Easy Baby Receiving Blankets

Yesterday my mom and I got together to sew up some receiving blankets.  We like to send them as part of relief packages to orphanages in other countries such as Haiti, to local shelters, and as part of hamper projects through different organizations.  They make an easy outreach project (and the sewing is minimal)!

How To:

• We had the fabric cut in meter long pieces (receiving blankets have to be BIG in my humble opinion), then washed and dried it all to allow for shrinkage.  

• Then we ironed the fabric while folding over the edges (twice) to form a nice crisp hem.  

• After sewing the hems using a straight stitch, we folded the finished blankets then tied them individually with raffia and attached a little tag labeled with "Baby Receiving Blanket" - this just adds a nice personal touch.  

These blankets never take long and it is a great way for my mom and I to spend time together, not to mention that participating in giving itself is very rewarding and humbling.

- Kristin -

Burp Cloths for Baby

A friend of mine is having a baby shower this weekend so another batch of burp cloths are in the making.  I love making burp cloths; there is something very relaxing about working with flannel ... and this time, it's for a baby girl so I get to work with pink!  Don't get me wrong, I love cars and trucks and dinosaurs, but it is fun every once in a while to do something pink  :o)

These burp cloths are an easy to make; you could definitely make a few in under an hour and they make great handcrafted gifts!  I like the frayed edges because it means that your stitching doesn't have to be perfect.  Check out my quick post on them here.

If you would like the pattern and the easy step-by-step instructions, hop on over to Homemade By Jill. 

Quick Moses Basket Updating

I LOVE moses baskets! I think that they are the most practical thing and for the first two months or so when my two were babies, I carried my moses basket everywhere. It was so nice to have a comfy place to lay my children while they slept and we visited with friends and family.

Now that my sister is expecting, she has asked to borrow the moses basket. While I was totally going to lend it to her (she did buy it for me after all), I just happened to be visiting a friend who, after 5 kids, was finally saying goodbye to all her baby things. Among the vast array of things was this well-loved-but-still-in-great-condition moses basket which I snagged right away! All it needed was a little update and even I, as an inexperienced sewer, could do that ...

This was the pad that originally came with the basket:

A little dated (in terms of fabric) and lacking in the comfort factor (i.e. very thin). So, using the original pad as my pattern, I cut out two pieces of quilt batting and zigzag stitched both pieces to either side of the original pad. I trimmed the edges then used this "new" pad as my pattern for my polka dot fabric which I found at Joanne's - isn't it sweet?

Since my sister doesn't know if it is a girl or a boy, I decided to double side the pad so she could use the green if it is a boy, or pink if it is a girl. I stitched right sides together of the polka dot fabric leaving a opening for turning. I pressed the seams then turned the cover right side out and stuffed the "new" pad in. I finished off the opening by pining and top stitching it.

Not the greatest pictures, I admit ... these are just to give you an idea of the final product.

Now what I am wondering is if I have to worry about the inside sides of the basket? Mine was covered in fabric which is more cozy, so I suppose I should do something here too ... that, however is totally beyond my sewing skills and I will have to consult someone about it.

At any rate, I will be including several burp cloths and a couple of extra large receiving blankets (the bought ones are always too small in my opinion), which I think will make a lovely gift.

Baby Burp Cloths

These make such wonderful baby gifts! Since so many girlfriends are expecting, I have been turning out so many of these burp clothes. I used flannel on both sides and added a hand stamped card for a personal touch. I always like to write "wash and wear often" on mine. I found the pattern for these over at homemadebyjill (she has easy to follow instructions for all you non-sewers like me!)

Kristin