Sewing Projects

With the arrival of Baby S. anticipated soon, it seemed a good time to make a few baby items - some for the girls and something to have on hand at our house.

Burp Cloths

I made several burp cloths for each of our daughters. This was a quick and easy project to complete and the first one I did this winter. For burp cloths, all you really need to do is sew two large rectangles together. I made a few different sizes and shapes for the girls to try out. I look forward to hearing feedback on which size/shape works best for them. If you want to venture into sewing or even just get back into it, this is a great project to start with.


Baby Bibs

Youngest daughter was wanting a couple more soft baby bibs to have on hand. It seemed like a simple enough project to try so I offered to make her some. I first made a pattern from the two bib styles she had and then purchased a set of soft receiving blankets in colors she likes from the local second hand children's store. It cost a total of $2.50 for three large cotton flannel blankets. I didn't want to use up more expensive fabric for the trial run in case they didn't turn out. Once home, I tried out the patterns and experimented with attaching snaps - a new skill for me.


I made four reversible bibs - two with checked sage and a bird pattern for youngest daughter's baby, and two with red stripes and the bird pattern for eldest daughter's baby. If you look closely, you can see that two of the bibs have a second set of snap closures. I originally intended to make them with two size options, but these particular ones are simply where I made mistakes in learning how to use my snap pliers to attach snaps. Fortunately, they are still usable and neither of our girls minded being the recipient of my practice bibs. These are not perfect, but this blog is about learning and acquiring skills and oftentimes that comes with making mistakes along the way. 

Baby Quilt

After making the bibs, I had a bit of time left. I realized that we didn't have a baby blanket at the house, so I pulled out a baby quilt I started a few years ago. I originally intended to give this quilt to our cousin's daughter when she was expecting her first baby. It is made from scraps left over from a 4-H quilt project our youngest daughter did years ago. I do not have a quilting machine and at the time I couldn't get the quilting foot to work properly on my sewing machine. The quilt kept puckering more than any other I had done. Out of frustration, I ripped out the quilting and put the project aside to finish later. Later turned out to be last week and I finally got the quilting to come out well. I added the binding and can finally say that the quilt is finished!


I plan to keep this one at the house so we have something for the grandchildren to use when they come to visit.


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