mandala baby body suits

When my friends over at iLoveToCreate asked if I would decorate some baby body suits with their Tulip Fabric Markers, I couldn't resist the challenge! I currently have a whole bunch of expecting mamas in my life and in my opinion, a one of a kind baby body suit or t-shirt makes the best gift.

I thought it would be fun to create mandala body suits as gift for my prego friends so I grabbed my fabric markers and got busy drawing a variety of tiny mandalas.

Decorating a Baby bodysuit With Tulip Fabric Markers from Alisa Burke on Vimeo.

I like to start drawing a mandala by lightly tracing a circle in pencil- sometimes I use a compass but most of the time I use a bowl!

Next, I added a piece of cardboard to the inside of the bodysuit to make it easier to draw.

Then, using the pencil circle as my template, I began building a simple mandala design.

I wanted to keep my designs looking more like black line drawings but I couldn't resist adding a few pops of neon color!

I also couldn't resist getting messy with the process! I grabbed some Tulip Fabric Spray Paint  and added a layer of light color and then added my mandala drawings over the top.

The cool thing about the Tulip Fabric Makers is that you simply let then dry for 24 hours and then they are washable. SO EASY!

This is such a fun way to personalize a baby gift or you could even make it a baby shower activity.

no sew- upcycled baby hats

Long before little Lucy arrived I had prepared my monthly post for ilovetocreate. It was back when I was in the process of nesting and I spent a few weeks creating some baby clothes and thought that some super simple hats made from upcycled t-shirts would be an easy and fun project. And now that Lucy is here I actually had a teeny tiny little model!

I always like to first raid my closet or clothing that would otherwise get donated before I purchase fabric. And since I have WAY too many t-shirts that I don't wear I decided to use a few of them.

I started by drawing out the shape of the hat.

and then cut out the front and back.

Because I was short on time (again) I decided not to sew the hat but instead use Aleene's Fabric Fusion Fabric Adhesive Pen. It is non toxic and completely washable and one of my favorite "no sew" products to use.

I applied the glue to the inside edges of the hat- the tiny applicator tip is perfect for small projects.

Of course I couldn't resist creating some rolled fabric flowers (see my tutorial here) to add to a couple of the hats.

I glued the fabric flowers to the hat and let everything dry for around 36 hours.

Last I tied a knot at the end of the top of the cap- this can be adjusted depending on the size and desired length.

I created a handful of caps in different colors and patterns.

And just like that I have a little collection of baby caps all ready for Lucy to wear!