Saturday, March 6, 2010

Scrap Swaddle Blanket


That's scrap. Not crap (although some may think otherwise). I had limited time to get a baby shower gift put together, so I didn't have time to go to the fabric store. Plus, I'm trying to get through the fabric I already own before I buy more. I started with my bag of endless scraps. I realized as I started pulling pink fabric out that most were about 4 inches wide. I didn't have a ton of time to sew a baby blanket full of 4 inch squares, so I decided to just leave the scraps the size they were but cut them into 4 inch strips. Some strips are as short as 2 inches, some as long as 18 inches.
I wanted the blanket to be lightweight, since it's a Spring baby. But also because I find with a lot of baby blankets, they're just too bulky to swaddle a baby in. A little newborn can get lost in all that puffy fabric. And there's nothing newborns and momma's like more than a nice tight swaddle to cuddle with.
Instead of batting (which I didn't have anyway and sometimes adds too much loft), I added two layers of muslin to give the blanket a little weight and structure. I know there are fantastic quilters out there, but sometimes I think blankets can get over quilted. I personally, don't like a lot of crazy designs going all through my blankets. I like straight, simple, clean lines. So instead of quilting, I skipped that part all together and decided to tie the blanket. I lined the back with nice, soft white flannel, and tied it with yellow embroidery thread at the corners of each scrap.
I know it looks like a million other things I do, but when you have scrap fabric, things tend to start looking the same. Thankfully, I like the fabric combination and I think it suits a Spring newborn girl rather well. My favorite part are the Small World looking pieces from Alexander Henry's Good Earth line that I used for our game bag. So cute for babies.
The blanket is about 35 inches square. It's the perfect size and weight for swaddling a newborn this Spring. I hope she likes it.
And remember, before you throw your scraps away, think about how they can be made into something nice, easy, and cute. And free.

And yes, I could have asked my daughter to smile and done her hair for the picture-thanks for noticing.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

that quilt is great

Tasha said...

I love it! I should go through all my scraps one of these days and come up with something. It would be fun to even just be a blanket my boys could cuddle up in. I agree in light weight baby blankets. I am sure she is going to love it!

Anonymous said...

Ever have an image appear on your screen that just makes you stop breathing for a moment? That just happened to me with your quilt! I stopped by for the bassinet and found this gem! Please please come to my blog linking party next Sunday, and if you link to this I'll feature you the following week, how's that for a bribe? Hope to see you then@creativejewishmom.com

Jesslyn said...

This is so cute!

There's a blog award for you on my site today!!
http://www.imageinterpreters.com/1/post/2010/03/sugar-doll-award.html

Unknown said...

HEY!!!!!! If you don't know about the how take care of the babies so go for the Swaddling Blanket that will care a proper.

Mrs. Swaddle said...

Great looking quilt. I like the little kid features the best.

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