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Faux Chenille Baby Blanket

My sister-in-law is having a baby next month (so excited!!) and last night was her baby shower. I had decided months ago to make her a faux chenille baby blanket (found on Pinterest, of course), but I waited until the last minute to order my fabric, and then the fabric arrived late! Such is life, sometimes. So 3 days ago when the fabric arrived, I busily got to work, and Im pleased to say I finished it in time! I even had extra time to make some tiny baby mits and a stretchy lightweight gauze swaddling blanket to go along with it.

I used Aesthetic Nests tutorial for the blanket, and highly recommend it! The directions were thorough and the pictures great. This blanket is actually really easy to make, it just takes a lot of patience sewing and then cutting all those lines! Here is how mine turned out!

The front: Sparrows in Vintage Yellow by Joel Dewberry. I used matching yellow thread. This blanket is a square measuring about 36", and I think its the perfect size for a baby!


This is what the chenille looks like before you wash it. I used a pale butter yellow flannel for the top layer, medium gray in the middle, and dark gray on the bottom. At this point, I was thinking, "is it REALLY going to make a huge difference, washing and drying it?"


I made my own bias binding out of medium gray cotton. I am relieved that all my colors match, since I picked everything out online! I did rounded corners, which I think is really cute for a small baby blanket.


This is what it looks like when it is done washing and drying! Look how pretty and crinkly the front and binding is, and the rows of ruffled chenille on the back... wow!!


More views of how the chenille turned out. I love how you can see each of the three different colors of flannel that I used!



I really like how this blanket drapes, too. It is a thick blanket, but folds and drapes like one layer of fabric, if that makes sense! Much different than a quilt.


The chenille hid any mistakes I may have made on the binding, thats a nice extra!


One last picture of the luxurious fluffiness. I cant wait to make one of these for my baby! He already has plenty of blankets, but I dont think one can ever have too many handmade blankets... do you?

Available link for download

Five Genuinely Useful New Baby Makes 4 Dribble Bibs

Now that the fun of Me-Made-May is over for another year, its high time I got back to my mini series of blog posts offering ideas for those wishing to make some cute gifts for a new baba. This post first appeared on the Village Haberdashery blog The Daily Stitch. Thank you to them for allowing me to repost it here. 

My fourth project suggestion is dribble bibs. These natty neck accessories are designed to catch some of the crazy-amount of dribble and small possets that will come from a baby’s mouth. These are not the same as the kind of bibs that babies wear to catch the mess when they start to eat solid foods at around six months of age. Dribble bibs are needed much earlier in the baby’s sartorial life and play a major role in cutting down the number of outfit changes the baby will require throughout the day. 

Why should you make dribble bibs? Because it may feel to the parent that, even if they owned all the bibs in the world, they still might not have enough. My daughter could get through eight a day when at her dribbliest, and in fact still wears one most days now she’s 2 years old. I’m going to show you how to make a cute neckerchief-style dribble bib that is both super-absorbent, and is adjustable in size so it’ll be useful for a long time. And once you get the knack of making them, you can set up a little production line and make a stack in different fun fabrics.

You will need:
Paper and pencil to draft a basic pattern
30cm knit fabric (jersey or interlock), which tends to be more absorbent than woven fabric (this rainbow plush jersey can be found here)
30cm medium weight cotton (brushed cotton/flannel are ideal), for adding body to the bib
30cm soft, fluffy fabric (micro fleece, toweling or velour), as a further barrier and feels nice if the bib touches the baby’s skin
matching thread
2 X press studs/poppers (poppers that attach with a clamp have been used here, but sew-on press studs are fine as long as they are securely stitched on)


Draft a simple bib pattern shape like the one above. Mine is 28cm long and 12cm wide (which will be doubled when cut on the fold) including 6mm / ¼” seam allowance. (pic3)


Cut out three bib shapes on the fold:
1 X top layer in knit,
1 X middle layer in cotton,
1 X bottom layer in fleece, toweling or velour


Place the middle/cotton layer down on the table. Next, position the top/knit layer on top of it, right side facing up. Finally, position the bottom/soft layer on top of that, right side facing down. Pin the three layers together.


Stitch round the edge, leaving a gap of approx. 4cm / 1½” for turning the bib through. (PLEASE NOTE: I have used a contrasting coloured thread here for clarity, however it is advised that matching thread is used). Check that you have stitched through all three layers all the way round (excluding the gap). Re-stitch over any areas where one or more of the layers didn’t get stitched through initially.


Trim the seam allowance leaving 3mm / ?” all the way around, except at the gap. This is particularly necessary around the tight curves. Trim away the seam allowance at the point of the bib close to but not through the stitching. This reduces bulk inside the bib when it is turned through.


Turn the bib through so the knit fabric and the soft fabric are on the outside and the cotton layer is hidden inside. Use a pin to gently tease out the fabric at the point.


Tuck the seam allowances inside the gap and pin it closed.


Top-stitch round 3mm / ?” from the edge. Give the bib a press.


Apply two sets of press studs/poppers at the ends, 4cm / 1½” apart.


Ta dahhhh! One jazzy dribble-catcher complete.

Available link for download

Five Genuinely Useful New Baby Makes 2 Elastic back Shoes

Hello! If you’ll indulge me, it’s time to have a look at my second monthly suggestion for something to make for a new baby that will actually get used. Massive thanks again to the Village Haberdashery for allowing me to repost this that was originally posted on The Daily Stitch.



Let’s face it: there are few things cuter on this earth than a pair of baby shoes. No doubt, the new parents will be given a clutch of baby shoes (what is the collective noun for shoes, anyway?), but if you heed my advice, yours make will stand out from the rest. How so? Because the ones you make actually have a chance in hell of staying on the little feet they were made for!

The thing I never realized about babies until I had one is that, when they are awake, babies are NEVER still. Those little arms and legs are always moving. In fact, they even move a fair bit whilst the baby is asleep as well. Any slip-on type shoes will slip right off again, and after a couple of attempts to put them on their baby, the parents will give up and consign those shoes back to the drawer for good. To make sure your pair of shoes stays on (and therefore gets used) my advice is to choose a style that is either elasticated or tied on around the ankle. Hopefully then the baby will wear those shoes for longer than it takes to get a photo!


There are literally hundreds of sewing patterns for baby shoes/slippes/booties/footies available, but the one I used here is a free one via www.poopockets.com (!) that can be found here. It is graded for two sizes, 0-3 months and 3-6 months. It consists of three pattern pieces and you’ll need two types of fabric (outer and lining) plus a small length of elastic. I changed the construction method slightly by choosing to line the back heel section too, plus I used 3/8” wide elastic rather than 1/8” wide as the pattern suggests.


Most of the fun here lies in choosing awesome fabric to make them in (as with all sewing projects, let’s face it!). With the outer fabric, you really can go to town. They can be as cute, kitsch, contemporary, classic or bizarre as you want! We went ‘subtle contemporary’ by picking some gorgeous 100% organic Cloud9 First Light flannel/brushed cotton in turquoise by Eloise Renouf. You only need about 30cm of fabric, so why not pick something really special?


As with the outer fabric, your lining fabric options are pretty broad but make sure that whatever you choose is soft. For this pair, I used a scrap of white felt from my stash, but toweling/terry cloth, sweatshirting, or velour would be great too.


We let the fabric do the talking on this pair, but there’s nothing stopping you from customising your baby shoes with ribbon, braid, ricrac, (very securely stitched-on) buttons, or whatever else your heart desires!

Available link for download