Self-Bound Flannel Baby Blanket

I am so excited about this new flannel baby blanket. I love how the back fabric (stripes) borders the front fabric (navy solid). I have been making the plain two-sided kind forever, but this version is just a bit fancier, but not all that much harder once you know how to do it. I followed the tutorial from Every Day Mom, which was the best one I found, except when it came to the last few steps. I just couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do to get those stinkin' corners mitered. So if you want to make these cute blankets, here's what I would do. I would follow Every Day Mom's tutorial through step 5. The tutorial  I originally linked to no longer works. To make your blanket, follow these steps:

1. Cut two perfect squares of flannel: one 42x42 inch and one 36x36 inch.

2. Mark the center of each side of the blanket and pin the two centers right sides together. This means that the large square will hang off the edges of the small square. You are lining them up in the middle, not the corners.

3. Starting at the center of each side, sew to the edge of the smaller piece of fabric, leaving the larger fabric puff on the corner alone.

Then:
Step 4: Fold the blanket together so that the outside edges are flush. Line up that edge on your cutting mat, and draw a 90 degree line from the stitch stopping point. This line helps you know where to fold in the next step.


Step 5: Fold the corner down, keeping the bottom edges flush and crease the fabric.


Step 6: Draw a line where the crease was. Sew down that line. Clip off excess fabric. Repeat on all four corners and turn blanket right side out. Even if you are anti-ironing, you HAVE to iron this baby down before sewing if you want it to look nice. I used a zig zag stitch to go around where the two fabrics meet, which also closed off the hole.

See how pretty those corners are?! Yay for self-bound blankets! These are my new go-to for baby shower gifts!

Sew Much Ado has a fantastic tutorial for this type of blanket too. CLICK HERE to check it out.

Little Boy's Tie with Velcro

I made this tie for my nephew for Christmas. I wish that I could explain how I made it. I started with the Purl Bee tie pattern and had to alter it quite a bit to get what I wanted. I also had to take apart a tie like this to figure out how it worked. I plan to make another one for my little guy, so maybe I'll take pictures and post some kind of tutorial in the future. I will say this much, I tied the tie, tacked it into place, then strung the thinner neck strap through the tied knot.

Baby Headband

Lucky me, I just welcomed a sweet new neice into the world! This is what I sent her:



I found this stretch lace stuff at Hobby Lobby in the ribbon aisle and sewed it together, adding a loop of grossgrain ribbon over the seam. The ribbon loop is where you hook the interchangeable bows and flowers:

oooh... pretty sheer ribbon loops with a rhinestone in the center!

A pink fabric flower. I made it by cutting a bunch of 2 inch squares, shaping the edges and gluing the centers down to a piece of felt. If that makes any sense...

Lots of fun choices to accessorize lots of different outfits.

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Welcome to the fam, sweet baby!

Nix the Neck---Add Flowers Instead!

My little girl needs a plain black shirt to go with one of her skirts, so I picked up a clearance black turtleneck at WalMart for $1.50. Problem is that she hates to wear turtlenecks. So I cut it off right above the seamline and used the extra fabric to add some cute flowers to the shoulder. All I did was cut out circles and fold them in fourths. I laid the first layer with about 1/4 inch space between each edge, then laid the top layer over that so that the points all touched in the middle. I hand stitched the tips of the triangles to the shirt and that was that. I love how the flowers turned out!