A Gift for Oskar

Last month Oskar turned one! I finally finished his gift last week (only a month late). Since he just started walking, I thought little non-slip shoe booties would be perfect. So I made these...

Unfortunately, I am a terrible seamstress, so the shoes were a tad tight when I tried them on him. I intended to start over on a new pair, then I realized he would just outgrow THOSE shoes soon, too, and my gift would be short lived. So I changed gears and went for a new idea that he could enjoy for much longer.

I decided to make a soft book. 

Now, again, let me reiterate, I have next to zero skills when it comes to sewing. My mother sewed all the time when I was growing up. She made lots of our clothes, pillows and gifts for people. I would use her scraps to make doll clothes and accessories. And aside from my one stint in Home Ec. (I much preferred woodshop) I have no other real sewing experience outside of basic curtains, and button and seam repairs for my husband and kids.

That is why I thought making a soft book would be well within my sewing skill range and a breeze to pull off. 

I happened to have some new thick canvas that I had intended to use for the tent I made for the childcare and then decided against using it. I thought the canvas would be a great book base so I got to work making little Oskar's book.

I settled on soft, natural tones for the book, and kept it very simple. I wanted to do something with his name in it, and though I never have done applique before, it looked like the best option for doing a book.

Aside from the off-kilter pages and wonky seams here and there, I was pleased to see the end result of the book finally come together last night. While a simple concept, the applique takes a really long time to do, but I love how it turned out. 

If I was better or more practiced at sewing it would be neater and more professional looking. But there is an element of charm and even whimsy in imperfect, hand-made gifts. I am glad it was time consuming and a little difficult because that means more love went into it and maybe  Oskar will feel all that love and effort when he plays with his little book. :-)

Front cover.

O is for Octopus.

S is for Snail. 

Actually, the 'S' was meant to be a seahorse to keep with my sea animal theme, but I cut the snail out before I realized my blunder, so I decided to keep it in. Originally I planned to do a regular animal set- O=Owl, S=Snake, K=Kangaroo, A=Alligator & R=Rabbit. The ocean animals seemed more fun to me.

K is for Killer Whale.

Alex says it looks more like a dolphin, though.

A is for Anchovy.

R is for Ray.

The back cover with little tag.

Happy 1st Birthday, Oskar!