Baby Gifts

Some friends of ours are expecting their first son later this month.  I wanted to be sure and get something made up for them before the baby arrived. I love bow tie and vest onesies, so of course, I made one for their little guy.  I also happen to think that the "No Hablo" Bodysuits are hilarious, so I threw one in there as well.

A self-bound receiving blanket, and a serged edge swaddling blanket (36" square, with rounded corners), and the gifts were good to go.

I saved a few scraps of the flannel, serged the edges, and tied the blankets up in with a contrasting bow.   Clark and I worked on this project while Miles was down for his afternoon nap.  We had a good conversation about repetition with variation as elements of design.  I explained that the blue and white color scheme united the two fabrics, while the different patterns created visual interest, repetition with variation.  Who knows if his nearly four year old mind will file the information away for future use, but I love that he asks questions, and likes to help me out.

So I've been sewing up a storm lately, and crossing things off of my "To Sew" List, but unfortunately I don't have any tutorials.  It's been a while since I've written up a tutorial for you.  Any requests on particular projects?  I'll try to squeeze in a tutorial sometime next week.

Serged Sweater Knit Blanket: A Tutorial

As many of you know, I'm making an effort to sew through my fabric stash.  We live in a small home with limited storage space.  There is simply no sense in buying more fabric until I start using up what I have on hand.  I've had some lovely sweater knit sitting in my fabric dresser, two pieces actually.  One piece was some left over yardage from this ivory cowl tunic, and the other is some cute yellow and gray striped sweater knit.  I ordered the yellow and gray fabric online. It looked adorable online, but somehow I missed that there were sparkles involved. So I had to change my plans for a cardigan.  A simple sweater knit blanket seemed to be the perfect choice.

One of my favorite projects that I made for Miles has been my lightweight knit receiving blanket.  It has a nice stretch, and it breathes really well.  It's perfect for wrapping up a little babe.  The lettuce leaf serged edges make for a cute decorative finish as well.  I used the same technique with this sweater knit, and I love the results. So I thought I'd share the process with you.

Sewing For Baby: Lightweight Knit Swaddle Blanket

Here's another sewing project for baby.  This one was extremely quick, and easy.  I don't know if you've ever seen the Aden and Anais swaddle blankets, but they are super soft and lightweight gauze material.  My sister received some at her last baby shower, and uses them all of the time when nursing.  They are light enough that the baby gets plenty of fresh air when snuggled up close to mama.  While I'd love some myself, they aren't in the budget at the moment.  Fortunately, I came up with an alternative.  I've had this extremely thin and light knit fabric in my stash for some time now.  I've used it in the past for baby tights, but hadn't found a suitable project for the remaining fabric that I had on hand. When sorting through my stash a few weeks back I realized that this would be the perfect material for a lightweight blanket.

 I cut a 42" square piece of material.  Set my serger settings for a scarf edge finish, and serged all four sides.  It was honestly such a fast project, and I can't wait to wrap my baby up in it.

The scarf edge finish is almost like a rolled hem, and it created a nice lettuce leaf effect on the lightweight knit.

When I purchased the fabric I found it for a dollar a yard, so this blanket cost me a little over a dollar to make. Huge savings compared to the Aden and Anais blankets-Woohoo! Now I'll go spend the savings on a box of diapers...urgggg.

I thought that I'd show you a quick pick of the finished nursery area.  It is part of our bedroom that sits in our basement.  We are fortunate to have a daylight window, along with a dividing wall.  The wall that the crib is up against separates our bed from his. We have just enough privacy, but I won't have to run upstairs for those mid-night feedings.

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.

Faux Chenille Blanket

Last week I finished another blanket for baby boy #2, somehow it's taken me all week to get around to posting it.

It is a faux chenille blanket based on Dana's tutorial that you can find here.  It was a bit time consuming, but I finished it in a couple of days, and I'd definitely make one again.

I purchased all of my fabric at Joann's.  The back is a fine wale corduroy, and the front has three layers of broadcloth.  The top layer is a bright green, the center layer is a jade green, and the bottom layer is a turquoise blue much like the binding.

I've only washed and dried this blanket once.  I'm sure that the more it's washed the softer the "chenille" rows will become.  I have a feeling that using flannel rather than broadcloth would cause the blanket to fray up even more, but I wasn't in love with any of the flannel that Joann's had to offer.

Mitered Corner Receiving Blanket

I mentioned yesterday that I'd already finished my first baby boy project.  Here it is, a simple mitered corner receiving blanket.

I've been trying to sew my way through my fabric stash since I found out that we were having a baby, but since Monday I've bought fabric everyday.  I've got a long list of sewing projects to prepare for baby

Funny....I really thought that I pressed this prior to taking photos.

My husband's aunt sewed up a similar receiving blanket for my Sister In Law's baby shower, and I decided that it was going on my "To Sew List".  

I found a great tutorial for it here, on Everyday Mom. All that it requires is one yard of the inner fabric, and one and a quarter yard of the back/border print. The print is a Michael Miller design, and the green polka dot border (which seemed to match much better in the fabric store), is from Riley Blake. It took less than an hour to put together.  Wahoo!

Quick and Easy Personalized No Sew Fleece Blanket

I know that this is by no means an original project, but I thought I'd share it with you for a couple of reasons.  

Reason number one:  it is nice to have a quick and easy project that you can finish in less than an hour.  Reason number two: it can be a great gift for someone of any age or gender.

I recently found this remnant piece of fleece for 75% off.  I loved the print, and thought that it would make a cute blanket for my son.  It has just been recently that my son has become attached to blankets.  When we were on our trip to New Hampshire he toted around his dad's 27 year old baby blanket.  While I found it rather endearing that he dragged it around with him, I would have preferred that the actual blanket was a bit less precious.

This blanket will be warm and snuggly, and I won't mind one bit if he drags it through the dirt or spills milk on it.

I simply squared up the ends of the remnant (they are rarely cut straight). 

 Cut fringe that was one inch wide and three inches long on two of the ends.  

I then knotted each individual strand of fringe.  

To personalize the blanket a bit I used some embroidery floss and stitched his name onto the blanket. 

 I am thinking that I am going to have to restitch the name in a bolder color, but it was quick, easy, and will be well used.

On a somewhat related note, I have been contemplating making my first quilt (which would be a bit more precious).  I'm looking for a pattern that wouldn't be too involved. If you know of any good starter quilts that are cute, quick, and well designed- I'd appreciate some suggestions.

I'll be linking here.