Friday, October 18, 2013

Swaddle Banket { DIY }

I just found this super easy and cute tutorial for a gauze swaddle blanket at Dana Made It. So if any of you crafty mamas started to feel the itchy to run to your sewing machine and start to work on this right away, here is the tutorial for it. You can also find the full version of it here.
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket
 
 
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket
 
 
You can buy gauze swaddle blankets in a 3 or 4 pack at Target and other retail stores. But I didn’t care for their prints and wanted to make them more bright and cheery.
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket

 
Like any receiving blanket these are easy to do. We’re just sewing/finishing off the sides of a 45×45 inch square piece of fabric (that’s 1 1/4 yards of fabric).
So what is cotton gauze? (sometimes referred to as muslin in some countries)
It’s a soft, lightweight, breathable fabric with small crinkles on the surface that tends to stretch slightly.
Where do you find it?
Well, there are a few options.  (If you know a good source, please leave it in the comments and I’ll add it here!)
• Joann and other large fabric stores carry a few colors and they always have white.
• You can dye the white fabric to a fun color (check out my easy fabric dyeing tutorial here). If you plan to dye fabric (rather than a onesie) however, make sure you have a very large bowl with enough water for the fabric to swim freely and get the fabric wet before dunking it in the dye. I would also cut the fabric down to blanket size before dyeing so it’s easier to swish around in the dye bath.
• If you live in LA area….I bought these fun colors (along with teal and dark blue) at Michael Levine in the LA Fabric District. They had lots of great options.
Okay, let’s get started…
• Cut a 45 x 45 inch square of fabric of gauze fabric (42×42 or less will work fine too).
Now, you’ve got a few options for sewing the edges under. You can always just serge the edges and fold them under but I wanted a more polished look. So…
 
• Option 1: Cut the raw edges into a fairly straight line (you can leave the selvage edges as-is). Iron the edges under about 1/4 inch, which isn’t the easiest to do since gauze can be a bit wonky and stretchy. Then fold the ironed edge under another 1/4 inch and sew it down. Free-hand hold the edge as you sew (rather than pinning) and keep going. However, I found that it was hard to keep the edge as straight as I wanted. So I went with option 2 (easier for me)…
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket
 
 
• Option 2: Cut the raw edges as above but don’t bother with ironing. Just fold the edge under 1/4 inch by hand, then fold it under another 1/4 inch and start pinning periodically around the blanket. Don’t go crazy with the pinning; just enough to keep it all in-line as you sew. Sew down the edges And you’ve got a pretty little blanket!
NOTE: When you get to the corners, just fold one edge over the other. Don’t bother with mitered edges or anything fancy.
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket
 
• Option 3: Add hearts or other simple applique to the top.
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket
 
Cut hearts from scraps of knit fabric.  I like to use knit (rather than freezer paper stenciling a design or using cotton) because it’s soft on baby’s body and stretches with the fabric. I went with gold and white and just free-hand cut them by folding the fabric in half. Then fold the corners of the blanket under (as you would when swaddling a baby) so you don’t place any hearts where their head might be which could be uncomfortable.
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket

Then place your hearts around, pin them in place, and sew them on.
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket
 
 
Go slowly around the curved areas and don’t tug the fabric as you go. Lift your presser foot periodically, allowing the fabric to relax and pop back in place.
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket

 
When giving as a gift, roll each blanket and tie them together with a fabric scrap ribbon and gift tag.
 
 
Swaddle Blanket DIY, Gauze cotton swaddle Blanket

Easy baby shower gift.
Everyone will love them.


5 comments:

  1. What a wonderful tutorial Carla, and this just confirms my need to start learning to sew. The blanket you made is adorable!

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  2. Those are awesome and so cool! Visiting from the collective and following on bloglovin :)

    Samantha
    http://lifestyleloveblog.blogspot.com

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  3. Fabulous tutorial! I wish I would have had this when my daughter was a newborn, she kicked so much it was impossible to keep her swaddled but it helped her sleep so much better. Lovely blog as well!

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  4. Those are so cute!!!!
    It's baby fever in my family right now, so I will definitely be thinking about this cute gift for the next baby shower!! :)

    Hopping over from The Collective Hop, thanks for hosting it this week. I love it!! :)
    Adri @ Adri's Thoughts

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  5. I'll have to forward this post to my sister-in-law! What a great tutorial. New follower from The Collective :)

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