Baby Gift DIY

ANOTHER DIY!?!?!   I love posting about my organizing madness...but lately, I have not had time to tackle the projects I have in mind.  I'm hoping with a long weekend ahead that I'll get a chance to do a couple of those projects.  So, until I get my organizing time, you'll have to enjoy my DIY'ing!!!  I LOVE a good DIY.  I have a Pinterest account to prove it.  This was a bit different though...I winged it.  A sweet friend of mine was having a baby shower and I wanted to give a fun homemade gift (amongst a few of Hubby and my favorite things for baby).  Well, in comes that sweet remnants bin at the local store.  I have GOT to tell you though, I've been to JoAnn Fabric AND Hobby Lobby scavenging for a good deal on a remnant here and there but have YET to find one worth purchasing.  The remnants are expensive and slim pickin's.  I'm sure that it's hit or miss everywhere you go but I've had amazing luck at Hancock Fabrics.  And surprisingly Walmart has a very nice selection of fabric (not necessarily remnants), as well (Side note:  IF you brave Walmart, make sure to pack your own grease and driving gloves - their carts are just AWFUL).

Here are the steps I took to make some burp cloths and a cute little tag snuggle blanket:

Here are the fabrics that I snagged at the store.  This project was for a little baby boy so I went with the cute blue fabrics, and I'll be using the pink for another baby gift that I'll be making soon as well.  The white and cream were what I used for the backing of the burp cloths.  It is some kind of cotton fabric that will do just the trick for a burp cloth.  The cream was a fleece fabric that I didn't use.  I wasn't sure how that would work so I just left it out - I'm sure I'll find another project to use it for sometime!  The patterned fabric are all flannel and super soft!!!

The one bad thing about remnant fabrics is you can't choose your size.  BUT, you can work with what you have.  I made the burp cloths about 14 inches tall and 9 inches wide.  Cut out both the patterned fabric and the white cotton fabric.  Pinned the the pretty sides together and sewed.  It's not rocket science but man was I happy with the outcome. 

I made a total of 5 burp cloths.  I sewed three sides together, turned it right side out and then sewed it shut.  The iron is a huge help in all this process, so I encourage you to use it!  I also put a stitch about 2 inches in on each side (long way) to help it keep its shape.  They were soft and I hope the baby I made them for says "boy, these sure are awesome!"...because that's what babies say.

Next up:  Tag snuggle blanket (I call it this because I didn't make one that's big enough to cover a child, just big enough to carry around and rub your face all over it.  Because that's precisely what I did with the soft fleece fabric I purchased:

I'm sure you've all seen this kind of fabric.  It's so soft and it's just wonderful.  A neighbor of ours (DC IF you read this, Sweet Pickle LOVES hers) made one when Sweet Pickle was born.  I chose a darker gray color because as we all know, babies puke, poop and pee.  Well, I didn't want this to get all yucky and have the stains show, so that's why the gray.  It's super soft, and can be pricey but I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby for $3.99 for 1/2 yard.

I used to be HUGE into scrap booking...but along came kids...I said goodbye to free time...and sold MOST of it.  BUT, I did hang onto my ribbon.  Thank goodness for that because for the tag snuggle, I didn't have to purchase any.  I found 6 different ribbon's that I liked, cut them to a length that I thought would be good, and then folded it and pinned it onto the blanket.  For the blanket, I cut out a nice square piece of both the flannel pattern and gray fleece, pinned the pretty sides together and THEN went through and pinned my ribbon.  I pinned A LOT.  The gray fleece was VERY slick when sewing so the more pins, the better.

Side note:  a sweet friend of mine gave me a complete beginners sewing kit a year ago for my birthday.  She included these flat flower topped pins and I adore them.  I think they're MUCH easier to use than the pins with the balls on it or the pins without anything on it.  They seem sharper too.  Thank you DB, its the gift that keeps on giving!!!

This is the final product.  I really stink at taking step-by-step pics because I get so excited for my sewing projects!!!  One thing I can tell you is that I sewed over each ribbon 3 times to make sure that sucker wasn't going anywhere.  The last thing I want is for the baby to be gnawing on it and choking on the ribbon so keep that in mind when making this!!!

So there you have it.  Now, I calculate that in total, I spent $10 on 5 burp cloths and 1 tag snuggle blanket.  If you want to get down to the nitty gritty (ribbon pieces, thread) MAYBE $11.  It was inexpensive, easy to make, and so much fun!!!

Friday will probably be another DIY of some sort...what?  Who knows.  Or perhaps some recipes...hmmm...the blogging options are endless!!!  Until Friday!