Crafting for Baby - Baby Bunting Blanket from GYCT Designs

 

This project today from Chelsea at GYCT Designs is so sweet! If you've taken (or are going to take) monthly pictures of your little one, and aren't quite sure what to do with them, then this project is for you!

 

____________________________________________________________

   

Hi, my name is Chelsea and I blog over at GYCT Designs.  I am so excited to be sharing this fun baby project with you.  My baby just turned one, so I have been doing tons of projects over the last year. 

 One of the projects I worked on was taking monthly pictures of her.  I know this is a huge trend in the blogging community and I am sure many of you have done this.  (You know, the ones you take of them with the sticker on their belly.  No?  Grab your Monthly Stickers HERE)

But once I was finished, I said to myself, "Now what?"  

I have all these adorable pictures, but what am I suppose to do with them. That is where the birth of this fun, fairly simple and lasting project comes in.  

I call it the "Budding Baby Bunting Blanket".  

Materials Needed:

2 yards of fabric (can be same or different)

1 pkg double folded bias tape

2 pkgs double folded quilting bias tape

Fusible Fabric Sheets

Batting

Thread

First, you'll need to make bunting out of your baby's monthly pictures.  I set mine up so that I could print 4 of them to a page.  You can decide how big you want to make them.  Follow the instructions on your Fusible Fabric package for printing.  It is super easy.

Next, decide how you want your bunting to lay on the fabric.  Take your double fold bias tape and lay it out on your main fabric.  I just did two rows, but you could do 3 or even 4.  The rows will depend on the size of your bunting pictures as well.  Experiment a little before you commit.  Then pin it in place.

Open the bias tape and stitch it down to the fabric.

Now grab those cute bunting pictures.  Iron them in between the bias tape and then to the fabric.  Make sure to follow the instructions on the packaging so you don't ruin them.

Once the pictures are ironed on, stitch them down.  Make sure the stitching is close to the outside edge.

Once all the pictures are sewn down, fold your bias tape down and stitch across the bias tape to close it.  Stitch along the bottom edge of the bias tape.

I cut out my daughter's name to stitch to the blanket.  You could add your child's name, birthday, other pictures.  Whatever you want.  I cut out her name and then stitched it on. 

Your blanket should look something like the picture below.

Now place your batting and remaining yard of fabric underneath your bunting layer.  Make sure Right Sides are facing out.  Pin all the layers together really well.

Once your pinned, stitch along the top edge of your bunting bias tape.  You can see below.  This will keep your batting from moving around.

Now all you have to do is bind your blanket.  Grab your quilting bias tape.  Open it up and stitch it to the edge of your blanket through all the layers.  You can see that below.  Then fold the bias tape around to the opposite side and stitch it in place.

You're finished!!!

Go hang it on the crib, the wall, or hand it to your baby so they can carry it around the house and slobber on it (not saying that is what happened at my house!  Wink, wink).

Too much work?  You can also just make a cute collage like the one below.  Check out Our Cute Collage post to see how I did it.  :)

Thanks for having me!!!

 

 

__________________________________________________________

 

Thanks Chelsea! What a fun idea for keeping those baby pictures visible. I find that I take a million pictures, but only a very few get seen. This way more of them will be seen and remembered. Plus, baby gets a cute little blankie to snuggle with! Win-win!

 

You can also check out all of the other posts from our Crafting for Baby series and the Crafting for Baby link party.

DIY Swaddle Blankets

 

My not-so-little guy LOVED to be swaddled when he was a baby. It was the only way I could get him to sleep for longer than 20 minutes at a time. We never tried the muslin blankets, but if we ever have another, I'll definitely be using this tutorial from Parlo & Logi instead of paying the outrageous prices at the store.

 

See how to make these DIY Swaddle Blankets.

 

Guest Blogger - Small Fry and Co. - Peekaboo Carseat Cover From A Receiving Blanket

I am super excited to be guest posting today here at Someday Crafts. Michelle has been reading my blog pretty much since it began and I am so grateful for her interest and support over the past couple of years. My name is Heather and you can find me at

Small Fry and Co.

My blog is about crafts and being a crafty mom. I have been crafty much longer than I have been a mother so it is an interesting experience trying to find the balance right now. My blog is my main creative outlet and keeps my brain constantly thinking of new ideas. Here is a small sampling of things you can find on Small Fry:

Carseat Cover Tutorial

T-shirt Ruffle Skirt Tutorial

Cupcake Birthday Card Tutorial

Repurposed Formula Can Easter Basket Tutorial

Today, however, I have something new and hopefully wonderful and easy to share with you. It is a tutorial on how to turn an extra receiving blanket into one of these:

A peekaboo carseat cover.

I know we are approaching spring and summer which are not exactly carseat cover weather, but this tutorial would be great for people that are expecting babies in the fall, or to make as a gift for someone else. For those who live in places where the weather is still chilly, this might be just what you need right now. So here it goes.

To make this you will need:

1 receiving blanket (it needs to be either a thick fleece one, or one that is made from two layers of flannel. You want the material thick so that it will be warm. I guess you could make one out of something more light weight if you wanted it for the spring).

3/8" elastic (52" long or slightly longer or smaller depending on the carseat)
2- 3" pieces of 1/8" elastic

Ribbon if you want to add the ruffle to the opening

1. Begin by measuring your carseat. All carseats are not created equal so if you are making this for yourself or someone you know it would be a great idea to measure the carseat to be sure you make it fit. If you are making this for a gift and are unsure you can use my measurements. My carseat is a larger model so you should be safe knowing that it won't be too small. You want to measure from the top, down (keep it snug).

Make sure you start your measurement down under the edge of the top of the carseat because this is where you want your cover to start.

You want to end your measurement down and under the edge at the bottom too. For my measurement I got 32".

2. Now measure across the widest part of the carseat, again curving around the edges.

My measurement was 21".

3. Now take a large piece of paper (I used two pieces of freezer paper taped together) and mark from the top of the paper down your first measurement (the length of the carseat-which I got 32").

4. Take your paper and fold it in half and mark on the side half of your width measurement. I had 21" total so mine would be 10 1/2". Now draw a line that goes from your top mark out to the side mark and back down, forming a half oval. Cut on this line. This will leave you with an large oval pattern.

5. Next take the blanket you are going to use and spread it out.

6. Pin the pattern to the blanket.

7. Cut out around the pattern.

8. Lastly, before you can start sewing you need to find the circumference (basically) of the carseat to cut your piece of elastic. I did this by stretching my elastic all the way around the carseat, stretching fairly tight (as snug as I would want it to be on my cover). My measurement was 52". If you got something much higher than that, you probably weren't stretching your elastic enough. Trust me.

It is hard to stretch elastic and take the picture at the same time, but make sure you allow the pieces to overlap slightly.

9. Now begin by first stitching the ends of your elastic together (make sure one piece is not twisted). I used a zig zag stitch.

10. Place this elastic on the edge of your cover piece, on the wrong side if there is one. NOTE: if you are using flannel or a fuzzy material that frays, then you will want to either serge or zig zag stitch around the edge first before adding the elastic. Take a couple of stitches in the elastic (again using a zig zag). When you stop make sure that the needle is down in the fabric.

11. Now as you continue sewing you will want to hold and guide the fabric with one hand while you stretch your elastic with the other. I don't pin before hand because it is much too difficult. Stretching and sewing is the way to go, just make sure you are really stretching your elastic. Anytime you have to stop just make sure your needle is down otherwise you will pull the whole thing out when you start stretching your elastic again.

12. You will know you are stretching the elastic enough because the edge of the material should bunch. Stitch all the way around and backstitch where you started.

13. It should look something like this when you are done.

14. When you put it on a carseat it looks like this. It should fit snug and not sag in the middle.

15. Now you will cut out the peekaboo hole. To do this you will need to draw a guide for your cutting line. You can eyeball this if you like or measure in from the sides and make a little mark. Mine measures in about 4 inches from the side of the carseat, when the cover is on the carseat. Draw a curved line from one mark to the other. Don't make it too big because the idea is to "cover" the baby and keep him or her warm.

16. Cut on the line. I start by poking a small sharp pair of scissors through the material (you could use a seam ripper too) and take one snip. Then finish off with your regular fabric scissors.

17. Now to keep the peekaboo flap closed most of the time you will want to add some way to fasten it. Before doing this, if the material you are using frays or sheds then you will want to serge or zig zag the edges of the flap and the opening. To create a way to hold the flap closed, I used to 3" pieces of elastic.

Fold the elastic in half (to form a little loop) and sew to the under side of the flap about 2 1/2" down from the center on either side.

18. Sew small buttons on the cover piece to correspond with the loops.

Now it can close like this.

Or you can have one side fold down if you wish.

Now technically, that is it. But it wasn't very cute, so I decided what it needed was a ruffle. This is a simple embellishment. I made mine using a piece of ribbon that was about 6" longer than the opening and a second piece about 6" longer than the flap. I sewed a basting stitch down the center of the ribbon, pulled it to gather it into a ruffle, folded under the ends, then pinned and sewed it with a regular stitch. (HINT: don't use too thin of a ribbon or you will have a tough time sewing it without all the ruffles folding under. Use at least 3/4" ribbon.) This can be done before adding the elastic or buttons, but honestly I didn't decide to add it until I had the fasteners on. I love how it looks with the ruffle.

Then, if you wish, you can add an embellishment to the cover as well. I felt like it needed something, so I cut 3 flowers, in varying sizes and sewed them in place and added a yo-yo flower to the center. You could do all kinds of things though.

Here is a second one I made.

Now I realize ruffles don't exactly work for boys, but don't worry I have an idea for a boy cover as well. Join me on my blog on March 22nd to see the boy version of this carseat cover. Until then, happy sewing and repurposing.

.

THANKS, Heather! That looks so simple and cute! I never would have thought of that! Small Fry and Co. has LOTS of great ideas and tips. It really was one of the first crafty blogs I started following. She has many ideas for little kids, general crafting ideas and tips for making my life easier as a mom! Visit Small Fry and Co. today and check out all the rockin' ideas over there!