DIY: Receiving Blanket and Burp Cloths

It seems like everyone is having a baby and that's only a little bit of an exaggeration.  A little while ago it also seemed like every sewing place had flannel on sale, so I bought some and that's only a little bit of an understatement.

One of my fabric fabrics was a dinosaur fabric.  The store where I got it didn't have any of the dinosaur paw print fabric left so I went with a plain green fabric for my second fabric.  This is what I made:

1 receiving blanket, 3 regular burp cloths, and 4 burp cloths made from cloth diapers.  The steps for all were really simple (I don't do complicated things . . . yet).

After the fabric was cut, for anything I wanted to add an applique to, I added that next.  I probably would have done more but I didn't have enough fabric for more.  I chose a gray thread for this project because there are some gray rocks on the dinosaur printed fabric and I thought gray thread would bring the color of the rocks out nicely.

Receiving Blanket

Regular Burp Cloths

Next, for the receiving blanket and the regular burp cloths, I sewed the front sides of the fabric together leaving a small unsewn section.  Then I turned it right side out, ironed the sides flat, and sewed around the edges one more time.  Easy.  Each has dinosaurs on one side and plain green fabric on the other side.

Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths

For the other burp cloths I ended up being really glad that I bought the diapers that didn't have the three defined sections.  Without those sections, I could cut the fabric any size I wanted and wouldn't have to worry about it fitting perfectly into that middle section.  I simply cut the fabric, pinned it to the burp cloth while folding the edges under, then sewed around the edges.  Couldn't be easier.



Now all I need is a friend or family member to have a baby boy (is everyone having girls this year? really?) so I can gift these fabulous dinosaur products to him.

DIY: Placemats & Napkins

As part of my kitchen beautification I made double sided placemats & napkins.  They were both pretty simple; I used the same basic steps for both.

1. Iron Fabric.
2. Cut Fabric to length.  I did the napkins 14 x 14 and the placemats 16 x 8.  I decided on the size of the napkins based on how much fabric I had; I'd read that 16 x 16 or 18 x 18 were good sizes for napkins.  I decided on the size of the placemats by taking one of my plates and putting in on my rotary cutting mat to see what size felt right.



3. Fold over opposite edges and iron flat. (This could have been done by folding and pinning but I didn't have pins at the time.)
4. Sew folded edges.  I chose pink thread because I thought it would stand out nicely against the green napkins.

5. Fold over remaining opposite edges and iron flat.
6. Sew folded edges.

At this point we have a completed napkin.  It isn't a great quality napkin but it is complete.  I think next time I'll make the napkins bigger (maybe 18 x 18) and also fold the edges over at least twice to give the napkin a more finished look and to prevent the fabric from freying in the wash.

Also at this point we have the two separate sides of the double sided placemats.  The next steps are to sew the sides together.

7. Place the backsides of the two sides of the placemats together.  At this point I would have loved to have had some pins, but I did not, so I had to wing it.
8. Sew the two sides together.  In the picture you might be able to see two lines of thread on the place mats.  One is from steps #4 & #6 and the other is from step #8.  I liked the added detail of having both.

Voila.  Double sided placemats.  I did have some trouble with these.  Apparently I don't cut and/or sew straight so the two sides of my placemats didn't line up really well with each other.  Next time I think I'll start by sewing the outside sides together, then turn the place mat right side out, then sew along the edges.  Lesson learned.

Once my placemats and napkins were made all I needed was a center piece for the table and the kitchen beautification would be complete.  I originally wanted a white candlabra with maybe pink candles but I ended up finding a vase, green candles, and white pebbles for pretty cheap (thanks in part to some coupons) at Jo-Ann, so I went with that.