Some of my first sewing accomplishments!

I am a very novice, self taught sewer. (<- Is that a word?! I'm definitely not a seamstress... yet. haha). I am a nanny for twins and their first birthday was this week so I wanted to make them something special. For Sara, I sewed a homemade tutu on a onesie. Working with tulle was harder than I thought it was going to be! For her brother Julian, I sewed a cape with an applique "J" on it. The reverse fabric is really cute with black and white dogs all over. There are some improvements that I would make next time as they are not perfect, but that is the joy (and proof!) of it being homemade.

Great job! I love making gifts for friends and family and have found that they're always appreciated even when they're imperfect.  I started sewing last year in November and decided to make everyone's Christmas present. Just about everyone got coasters. 

I love the cape -- that's such a great gift idea for a boy.  (For a girl too, but boy gifts are harder to come by.)  I saw this tutorial for tutus recently and it might be easier because it's no-sew (at least for the tulle part): http://plumtickled.typepad.com/plumtickled/2007/08/tutu-tutorial-t.html. My sister made a really cute one that ties to a onsie: http://allthingsnice2.blogspot.com/2008/09/custom-onesie.html.