

But, I was at a local JoAnn fabrics, which is moving to a new location, and has most or all of its fabric on discount right now.  And I started looking at the flannel.  And I found some blue pirate flannel, and some matching blue plaid.  So I bought it, and I made a blanket for the baby.

I used left over satin from Emily's Cinderella dress for the edges.  I mitered the corners; this was tricky, and next time I might look up directions, since I'm not sure I did it the easiest way, and the edging ended up being just a little smaller than the original dimensions of the blanket.  But not much smaller, so it is still a nice big blanket.  Well, big for one little baby boy.

Pink Rocker

A few years ago, my sister-in-law, Mindee, found a little rocking chair at a garage sale, and passed it along to me.  It was covered in pale blue flannel (not the most practical of cloths for a child's rocking chair), and she figured I could re-upholster it.

No problem, I said.  Should be easy.

Today, I finally tackled the re-upholstering.  It wasn't quite as easy as I thought, but Emily and I got it done.  I bought some pink upholstery fabric about a week ago, at a local Jo-Ann fabrics that is moving to a new location.  They've discounted just about all their fabric, and I got a bunch.  Including some quilting fabric that I just liked, and hey, it was on sale.

The fabric had to be pink, which is Emily's favorite color.  If given an option, Emily chooses pink.  A couple days ago, we were all at the store, and Dan was getting some cleaner, and I offered some input.  Emily loudly declared that we should get pink (which, for some reason, is not an option). 

I had originally thought that the posts to the top of the rocker would come off; today I realized they probably wouldn't actually come off.  So, I looked closer at how the last person had upholstered the chair, and tried to copy what they did.  I only had to fix a couple places in the back after the fabric was stapled down.  The pillow was just a standard pillow cover, with some ties sewn into the top seam.

And, of course, Emily loves it.  She also likes taking pictures, and insisted of taking lots of pictures of the chair herself.  In fact, she took the picture of the finished chair.

A Dragon!

Just over a week ago, on Friday, Dan and I got some groceries from the store. Along with the rest of the food we picked up, we git a small cantaloup. When Dan saw it, he protested, and went to switch it for a different (larger) one. They were all small. Still not completely happy, he put it in the cart.

You and Emily can share it for breakfast, I said.

I can it it for breakfast, he countered. There isn't enough for two.

The cantaloup was small, but it was still a pound or two of fruit.

You can each have a reasonable sized serving for breakfast, I insisted.

We got home, and per usual, Dan brings in most of the groceries while I put them away. I tucked the cantaloup into the fridge in the bottom shelf, above the full produce drawers, between the eggs and the bread.

The next day, I was in the kitchen, and Emily wanted food. She pulled open the door to the fridge, and saw the cantaloup.

I should probably insert a couple comments here. First, Emily loves cantaloup, but they are usually at least twice as big, and it had been a while since we had gotten one. Second, Dan had just watched a cut short film with Emily a couple days before. The short film was about the characters from "How to Train Your Dragon," in which the dragons all fly off to their hatching grounds and have eggs. Round eggs. Rough on the outside. Maybe a little like a cantaloup.

"A dinosaur egg!" Emily exclaimed, and lovingly grabbed the cantaloup. Another comment: she also loved to watch a show about a boy who sees dinosaurs. Sometimes they have eggs. 

Over the next couple days she varied whether it was a dinosaur egg or a dragon egg. I asked her what kind of dinosaur was inside (since she'd seen lots of different dinosaurs on TV). She told me it was a baby dinosaur.

I let her carry the egg around, because, really, what could happen to it? Plus, I don't really like cantaloup.

That afternoon we went on an expedition with Emily's cousins, her Aunt, Dan's parents, and his Grandma. We took two cars. The dragon egg came, too.

We ventured out to find ponies at the local state park, and ride them if possible. Failing at that, we went to the playground at different park. Emily had fallen asleep sometime in our quest, but still held her egg, nestled in her lap.

The egg also joined us when we went to church the next day. It got to wait in the car during services, but Emily carried it along when we stopped to visit Tabitha afterward. By this point it had acquired a nice metal "nest" (by which I mean a bowl which I had forgotten at the Memorial Day breakfast the week before). Emily (okay, with some encouragement) told Tabitha about her egg. Then she ran off with her cousin, ultimately to pick peonies from one of the nearby graves. Dan stopped them after they both got one, but Emily was headed back for another.

On the way home from church we asked Emily what kind of dragon was in her egg. (It was definitely a dragon by now.). Dan and Emily settled on a pink dragon, with spots. I glared at him about the spots part. Because I had started scheming, and I didn't have polka-dot pink fabric in my stash.

At home she toted her egg around some more, until Dan convinced her that it should go back in the fridge. I should interject another comment: Dan and I had both reminded her that the egg was, in fact, a cantaloup, and it was going to get eaten. Dan in particular was adamant about the eating part. He is very fond of cantaloup. It was one of the reasons I had started scheming on the way home, because he was insisting on eating the cantaloup, and she so obviously loved it.

At home I drafted a pattern, and got to work. I took time off to have Sunday dinner in the afternoon, but besides that I spent most of the day sewing.

Just before I finished my project, I got Emily to get her egg out again. It would hatch soon, I assured her. We found a spot where she and her cousin could wait. I hurried back inside to finish. Fifteen minutes later I woke Dan up from his late afternoon nap, wrapped up the project in a towel, and went back to where I had left Emily. It was raining, she was gone, and so was the egg. Further searching found them in GranB's truck while Pappy got ready for our trip the next day. The egg was tucked up on our stuff in the garage. We collected both the egg and the girls, and found a spot to watch it hatch.

This fuzzy picture is of Emily drying off her egg.

The egg was wet, so we rubbed it dry. First Emily tried, but the egg didn't hatch. Then I tried (and using some of my superior sneaky skills) and it hatched.

Emily was delighted, and shocked. It isn't often that pretend eggs give you real dragons.

Just so you know, she loves it.

Travel Bags

For my trip to New York, I whipped up some bags to make my travel a little easier.  Well, I could have used plastic zip-lock bags, but these were much prettier.  But as I was packing, I decided I needed some travel bags, so I whipped some up.

The yellow bags were based on the instructions found in my craft sewing book "The Liberty Book of Home Sewing," which my sister bought for me for Christmas.  Or my birthday.  They are only a couple days apart, so sometimes I forget which one I get stuff on.  The book is based around the Liberty of London fabric line, which is gorgeous, and they use the prints for the projects in the books.  I used regular old quilting calico, and my bags turned out great.

The smaller drawstring bag I used for my chargers.  The bigger one was for laundry.

The purple bag I came up with on my own, and I actually sewed it first (the night before flying out, instead of the day I flew).  I'd seen the idea somewhere else, I'm pretty sure, but I used what I had, and came up with this.  There is batting between the layers of the purple fabric, and I folded it up at the end to make a pocket for my earrings.  I sewed lines across to facilitate where it folds, and I sewed on some ribbon to hold necklaces and bracelets in place.  The whole thing fastens with velcro.

I didn't actually wear any of my jewelry while I was there (I forgot about it until I left the apartment on Sunday).  But it was safe in its own little holder.

For Me

Here is a rundown on what I bought for myself in New York City.

1. A couple maternity shirts.  Since my first two kids were born in the colder months, I am finding I don't have much to wear this summer (plus I purged my maternity clothes of anything I didn't like last time).  So, I've been hunting for more shirts, and I found a couple cute ones.

The green shirt is from Gap; it was on sale, and they had a discount on sale stuff that day, so I got it for less than $8. The collared shirt is from H&M.  I had no idea they even had maternity.  It was less than $20, and it is really light.

2. Fabric.  We had to go to a couple fabric stores while I was in New York.  The first store we went to, Purl Soho, was aimed at quilters and knitters, and I got some quilting fabric.  They also had Liberty of London fabric, that I looked at longingly, but couldn't justify spending most of my budget on (it's about $40 a yard).  They have a craft blog that has fun ideas, and it was really fun going somewhere that I've read about online.

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I got a half yard of fabric to use for the quilt I am making for the baby.  I also got some fat quarters I loved.

The second fabric store we went to was Mood, which is the store they always go to on Project Runway, a show Jeanie and I like to watch.  I didn't know before I looked up the store on-line, that it was a discount fabric store.  Which makes sense, since the show producers want to stretch their budget.  It was awesome.

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It is actually three floors; you come in on the main floor, in the middle (which you have to take an elevator to get to, which elevator is operated by a person, since it is an old elevator).  The main floor has most of the apparel fabric.  I noticed "silk" on a lot of the signs.  There were lots of pretty patterns, and I found their selection of tie silks, which was exciting, but I didn't get any.

Next we went upstairs, which is where they have their suiting fabric.  I ended up picking out some soft wool, in a purple herringbone.  I got just over a yard, enough to make me and Emily skirts.  Next we went down to the main floor, to the ribbon section.  I got some purple velvet ribbon to trim Emily's skirt (and some extra, because it wasn't very much a yard).  I also picked out some pretty pink ribbon, and I got some cotton tape, which I plan on using to make into tags for the back of the clothes I make, like I saw on this blog.

The bottom floor was upholstery fabric.  I looked longingly down the stairs, but didn't go down there, since I knew I would want to get something if I did, and I was spending a bunch (the wool fabric was pricey).  They also gave me a discount card.  Which is pretty awesome.

3. An umbrella.  I really like my umbrella.  I bought it off a guy on the street, and paid less than I would back home at Wal-mart.  Of course, it quickly became apparent that my umbrella was not great quality, but it kept me dry while it rained most of Monday, and Tuesday morning.  And it is very pretty.

4. Hair pins.  I found these at Forever 21, which does have a maternity section (which I learned about a month ago, from another blog), although we never made it to the store with the maternity section.  The one we did go to said it had one on its sign, but when we asked, we found out that they were getting a maternity section, but didn't have one yet.  But, I found these cute hair pins, and they only cost me a dollar a pair.

I wore the white ones to Jeanie's graduation on Sunday.  When I took them out of my hair, I slipped them onto the neckline of my dress, and forgot about them.  And then washed my dress.  So a little of the paint chipped off in the wash, but they started out looking like the other two pairs.  Jeanie got matching ones.  So we can be twins.

Blue Star Quilt

Yesterday I finished the queen sized quilt for Dan and me.

Most of the blue fabric is actually from our wedding reception.  We used them as square accent table clothes on top of the white table clothes.  My mom gave me all the fabric afterward, and now it is a quilt.

When I first started the quilt, I realized that I didn't have enough of the blue backing fabric, and when I tried to buy some more, they didn't have the right color.  And I didn't want to buy all new backing, since I was trying to be thrifty, so I mixed the two fabrics and made large stripes on the back.  Dan and Emily both like the back.  When I was half done with the quilting, and the sewn lines were only going one way, I laid it out, and Emily played on it for awhile.  She said it was a bridge over water.

There were a number of things that went wrong during the last few days of working on the quilt, including:

1. I had to use put the layers together twice, because I didn't check beforehand that the back of the quilt was big enough. (It wasn't.)  This meant the second time, the batting was all sticky from the basting spray I had used the first time.  And I don't think basting spray works as well the second time, plus I was trying not to use too much because the bottle was running out.

2. When I took some off the top to make the sides wider, I made it too short the other way.  Which I didn't realized until after I started quilting it.  Which meant I had to add strips to the top and bottom when it was partly quilted.  Later I wondered why I didn't just go look to see if I had some extra fabric that matched (which I did, but I ended up using for the binding).

3. My sewing machine no longer makes bobbins.  It decided to quit making bobbins halfway through quilting.  Luckily my mother-in-law has an old machine that doesn't sew well, but does make bobbins.  But it took me about a day to find this out.  Plus she went out of town before she could show me how to use it.  But I figured it out.

The worst part about the first two problems was that I had just seen somewhere that it was important to allow a couple extra inches on each side of your back, in case the fabric shifts.  Which mine did.  And then I had to fix it.  And I should have just made sure I had those extra inches in the first place.

But now the quilt is all done, which is wonderful.  We slept under it last night.  It isn't heavy, but it is warm enough, and I didn't get hot or cold.  I think that means it is a good quilt.

Rag Rug

I can check one more thing off my project to-do list: Emily's rag rug.  I started working on it years ago.  I've spent a bunch of time over the last couple weeks working on it, and it didn't really take that long.  (Well, it did take many hours, but so do lots of other things).  It involved sewing lots of strips of fabric together, braiding them, and then sewing them together.  Not too difficult.  But my fingers do hurt.

When I was almost done, my mother-in-law told me that she used to make rag rugs when she was little, only they did them differently.  They braided the strands, and while braiding them, looped them through the previous braid.  Intriguing, but probably not enough to make another one.  I have seen a project on Pinterest where you crochet a rag rug; this seems much more do-able to me.

Dolmen shirt

I've been working through my sewing project piles (yes, piles, I had two), and I came across some fabric and lace I had been planning on turning into a shirt for myself.  I had recently come across a tutorial to make a simple, loose shirt, and wanted to tweak it to make it a dolmen shirt, but didn't think I had any fabric.  And then I found the fabric in my stash of projects.  Happy day.  I drafted the shirt, but put off making it because I was trying to get the quilt for Dan and me done (which I originally cut out pieces for about 3 or 4 years ago).  The quilt is still not done, but I got tired of waiting for my shirt.

After I drafted my pattern, I also came across another tutorial, this one for a dolmen shirt (and then tweaked my pattern, because I liked the way she did the bottom of her shirt better than my idea).  If you want to make your own, you should check out those tutorials  (Unless you want to make yours a maternity shirt, like mine, in which case you should add a couple inches to the front and ease the extra length in when you sew the sides together).  I made mine, and then had to take the sides in, since I made it too loose at first.   But now it fits great, except for the bottom of the sleeve, which is just a little too snug.  And I even have extra room for when my tummy gets really big. 

I love the lace on the shoulder, which was inspired by all the shirts we sell at work which have lace panels on the shoulder.  This way, I get the pretty lace without my shirt being see through.  Perfect.

And, as a bonus, it matches this month's color at work, so I wore when I worked last week.

The butterfly skirt

We have a crisis at our house right now.  I can't find my camera.  I've been searching my home for the past couple days, to no avail.

I DID find my Exacto knife that I misplaced about a month ago (it was behind the utensil containers on my kitchen counter).  I stressed about losing that, too, since I don't want Emily to get a hold of it.  But I was pretty sure it had somehow disappeared on the counter, and turns out I was right. 

But isn't that always how it works, you lose something and find something else?

Back to the camera.  I've been upset about losing it, partly because I like to take pictures, especially of important family events (like the Easter egg hunt we got to late yesterday, in part because I was hunting for my camera), cute things Emily does, and stuff I make.

And I had some cute pictures of Emily in a new skirt I made for her, which I thought were still on the camera, and not on the computer.  Today I finally checked, and they are actually on the computer.  So here is Emily, in her new butterfly skirt.

She picked out the fabric, when we went to JoAnn's with Dan's sister Mimi, during our trip to Cincinnati.  It was sparkly with glitter, and had lots of different colored butterflies.  To a three year old, I am guessing this is fabric perfection.  Since I have a soft spot for Emily displaying interest in my main hobby, I bought her a yard.  I measured her (which was an accomplishment, since she usually screams and runs away if I approach with a tape measurer) and noted down the measurement.  The skirt was supposed to hit just below her knee.

I think she has a couple years of wear ahead of her with this one.  But she likes it.  She insisted we go to a ball, where she could dance.  Which looked very much like marching.

If I had my camera I would snap a picture of the two matching ones I made for her dolls (and you would see that they were single tiered, instead of doubled tiered, like Emily's).  The first was for her Rapunzel doll, which is about 18 inches tall.  As soon as she saw it, Emily said "You made a skirt for Daisy?" her voice full of awe and gratitude.  Daisy is about 6 inches tall, and is actually a duck (she's one of the Disney character toys Emily has).  The skirt was much too big for her.

So I made another one.  I don't think Daisy has taken off her skirt since, which is a minor accomplishment in Emily's world of revolving doll wardrobes (and monkey and horse wardrobes, since not only her dolls need clothes).  Apparently Daisy's lack of clothing on her lower half was a concern for Emily.  She's also commented that Donald doesn't have pants.  I may make duck pants someday.

Spring is Here

I don't know what the weather has been like across the rest of the country (except for in New York, where Jeanie lives, because I talk to her frequently) but we've jumped into Spring head first in Michigan.  The last couple weeks have been idyllic; Emily and I have been running around in short sleeves and either shorts, capris, or in her case, a skirt or dress.  The mornings are just a little chilly, but just enough that not wearing a jacket seems a little brave.  And since Dan has started at Lowe's, a couple weeks ago, we've braved the early morning a couple times so I could have the car.

Dan is now a cashier at Lowe's, which apparently has mediocre air conditioning (he reported after a particularly warm day this last week), which will make his summer very interesting.  He is still working at JCPenney, and so am I.  We both get one day a week right now, although sometimes I am once every other week.  Although this does work out to me working Saturday night, and I work tonight, which is twice in three days.  But I won't work again for at least a week, probably close to two.  There are not a lot of hours right now at JCP.  Although, our store did do really well the week it got really warm, since all the kids needed warm weather clothes they could wear to school.  When I worked on Saturday there were a million hangers in the front that I had to move to the back.  It took me awhile, partly because I could not find any huge boxes.

In other news, I now own a pastel orange pair of pants.  They are awesome.  And very trendy.  They are also maternity pants, so I don't have to worry if they will be in style next year.  Unless I get pregnant again.  Ha ha.

I am also working on a maternity dress for myself.  It is supposed to be an Easter dress, but if I finish before then, I'll probably wear it.  I started it a couple weeks ago, and got most of it done.  Then I was going to do the sleeves, and figured out that when I altered the pattern for shorter sleeves, they didn't end up quite right.  It was an easy fix, but not one I wanted to deal with right away.  Now I just have to hem the bottom, which I am a little excited about (and hemming is usually at the bottom of things I want to do, it seems to take forever on dresses), because I have some cute yellow hem tape to use.  It should look very cute, even if no one will ever see it, since it is on the inside of my dress.  But it will make me happy.

Another project I have planned is the baby's blessing outfit.  Oh my.  It will be adorable.  I've had plans in the back of my mind for a couple pregnancies now.  That's several years, people.  I would chortle to myself and rub my hands, but you can't actually see me.

But you can imagine. 

He is going to be so cute.

Lily Pad Quilt

I have a friend from college, Kristi.  We first lived together my sophomore year, when Jeanie and I moved into our first apartment.  Kristi was one of the other girls who randomly moved into that same apartment.  The three of us moved to another apartment together, and lived there for a couple more years.  During that time, Kristi had a couple frog blankets that she'd had since she was a baby; as I remember, someone made them for her mom when she was pregnant with Kristi.

Jeanie and Kristi

So when I found out that Kristi was also going to have a baby, I knew she needed a frog quilt for her little one.  But I wanted to do something interesting for the front, and I came up with lily pads.  Which I thought Kristi would also appreciate, since she likes the fine arts, and lily pads are reminiscent of the famous Monet paintings.

The front is made up of pieced blues, with the lily pads and flowers appliqued on top.  I've collected lots of solid blue fabric over the years, and I thought that this would be a great way to use up that stash.

I cut long strips of the blues, and some squares, and got to work making a few different types of blocks, to give it a rippled pond look.  Two of the different types of blocks are basically a log cabin type of block (only one has a much bigger center than you usually have).

The block on the right needs one more row of strips

Here it is (or one like it) all done

The other type of block is strips sewn together.  Nothing too fancy.

After the top was all sewn and the lily pads and flowers appliqued on to it, I used basting spray to attach it to batting and the batting to the backing.

Basting spray is my newest love for quilting.  It keeps the fabric from shifting while you machine quilt, so you can handle curves without worrying that the bottom layer is getting wonky.  I've pretty much stuck to straight lines when quilting before (and the one time I didn't, on Emily's quilt, it was difficult), but with the basting spray I was able to quilt in curves, making the water look more like water, and less like blocks sewn together.  At least, I hope it does.  Either way, the basting spray kept everything together.  It also makes putting your layers together so much easier, since you do the bottom layer first, and once that is smooth, put on the top layer.  So you don't end up with wrinkles all over the bottom when you try to get the top layer just right.

The back of the quilt is a fun frog flannel.  Very cheerful for Kristi's little baby girl.

Diaper clutch

This past weekend, I had a baby shower to attend.  Since the mom was pregnant with a little boy, I decided to work on a project I'd had in the back of my mind for a while.

I've mentioned before that I've received fabric stashes from different relative.  Some of the fabric I got from Grandma Boling has been floating around in the back of my brain as a great combination of color (yellow and gray), and I've been wanting to use them with the chevron design that has been popping up.  And last summer, when we visited Amy, she was working on a baby shower gift--a diaper clutch.  Such a great idea.  I thought about making one for myself, but ended up using plastic bags instead to corral all my diapers and related items.  But a nice clutch looks so much better.

Before I started cutting, I planned out how big to make everything, using a re-usable travel wipes container as my guide.  I'd seen Amy working on hers, so I already had a rough idea of what to do.  I made mine so all the seams would be enclosed, and added a zipper pocket and piping.  And, of course, decorative chevrons to the front.

Here's how I did it:

1. Cut rectangles out of cotton cloth, or other similar woven, washable fabric, in the following sizes:

11" x 15" (2, mine were two different colors, the outside color and the lining color)
11" x 7" (3, out of the inside color)
11" x 5.25" (1, inside color)
11" x 2" (1, inside color)
3" x 1" (2, inside color)
4" x 7" (2, outside color)
4" x 1" (1, outside color)
11" x 2" (2, lining color; these will need to be cut into chevron stripes)

Also, you will need to make at least 52" of pipping from the lining color.  You can buy piping at the store, and you can use it as-is.  Or you can cover that piping in fabric, or make your own (which is what I did).  To make your own, you will need to cut out 1.25" strips, on the bias.  Sew all the strips together into one long strip.  I then folded it in half around a piece of yarn, and sewed it, keeping my foot by the yarn.  You can check out this tutorial here, if you want step by step picture instructions.  To cover pipping, you would follow the same steps, only I am not sure how wide your strips would need to be.  I read a tutorial somewhere on how to cover piping, which is how I came up with making my own, but I am not sure where it was.  But it was good.

You will also need a 9" zipper, a 2.5" piece of velcro, and some batting.  And thread to match your fabric. You may also want wonder-under; wonder-under holds your fabric down when you are appliqueing it, but it is not absolutely necessary.  It just makes it easier.

I planned this diaper clutch to have half inch seams.  Unless noted otherwise, sew half inch seams.

2. Make the flap: Place the two 4" x 7" rectangles right sides together, with a piece of batting on the outside of one piece.  Beginning part way down one long side, sew around the outside, about a quarter inch from the edge, ending a couple inches from where you started.  It is a good idea to back stitch both ends, so they don't pull out.  Trim the batting back to your seam and clip your corners, and then turn the rectangle so the right sides are out (like a mini pillow).  Make sure your corners are square (stick your finger or a pen into them to help).  Iron the sucker flat.  Pin the opening closed so that the edges line up, and top stitch around the edge.  At one end, attach the scratch side of your velcro.  Sew the other side of your velcro to the right side of the 11" x 15" outside piece, about 2.5 inches from the edge, making sure it is centered.

sorry about the fuzzy pictures.

3. Chevrons: if you have not already, cut your strips into chevrons.  (Apply your wonder under before cutting.)  I suggest using a ruler to draw your cutting line, and then cutting with scissors; I used my rotary cutter, and ended up not paying enough attention and slicing into my nail.  So be safe, cut with your scissors.  I used the 45 degree lines on my cutting mat to make my cuts; each chevron notch was 2" wide.

After cutting out your chevrons, lay them out on your 11" x 15" outside piece (which already has velcro on it).  I folded mine in half, with the velcro facing up, and placed my chevrons in the space between the velcro and the fold.  Try to make the chevrons straight, by measuring your distance from the top on each side.  If you used wonder-under, iron the chevrons down.  If you didn't, pin them in place.  Using a satin stitch (or tight zig-zag stitch), sew along the outside of the chevrons.  I used the gray to sew them down, mostly because I didn't want to switch my thread color.  Using the same color as your chevron helps hide any problems you have sewing the chevrons.

4. Pockets.  First, attach the zipper pull to your zipper.  Fold under the long edges of the 1" x 4" piece, so that the edges meet the opposite folds (it will be about a third as wide).  It is a good idea to iron the piece at this point.

I basted down the middle of each side, about an inch.  (This will probably not show, and is just to help in getting the zipper pull into the zipper.)  Next, fold your zipper pull inside again, to fit it through the opening on the metal zipper pull.  Fold your pull in half, folding in the edges, and top stitch around the edge, stopping about a quarter inch from the metal zipper pull.

Next, attach your zipper.  Fold the small 3" x 1" pieces in half, so they are 1.5" x 1".  Line them and your zipper up along the edge of your 11" x 2" piece, and pin in place.  The edge of the small pieces should just cover the metal ends of the zipper (my pieces are a bigger than yours should be).

Using a zipper foot, sew as close to the zipper as you can (I was about .25 inches away).  My zipper foot has a groove in the middle for the zipper, and I placed that over the zipper as I sewed.  After sewing, iron the seam open.  Repeat with the 11" x 5.25" piece.  The final pocket front should be the same size as the 11" x 7" pieces.

Baste your piping to the edge of two of the 11" x 7" rectangles, lining up the edges.  Then, place the other 11" x 7" inch piece and the pocket front right side down on top, and sew along the piped edge.  For the zipper pocket, I zig-zag stitched near the edge, to keep it from fraying inside the pocket.  Iron the pocket pieces so that the wrong sides are together.  Top stitch the piped seam, about a quarter inch in.  Place the pocket pieces on the right side of the 11" x 15" piece you have not used yet, which should be in your lining color.  The zipper pocket should face out.  Baste around the outside edges of the pocket.

5. Baste piping to the edge of the 11" x 15" outside piece, which has velcro and your chevrons already sewn to it.

Sew the flap down, 2 inches from the edge, making sure it is centered.  Also, make sure that the velcro is facing DOWN, so that it will close when it is all folded up.  You do not want to un-pick it and do it over.  Which I ended up doing.

6.  Lay your main pieces right sides together, on top of some batting.  Pin everything together, also making sure to pin the flap back so that it won't get sewn down when you sew the edges.

lay your first piece on top of the batting

add your second piece on top- that flap will need to get folded under

 Beginning near the middle of a long side (near the edge of the pockets) sew around the edge, ending several inches from where you started (also near the edge of the pockets).  Clip your batting back to the seam, and clip your corners.  Turn the clutch right side out, making sure the corners are square.  You will likely need to stick your whole hand inside, which is why it is good to leave a couple inch opening.

7. Iron your edges flat, and pin the opening closed, so the edges match up.  Top stitch the opening closed, sewing under the pocket (lift the pocket flap out of the way).  I also sewed some lines in the space between the pockets, to hold the middle together.

Stuff full of diapers, wipes, and anything else you might need.