Handmade Baby Gifts

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     As you already know, Alicia recently had a baby a number of weeks early.  He is doing great!  Just after he was born, I flew off to go and give her and her family a hand while the little guy was in the NICU getting stronger. (Lindsey gave some tips about how to help NICU parents on this post!)
     Before I left, my granddaughter pulled out her sewing machine and we worked together to create a special gift for the baby.  Here is what we made! 

     We got into my stash of flannel fabric and found an adorable elephant print and a chevron stripe that coordinated with it.  We wanted to make a receiving blanket with a matching burp cloth.  My granddaughter loves elephants, so it was the perfect choice.  Here are some other choices you might love:

Here is another cute elephant print.

This little butterfly print would be adorable for a little girl and it is a great price.

You can't go wrong with an ABC/animal print!

I love this woodland animals print.

Sweet little bunnies!

...And don't forget a solid or coordinating stripe or print for the back of the receiving blanket ! 

REMINDER:  Be sure to prewash and preshrink your fabric before sewing your items.  Flannel is notorious for shrinking and getting a little misshapen and you want that to happen before you cut it out and sew it together.  Plus, you will want nice clean fabric to give as a gift to a baby! 
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To Make The Blanket, we used a little over a yard to cut matching sized squares of the main color fabric,  (the elephants) and the backing fabric, (the stripe). 

• Placing the fabric wrong sides together, we pinned the pieces together matching the raw edges.  
• Using white embroidery floss, we tied the fabric together in about 5 inch intervals from top to bottom, left to right. 

• After the blanket is completely tied, iron the edges to the inside and pin in place to form a finished edge.  Iron in about 1/4 - 1/2 inch all of the way around.  Stitch around with a neat straight stitch to finish the blanket. 

     The burp cloth was made much like the blanket only on a smaller scale.  But, instead of tying the fabric together, we simply sewed them right sides together and flipped them right side out before finishing the edge the rest of the way and top stitching around. 
      The burp cloth fabric measures about 8 inches wide and about 18 inches long.  You can adjust these measurements according to how much fabric you have and the way it lays on your shoulder.  Burp cloths are very forgiving and can be sized according to your personal preference.  6 inches by 12 inches could also work! 
     I like to make the burp cloth with double flannel fabric to help it be nice an absorbent.  It can't be simply cute, it has to be functional!  I may have added, (I can't remember), and extra layer of flannel on the inside of the burp cloth just to give it more thickness and absorbency. 

The Stuffed Elephant:  We used Simplicity Pattern 2613 to sew the elephant from gray fleece. 

     The pattern was so simple to make that my granddaughter did most of the sewing by herself and she is an age 13 beginner!  I was very proud of her.  That girl has no fear of trying new things! 
​     We didn't want the eyes to be able to be pulled off and choked on by the baby, so we embroidered them on with embroidery floss.  Then, we used some of the left over fabric from the blanket to make a bow for his neck.  We loved how it turned out! As the baby gets older, I'm sure that he will love it as well! 

The entire set all together!

      There is something especially special about handmade baby gifts,  I think.  These little works of art can become heirlooms one day, or a cherished blanket that the child adores.  Not only are handmade gifts nice and helpful for mom and baby, I know that my granddaughter felt a lot of pride and happiness, a sense of accomplishment from making it for them.  When I came home from my trip, she asked me if it was appreciated.  I know it was and will continue to be loved by her aunt and cousin.  I hope you will have reasons to give these special gift ideas a try. 

More baby gift ideas:

• An Easy 9 Patch Baby Quilt
• An adorable Baby Gift to Make
• A Baby Quilt finished! 

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For quilt patterns, check out Connecting Threads