Last weekend I decided to try to make a baby gift for a family member. Let me just say that it did NOT start off well. On Good Friday we got let out of work early so I decided after seeing this on Pinterest to try to make something like it of my own.
I'm by no means an expert sewer, I'm definately a beginner. I had some issues with my machine that night and literally spent 6 hours trying to resolve them. 6 freaking hours! First my mom came over and helped me fix my bobbin spooling issues, then when my husband came home I had ALL KINDS of issues that I couldn't figure out. I studied the manual, I did trouble shooting, I watched YouTube video after You Tube video until I figured it out. It was a rough night for me, but when I start something, I am determined to figure it out. I haven't taken a sewing class, so everything I've learned has been from the manual, my mom or tutorials on the web. I really could use a class sometime.
Once my machine problems were figured out, I started on the blanket. I tried following the directions in the post I linked to above from Juicy Bits. Where I got confused was with the binding. I totally messed it up. I did the one side and realized it looked like crap so I took a break for a few days from it. Last night I saw a post from Crazy Mom Quilts and it all clicked. I went home and did the binding and while it's not perfect, I'm really happy with my first baby blanket.
The burp rags are made from cloth diapers and scraps from the blanket fabric. I've given these as gifts before and people like them because they are so thick and can absorb a lot more than other burp rags. There is this Heat & Bond stuff that makes the onesie/burp rag making a lot easier. It really does help the fabric stay attached to what you are sewing. I highly recommend it.
Here's the final gift! It's by no means perfect, but I'm still proud! Included is 1 blanket, 2 burp rags and 2 wash cloths. I got the wash cloth tutorial on 2 Little Hooligans. I included a tag with one of my favorite stamps that reads: You aren't going to believe this, but I MADE THIS. Now jump up and down and get excited or something!
So what would I do differently?
Learn to bind a quilt properly
Sew in a straight line! A basic, that I should know by now. I'm getting better, but there are some handy tricks that I want to try from Prudent Baby.
Line the pattern up properly so that what you want to be seen doesn't get cut off. I was bummed I cut off some of the cutest parts of this fabric.
Figure out a better way to sew stretchy fabric
There you have it! Easy baby gifts and I enjoy playing with my sewing machine now.
