Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

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).

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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.

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Handmade Beginnings

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

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 expectant mom, an auntie, a granny, an adoptive mommy, or you just love gorgeous handmade clothing and accessories.

The sizing guide below will be helpful when you are making garments for Mama. This guide gives actual body measurements, and each of the projects will give finished garment dimensions for each size. So between the two, you will be able to determine which size to make. The maternity items account for growth in just about all areas, so use pre-pregnancy measurements (or very early pregnancy measurements) to find the right size. When measuring the bust and hips, be sure to measure around at a level line at the fullest point of the bust and hips. When measuring the waistline, be sure to keep the measuring tape level around the belly button.

If the finished garment dimensions listed with a given project seem way too big, it's likely that your bust and belly will grow into them in not too much time. Your desired length won't change too much for skirts, dresses, and tunics; however, the larger your belly grows, the shorter the front of these garments will become. So keep this in mind if they seem too long in the front when you're sewing early in your pregnancy.

Also, there are always some maternity items that won't last through the entire pregnancy, so don't worry if something you make suddenly doesn't fit when you're a few weeks away from delivering. I've designed these patterns so that favorite garments can be remade into non-maternity items after the baby.

Baby Sewing

Naturally, right after Mama, we must prepare for the precious little show stealer. The projects in the Baby Sewing chapter run the gamut from irresistibly cute to incredibly convenient. With the exception of the Pretty-as-a-Picture Dress, each Baby project is just as darling for a boy as it is for a girl, so a simple fabric switch is all you need to customize your sewing. These Baby sewing projects were inspired by years of clothing my children in basic pieces. Experienced moms know that most babies are happiest wearing nothing at all. However adorable that is, when practicality demands it, we also know that simple and sweet pieces (plus a zillion Onesies) go a long way to keeping baby stylish and comfortable. The baby garment sizes are offered from 03 months all the way up to 24 months, so you can make several versions of your favorite patterns ahead of time as you plan for changing seasons and a growing baby.

The Baby Sizing guide below will help you determine which sizes to make for your little one. There are also finished dimensions listed with each of the baby projects. When sewing for someone else's baby, consider the season that it will be once the baby would be wearing that particular size. It's always a bummer if someone gives you a gorgeous handmade winter jacket, but it fits baby perfectly in the middle of hot and sunny July. Most babies, unless they were premature or otherwise petite, are wearing the next size grouping about a month or so ahead of time. So if you are sewing something for a 2 1/2-month-old that is in season to wear now, you would want to make a 36 month size. And if you're making something for a season or two ahead and are not sure how big the baby will have grown by then, it's always best to err on the side of a larger size rather than a smaller size. You can always ask what size the baby is currently wearing, and there is definitely no harm in asking to drop by and measure the little munchkin, either.

Family Sewing

That baby didn't get here all by itself, and in addition to Dad, perhaps there are already one or more eager siblings at home waiting for the new baby to arrive. The Family Sewing chapter is written with the entire household in mind, whether this is your first baby or your tenth baby. Some of the more time-consuming projects are designed for longevity, and they will no doubt become special family heirlooms that mark these all-too-quick and beautiful days in your lives together. Some projects, such as the Patchwork Welcome Notes and Swaddled Baby Love, are wonderful ways to include your older children in all the baby fuss. When making gifts for an expectant family, it is always such a thoughtful gesture to remember the older siblings. And keeping them occupied is never a bad idea.

Nest Sewing

Settling your baby into the family nest might mean setting up a corner in the master bedroom, carving some space out of an older sibling's room, or creating a little universe that belongs completely to the baby. In any case, sewing and decorating for your new addition is one of the most rewarding ways to spend those seemingly endless days of waiting for the big arrival. The projects in the Nest Sewing chapter are designed to both comfort and delight the little one, but are not so shortsighted that they won't also grow beautifully with your baby into a bigger kid room.

How to Use the Patterns

Many sewing projects in this book have corresponding patterns on one or more of the seven fold-in pattern pages that are included in the book's envelope pocket. If a project has a corresponding pattern, it will list the...