Baby Gifts

My friend Amanda recently welcomed her baby boy, Thade. And as much as I wanted to make him a quilt, I also know that his mommy has gotten the quilting bug. I know she has made him many quilts in the last 9 months, including the one I taught her. So instead, I made a set of two bibs and two burp cloths.


I made the baby two burp cloths using quilting cotton on one side and super, super soft minky on the other. This was the first time I've ever used minky. While I love the feel of it, it's a little temperamental! I'm not going to lie - these burp cloths are a little "off." They started out square but ended up a little wonky. Luckily, I happen to know that babies don't mind that sort of thing - they'll spit up on whatever is nearby. ;)

Nursing Cover and Burp Cloths

With my first child, I was very shy about nursing in front of other people. I'd often retreat to a bedroom or somewhere out of eyesight for feedings. Part of the challenge was she rarely held still (still doesn't!) and her little flailing arms would constantly knock the blanket down, exposing my flesh for all to see.

With this baby coming, I started looking around for a nursing cover (aka "hooter hider"). For $30-35, I could buy one from Target. Wait a minute? $30?! And for a fabric that I didn't really care for?

So... you guessed it, I decided to sew one instead. I bought about a yard of fabric with my 40% off coupon at Joann's. I sat down on our couch and figured out how long I thought it should be and cut the fabric into a rectangle big enough to cover me + baby. I hemmed the edges under and added a simple neck strap. I also added a cute pocket (with scraps from the nursing pillow cover) to hold extra nursing pads and some lip balm (a major necessity last time!). And, of course, some ric-rac. Poof! I have a custom nursing cover for about $5 in fabric costs.

And... being that I am still on a ric-rac and black-and-white kick, I also embellished some burp cloths with black ric-rac to complete the set.

Two VERY easy projects and saving a bunch of money. What can be better?

Giraffe Burp Cloth

Another applique burp cloth! This attempt went much more easily than last time. And given that my daughter and I both l-o-v-e giraffes, this little guy is going to be very loved. Hopefully our son will love him, too.


The giraffe is made from Oh Fransson's adorable template. Thanks, Elizabeth!

Ric Rac Burp Cloths

When my daughter was a baby, we went through a lot of burp cloths. She was a very messy baby, to say the least. Now that we are getting close to the arrival of our baby boy (9 weeks to due date!), I am nesting and one of the things I am thinking about is fun ways to make burp cloths cute.

Today's project was simply adding some cute ric rac to basic cloth diapers. After all, if there's one thing I learned the first time around, it's that the baby's burp cloths became one of my most frequently worn accessories.

You may recall my applique adventure from a few weeks ago. I was a little discouraged, but not distracted. I do have more plans for appliques on burp cloths and maybe a t-shirt or two for the baby, but I want to get the quilt done first. More on that coming soon!

Turtle Burp Cloth

I cannot believe how long this burp cloth took me. I have very little experience with applique, but decided I'd love to make this cute turtle on a burp cloth. It's a store-bought cloth diaper, so I didn't make the entire thing, just the critter out of scrap fabrics and then added the light green binding around the edge (leftover from the Tulip Quilt). It took sooooo long - well over an hour for something that my child will literally be vomiting on. That just cracks me up.


I have some other ideas for embellished burp cloths, but I'm not sure if I'll try again and see if I can speed up the process. I may as well have just made a quilt! :) Funny.