Baby Lovey Cuddle Square: With Tutorial

It seems like when Clark was a few months old he developed a fascination with tags.  He love the tags on clothing, tags on toys, tags on his blankets, etc. Before having him, I never quite understood the need for a cuddle square or lovey, but after dealing with his tag fetish, I realized that it was a wise parent that thought of making a tagged cuddle square. It satisfies the need that some little tactile learners have to pull on tags, and hold their blankets close.

I decided to use some of the scrap fabric and material that I have sitting in my stash to make a cuddle square for Baby #2.  It is a really quick and easy project that even the beginning sewist can tackle.

You'll find the full tutorial below.

Mitered Corner Cuddle Receiving Blanket

Here's another receiving blanket that I made for our little boy on the way.  It is another mitered corner blanket, you can find my first mitered corner blanket here, and the tutorial here.  This blanket is made with flannel and soft cuddle fabric that I picked up in the remnant bin at Joann's.  I picked up the white cuddle fabric first, and was then left with the task of finding a coordinating flannel that I liked.  

I'm not one that typically selects baby blue for baby boys, but I loved the sweetness of this print from the Nate & Kate Child's Play line. I picked up the flannel at a local quilt shop.  It reminds me of childhood story books, and matches the crib bedding that we have quite nicely.  I think that it will be the perfect little blanket to rock the baby to sleep in.

It was a bit more difficult to sew the cuddle fabric than standard flannel, but it came together pretty well. If you make a similar blanket of your own, just remember not to iron embossed minky, as it will remove those precious little dots that probably convinced you to purchase the fabric in the first place. 

Thanks for reading.

Minky and Chenille Cloth Diaper Burp Clothes

Yesterday I mentioned that I'd share some other little shower gift ideas.  Now I didn't get super creative with my gift giving, but I do always like to throw in something practical.  I know that I was a new mom I was amazed at how many burp clothes I went through.  Even though Clark didn't have any major spit up problems, I found them extremely useful, especially when nursing.  At the beginning of the nursing adventure I would have to slide one burp cloth down the side of my shirt that I wasn't nursing on, because a nursing pad didn't suffice.  

Hopefully I haven't made any of you feel too uncomfortable. The point is that burp clothes are a necessity for every new mama, reflux or not.

You can find cloth diapers in most any baby section.  I picked up a six pack for six dollars at our local wal-mart. I then gathered some scrap minky and chenille that my mom had left over from a baby quilt she made years ago.  The only scraps that she had left over were long thin strips.  It is difficult to use a scrap of fabric to is too thin, but this is really the perfect project for those remaining fabric scraps.

Most cloth diapers have a center section that is somewhat padded for extra absorbency.  I simply measured the width of the section, and cut my strips of fabric to the same dimensions.  I believe that these particular diapers were 4 1/2" wide by 19 1/2", but make sure to measure for yourself if you try this project out. I then used my overcast serger to finish off the raw edges.  If you don't have a serger you can cut your strips of fabric 1/2" larger in each dimension, and then press the raw edges under 1/4" on each side.  Once the raw edges were taken care of I pinned the material to the center of the diaper, and stitched them in place.

 The soft cuddle fabric is especially nice for little babies.  My sister in law has some similar burp clothes that she uses, and she says that they wash up great, and her babies have all loved using them. Another variation is to cut the fabric to the size of the whole cloth diaper.  I didn't have enough fabric to do that, and I like this just as well.  You don't have to use a cuddle fabric, you can stitch colorful ribbons, or a quilting cotton down the center for the same effect.

I bundled three burp clothes together with a piece of lace, and clipped a little pinwheel hair clip to the top for a little extra decoration.  Simple, quick, practical, yet pretty. I love that they coordinated with the Sweetie Pi onesie and skirt.