Projects for Baby

[ColwynsMommy]

What are your favorite things to make for a new baby?

I'd love to have some great projects to keep me busy (hah!) until the baby arrives. I don't know how to knit, but I can sew. Some other basic crafty skills as well.

Thanks!

[iowaorganic]

you can sew up diapers, recieving blankets (I love 2 layers of flannel in about 40"xwof for bfing and swaddling), cute little toys, wool pads for under baby out of old wool sweaters. But if you learn to knit...... well that expands the list expotentially!

[DeerMother]

If you cloth diaper, you can make recycled sweater longies. Or even if you don't cd, they're still soft and warm.
Make a blank scrapbook/memory book/journal thing.
Turn knee socks into baby legwarmers. (there's a tute somewhere, google it)

[ColwynsMommy]

Originally Posted by iowaorganic

you can sew up diapers, recieving blankets (I love 2 layers of flannel in about 40"xwof for bfing and swaddling), cute little toys, wool pads for under baby out of old wool sweaters. But if you learn to knit...... well that expands the list expotentially!

I do want to learn to knit, but realistically, I don't have time for a class. I keep meaning to look for a good book so I can teach myself..

[LaughingHyena]

I made these shoes
http://www.tackyliving.com/article.php?id=121
I used fleace for a tiny newborn pair and leather when DS got a bit older.

I made each child a knot doll form old T shirts of mine
http://s93855831.onlinehome.us/knott...tructions.html

I made a mobile of little felt birds to go over the changing table and a wrap sling, I don't have patterns for those though.

I also learned to knit (well my gran tried to teach me when I was younger so I had an idea). I found this website really helpful. http://www.knittinghelp.com/

Anyway I was able to learn to knit little hats and even managed a sweater for DD. Now I really enjoy knitting as I can do it in smaller bursts than getting out the sewing machine.

[MissRubyandKen]

I second the knittinghelp.com suggestions. She has some wonderful videos so you can see it in action. Much better than a book imo.

[PatchChild]

Prepping a scrapbook ahead of time is great. You know you'll be taking tons of pictures, might as well get a place ready for them.

[KristyDi]

I love appliqued onesies and tees for babies.

Here's a tutorial if you haven't appliqued before. There are lots of great ideas on craftster and etsy. And here's my photobucket with lots of stuff I've appliqued.

[LiLStar]

Originally Posted by KristyDi

I love appliqued onesies and tees for babies.

Here's a tutorial if you haven't appliqued before. There are lots of great ideas on craftster and etsy. And here's my photobucket with lots of stuff I've appliqued.

oh wow...i'm apparently doin it wrong! lol. I just appliqued "born at home" onto a shirt last night.. I just cut out the letters, stuck them onto the fabric with this dissolvable double sided tape stuff, and went to town! no special needle, no special foot, nothin! I was thanking mylucky stars that the thread blended in well i did a straight stitch, knit fabric on knit shirt so fraying wont be a problem. I did want the look of the edges of the fabric curling up slightly. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out. Whats the needle for though? Never used that kind before

[KristyDi]

Originally Posted by LiLStar

oh wow...i'm apparently doin it wrong! lol. I just appliqued "born at home" onto a shirt last night.. I just cut out the letters, stuck them onto the fabric with this dissolvable double sided tape stuff, and went to town! no special needle, no special foot, nothin! I was thanking mylucky stars that the thread blended in well i did a straight stitch, knit fabric on knit shirt so fraying wont be a problem. I did want the look of the edges of the fabric curling up slightly. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out. Whats the needle for though? Never used that kind before

Oh I don't think there's any one "right" way to do it. If it works and you like how it looks then I'd say it's good. I have the special foot and needle but frequently forget to switch from the regular foot and needle. The ball point needle is supposed to push the fibers of the jersey aside rather than cutting them. I think it's supposed to reduce the likely hood of holes or snags in the jersey, but I can't really tell a difference. The foot just makes it easier to follow the outline of more detailed images.

[LiLStar]

i totally see the benefit of the foot! I wonder if my machine came with one? I need to check. Here's what I made http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._3836384_n.jpg super hard to get the little dude to stay still long enough to get a pic where you can see it properly! Used the ceiling fan for baby hypnosis

[ColwynsMommy]

Thanks! I tried some appliques and they came out great.. so I went to the fabric store and got a ton more material.. then got sick with a cold. So no more progress.. but I have great ideas.

I'm also going to try making some hooded towels next time I see towels on sale at Target. Those teeny baby ones are so useless.

I may attempt a diaper bag.. we'll see.

I check out that knitting site and it looks great, but then I tried looking for simple knitting patterns and got really confused with all the abbreviations and how to choose yarn and.. yikes.

[LaughingHyena]

I still get confused by some of the patterns but so far either googling the abbreviation or asking here in the knitting forum has got me through.

I've been practising stitches by knitting dishcloths. Not very exciting I know but I use them daily so I get a surprising amount of satisfaction from them. There are lots of free patterns on ravelry.

Can you tell I;m on a knitting kick at the moment

[busymama77]

The two things that I made for baby-to-be is one of those knotted blankets - two different fleece patterns and tie away. I also painted on (4) 8x10 canvas and applied jungle themed animals and - painted a blue sky, green grass, white clouds and on each canvas the words "It's a jungle out there" is painted in brown. The animals were already painted and they easily adhered to the canvas with hot glue.

My next project is finding letters of his name (after he's born and we tell the family his name) and get those painted/decorated and hang them in his room.

[jerri]

Toys. You can use old felted wool sweaters and hand stitch some blocks, rattles, crunchy things with ribbon loops. I used the plastic packaging from cereal to put between layers to make the crinkle sound. When I google image 'toy sewing pattern' I see a bunch of ideas.

[evermore82]

I love knitting little things, but since you're not a knitter, what about stenciling some onesies/baby t-shirts? Freezer paper makes for great stencils! Here's some info: http://www.craftster.org/blog/?p=94

[saoirse2007]

a crinnkle taggie
http://www.joyshope.com/2009/05/baby...-tutorial.html

[LaughingHyena]

I love the crinkle taggie, I will have to do a couple of those.

I was looking for baby gifts, since both my sisters are having little ones this year and found this
http://chickpeastudio.typepad.com/ch...-pinwheel.html

So maybe those and the taggies and I'm set.