Little Geranium Dress in Double Gauze

I have a cute baby dress sewing project to share with you today. One of my good friends had a baby girl a little while ago, and I wanted to make her something I hadn’t made before. I hunted around the internet a bit and found the free Little Geranium Dress pattern from Made By Rae.

I also had just the right fabric–a 100% cotton kitty-cat polka dot double gauze from Cotton + Steel, left over from making this shirt back in 2016.

The Little Geranium Dress comes in one size–newborn (0-3 months).

Little Geranium dress, front view

It’s a great way to give this pattern a try, which can be purchased in larger sizes with additional details from the designer. In the newborn size, the pattern creates a sleeveless dress which buttons up the back and has patch pockets, whose sole purpose is ultimate cuteness.

Little Geranium dress, back view

This dress can easily be worn in summer as is or in cooler weather over a long-sleeved onesie with a sweater.

It only takes a little bit of fabric and sews up quickly. The bodice is lined, which makes everything look nicely finished.

I used some vintage buttons from my stash for the back, which seemed just right for this dress. I even put my knots on the outside so that they wouldn’t irritate sensitive baby skin.

I tried to sign the inside, but I think I need some finer point fabric markers.

I got a few recommendations from my mom, but if you have a favorite fine-point fabric marker for signing quilts or garments, please share in the comments!

Making this dress was a fun, quick project as well as a great scrap buster.

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DIY Baby Gifts: Flannel Blanket

Awhile back we talked about baby gifts.  I want to share one of my go-to baby gifts with you today:  flannel blankets.

These blankets are very easy to make (perfect if you are a beginner), and are also very well received.  When I had my children, we were given a mound of blankets, but these blankets, made by my Mom and grandmother, were the ones we used the most and were some of my favorites.  You can make them in various sizes, but the sizing I’ll give you is great as babies pass out the infant stage, but still need to be swaddled, nursed, or just tucked into a stroller or car seat.  The other thing that I love about them is that since flannel has a nap to it, it sort of grips itself, which is excellent if your baby likes to be swaddled or you need a non-slippery blanket for a mom to throw over her shoulder as she nurses.  If you live in a warmer climate, you can also make these out of old sheets or a sheeting material or half flannel, half sheeting.

Made by Sue Schwabauer from high quality flannel.

Made by Sue Schwabauer from quilting cotton and high quality flannel.  The bottom blanket is a smaller size perfect for a newborn.

These are made from an old sheet (top) and a crib sized duvet cover (bottom).

Now that I’ve talked these up so much, let’s get to the directions!

Materials:

• two lengths of cotton flannel fabric (one for each side), approximately 44″ wide, 1.25 yards long (The goal is to make the blankets approximately square.)

When I buy flannel, I’m often planning to make several blankets.  I usually wait until J0-Ann Fabric has a sale on flannel, and I buy several yards of a print that will work for boys or girls.  Then I buy the same amount of yardage in a solid or another coordinating gender-neutral print.  At other times, I’ll buy several yards of a “girl” print and several of a “boy” print.  My Mom usually gets her flannel at an independent quilt store, and there is a big difference in the feel of the fabric.  I have also recycled sheets and crib sized duvet covers, making nice summer-weight blankets.  Those are just a few different fabric strategies that you can try depending on your budget and requirements for the kind of blanket(s) you want to make.

• thread color of your choice, contrasting or matching
• self-healing mat, lipped ruler, rotary cutter (and Kevlar gloves if you want to be EXTRA safe) or fabric scissors and measuring tool of your choice
• pinking shears or other fabric scissors
• sewing machine or needle and thread for hand-sewing

Directions:

1. Prewash and dry your fabric.  You want any shrinking to happen before you sew it up.  I don’t use a dryer sheet when I’m drying fabric in case I ever want to use it with something like Heat ‘N Bond or another fusible, as I’ve been told it won’t adhere well if you’ve used a dryer sheet.
2. Measure the width of your fabric after it has been washed and dried.  For the last blanket I made, the width (including the selvage) was about 42″.  I typically buy flannel that is around 44″ wide.
3.  The goal for this step is to even up the ends of your fabric, so if you have a method you like, use that.  If you don’t have a favorite method, you can try what I do.  Fold each piece of fabric in half, matching selvages.  I often have to scoot mine around a bit to get the selvages to match up without wrinkles.  Smooth your fabric out and lay it horizontally on your self-healing mat with the folded edge or the selvages lined up with one of the horizontal measurement marks.  (You can cut each piece of fabric separately or lay one on top of the other once they are smoothly folded and cut them at the same time.)  Then, take your clear, lipped ruler, and place the lip over the top edge.  Line up the right side of the ruler with the vertical measurement mark on the mat that is closest to the end of your blanket.  Holding the ruler in place with your left hand (gloved in Kevlar, possibly), use the rotary cutter to cut off the excess fabric and make a straight edge.  Do the same for the other end of your fabric.  You want the length of the fabric to be similar to the width, but this doesn’t have to be exact, so don’t worry if it’s an inch or two different.  Now you have two squarish piece of fabric that are (in theory) the same size.
   

   This picture is slightly different from the description in #3, but I wanted you to be able to see the tools I described and the way the fabric is lined up on the self-healing mat.

4. Unfold your fabric and match both pieces with right sides together.  Somehow, mine are never truly the same size, so I pick a side or two and line them up as best I can.  Like I said, it doesn’t have to be exact.  Just try to smooth out any wrinkles as you go so that you don’t have one piece of fabric that is flat and one piece that is bubbly or lumpy when you finish. 
5. Using a straight stitch and about a 0.5″ seam allowance, stitch around the blanket, leaving about 8″ unsewn in the middle of one edge.  Unless your blanket edges all match up perfectly (which mine never do), you may have a side (or two or three) where you are just sort of guessing at the seam allowance.  Just do your best to keep your stitching parallel to one edge with something like a 0.5″ seam allowance.  As long as it is generally straight, it doesn’t have to be perfect. 
6. Using your pinking shears or fabric scissors, trim around the edges where you have sewn in order to even the layers up and reduce bulk.  You can also clip diagonally at the corners when you are trimming (just don’t clip into your sewing).
   

   Trim around the edges.

   

   Clip the corners.

    

7. Turn the fabrics right side out through the opening you left on one side.  I usually use a pin to pull the fabric at the corners out into points.
   

   Turn your fabric right side out.

   

   Use a pin to pull the corner fabric out to a point.

    

8. Smooth everything out and fold the edges in at the opening.  You can pin them together if you like.  I usually don’t, but do what makes you comfortable.
9. Using a wide zigzag or decorative stitch, stitch around the outside of the blanket, staying fairly close to the edge (especially as you sew over the opening you used to turn the fabric right side out).  You want to catch the fabric at the opening in your stitching.  I think I used about a 0.5 or three-eights inch seam allowance, but as I said, the main thing is to stay close to the edge.
   

   I used a wide zigzag stitch for this blanket.

10. Next, fold your blanket into thirds and mark those thirds with a pin. 
11. Stitch down the blanket from one pin to another (I don’t draw a line, I just start at one pin and aim for the bottom one.) with a straight stitch.  You want to end up with two parallel lines running down the blanket to anchor the two pieces of fabric together so they don’t bunch up.  You can get creative with how you do this.  I think my Mom has sewn a heart or other shape to the middle of the blanket rather than stitching parallel lines, which accomplishes the same thing.  When I do the two lines of stitching, I often get a little bit of fabric that bunches up at the bottom, even though I try to make sure the fabric feeds evenly.   

Congratulations!  You did it!  Now fold or package your blanket to give to that special baby in your life.

DIY Baby Gifts

I’m at a point in life where a lot of friends and family members are having babies.  Maybe you are there, too?  I often like to make gifts for the new baby, and I keep a three-ring binder filled with DIY projects that I’ve found, so I have a resource when I need an idea.  Most of these are from the web, so I thought I’d share some links to interesting and favorite projects with you.  I’ve tried some of these out, and some are ones I’d like to try.  Here they are:

1.  Chibi Kitty and Rabbit by My Little Mochi

This one is fun to make and super cute.  She links you to her free pattern.

2.  Felt Baby Shoes by Martha Stewart

These are also fun to make and a great way to use up felted sweaters.

3.  Do you have some parents-to-be who love Converse All Stars?  Then this one is for them.  I saw a picture in The Improper Bostonian of some Converse All Stars embroidered with a wedding message.  This is easy to adapt for new parents.  Be on the lookout for some little Converse shoes and, once the baby is born, embroider his or her name and date of birth on the side.

Now we’re into some projects I’ve never tried, but that look really cool.

4.  What about an Electrified Fox Lamp?  It’s pretty darn cute and comes with a free pattern.  I kind of have a thing for foxes (Remember Halloween?), but you can do this with any stuffed animal.

5.  Here is a quick and easy, modern-looking baby quilt.  I’ve yet to try this, but it looks fast and simple, which is about my speed for baby projects.

6.  Collapsible Storage Baskets by sew4home.  Everyone nursery needs storage.  These use recycled cardboard to keep them stiff, but also fold down for when you don’t need them.

7.  Finally, for you knitters out there, I love the book Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick.  It’s been out enough years now that you should be able to find it at the library.  She has several cute projects for kids, but one of my favorites is Curly Toed Elf Slippers.  These may be more for older kids or for when the baby gets older, but they are so darn cute, I had to include them.

I’m writing up tutorials for you on some of my most basic, but also most loved baby gifts, so you’ll see those over the next month or two.  Until then, I hope this gives you some new ideas if you find yourself in need of a baby gift.