Alright, I know this past winter was a long cold one. I know there were a couple boring snow days here and there. I know the long nights can be lonely, but buy a heated blanket, people! Seriously, baby bumps everywhere! I could be wrong, maybe all the bumps are just a few winter pounds that need to be shed, (God knows I have a few) but I don’t think so. That having been said, I feel like half my friends are part of this newly curvy populace and have joined the breeding frenzy.
One of my blossoming buddies, Brandi, told me about her baby back in December. Right away I started planning a gift for her. Naturally, I wanted to hand-make it. It took me about five seconds to decide on a baby blanket. For anyone that has not met Brandi, she is one of the sweetest, funniest, and quirkiest people I have the privilege of knowing. Brandi marches to the beat of her own drum, and if I had to dedicate a song to her it would be Sandi Thom’s “I wish I was a Punk Rocker With Flowers in My Hair.” I knew I wanted her baby blanket to reflect that personality.
My other newly bulbous bosom beau, Nikki, also told me about her baby a while ago. However, due to various social complications and school, Nikki’s baby blanket was up in the air until (VERY) recently. Again, for anyone that does know Nikki, she is another one of those sweet, funny, and quirky people I have been very lucky to meet. Where Brandi is bohemian chic, Nikki is a rock star. In my mind, her song is Guns N’ Roses “Welcome to the Jungle.”
When I started Brandi’s baby blanket I didn’t know she would be having a baby girl (name undisclosed, presently). For this reason, I wanted the blanket to be more gender-neutral. Also, I hate cutesy baby crap most kids get. Pastels just are not my thing. Instead of the typical young animals that get arbitrarily thrown onto the baby blankets sold in stores, I decided Brandi’s “lil bey-bey” would have a mythical creature. Since the especially loved baby blankets are carried by toddlers into older childhood, I wanted the beast to look strong, noble and as if it were protecting her. Thus, I selected the graceful Phoenix. Phoenixes are commonly seen as symbols of rebirth and immortality, a perfect match for a new baby in the world.
Nikki’s blanket happened under an EXTREME time crunch. I knew I couldn’t devote as much time to detail work that I did on Brandi’s blanket to construct the phoenix. Also, I knew the gender of Nikki’s baby: a boy. His name is Ethan Allen (last name is still to-be-determined) and I already love the little guy. Since I know he will be as much of a rock star as his momma, I also wanted his baby blanket to be as non-traditional as Brandi’s. In my heart, I knew Nikki’s little man would need a masculine blanket. Incidentally, do y'all know how hard it is to find fabrics for a masculine baby blanket? Take as hard as you imagine it . . . and multiply it by five. Ethan’s blanket is meant to comfort him, but still help him to be strong.
Now that I have fully psycho-analyzed my blankets post-production, here’s a few fast facts about baby blankets:
- · Swaddling is an ancient practice of wrapping babies tightly in blankets to keep the limbs of the child tightly restricted.
- · The first examples of swaddling come from ancient backboards migrating mothers would carry their children in.
- · Ancient Greek and Romans had statuaries of babies wrapped in swaddling clothes. (Ancient idols or baby dolls?)
- · In Tudor times, mothers would wrap their children in linen to keep them from growing with physical deformities.
- · In the 17th century swaddling feel out of favor because it was seen as unneeded.
- · Now, when a mother gives birth, her child is more likely to be loosely wrapped in a receiving blanket than in swaddling cloths.
And now, onto the tutorials! I’m going to break my usual format just a bit. When I was making these blankets I didn’t really take step-by-step pictures because, to be honest, I didn’t know I’d be making multiples or posting them.
Brandi’s Baby Blanket—The Phoenix Rises
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| Always lay out your pattern to make sure you like the way it looks on your fabric. |
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| This is what the back looks like after you have embroidered around the edges of pieces. |
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| Lay out your front piece and your back panel right sides together. |
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| Sew around the edge. |
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| See the little hole? This is how you hide the ugly seams. |
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| Pin around the edge again. |
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| And sew! This gives your blanket a classy "finished" look. |
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| TA-DA! |
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| This is my fully finished phoenix. |
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| You can add details to the face and "feathers" with running stitch embroidery. |
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| The white part is the attached backing. |
1. Wander around online and look at the various baby blanket ideas out there. Get some general ideas of fabric requirements for different types and sizes of blanket.
2. Go fabric shopping. This is the second best part! Touch all the fabrics that catch your eye. I always go for the softest ones I can find because babies love soft things, and so do mommies! For Brandi’s blanket I bought 2 yards of the blue front fabric and of the white fleece back fabric. I also bought a yard of the red and gold fabric. Please note that I used a LOT less of this fabric than I thought I was going to. You could probably get away with ½ of all these measurements. ***The secret to this technique of sewing is to buy “Heavy Duty Wonder Under” from the interfacing section of the fabric store. I bought 3 yards.***
3. Spend some quality time sketching your ideas. I drew all my pieces for the phoenix onto a large sheet of freezer paper and numbered them. Once you get a template you love, trace it onto the Wonder Under. You can move the Under Wonder around to maximize your space, unless you’re using a print fabric, the numbered pieces of the same fabric can go all in a group on the paper. REVERSE YOUR PATTERN—Otherwise everything you cut out will be a mirror of your actual pattern.
4. Follow the directions on your wonder-under and iron the interfacing onto the back of your fabrics. Cut all the pieces out and lay them out on your fabric right side up to make sure everything makes sense.
5. Follow the Wonder Under directions again and iron down the pieces to the front of your fabric. PLEASE remember to peel off the paper part of the interfacing first!
6. Here’s the REALLY time consuming part. Ready? Sew around the edges of ALL your pieces. If you do not sew the pieces down, after a few wash cycles and a day or two of baby love, the blanket will fall apart. I hand-embroidered the edges of Brandi’s phoenix with a running stitch.
7. Once you are done, lay out and center the front fabric panel and the back fabric panel (bad-sides out). Trim the pieces to the size you want for the blanket. Pin the edges (keep the blanket wrong-sides out).
8. Dig out the ol’ sewing machine! Sew around the edges of the blanket, but leave a small hole at one corner to pull the rest of the blanket through so that the right sides face out.
9. Pin the edges of the hole together and sew along the edge of the blanket to create a beautiful edge.
***Time estimate: If you have a big, complicated, appliqué like my phoenix, this could take you several weeks’ worth of free time. It took me the better part of a semester working on it off and on.
Nikki’s Baby Blanket: A Masculine Masterpiece
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| Make 2" or 3" strips of your fabrics. Run the strips going the LONG WAY of the fabric to maximize length. |
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| Do not use the salvage in your measurements. |
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| Pin the strips into groups of three. |
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| Face the pin head out towards you, so that you can take it out easily from any direction while you sew. |
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| You can trim off the uneven edges. |
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| After you sew the groups, sit down and pin them together to create one large piece. |
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| Sew 'em up! The backside WILL look ugly. The obsessive-compulsive folks out there may want to press the seams all going in the same way. |
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| Lay it out and match the front and back panels in size. Trim. Note: The dog is not necessary to this step. She just loved the brown "minky" fabric I bought and was sure this blanket was meant for her. Silly Eve. |
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| Same idea as Brandi's blanket, sew around the edges on the back sides, turn it inside out, and sew again. |
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| Finished! Isn't he a classy blanket? |
1. Again, wander around online. Researching the construction of blankets, something that used to take hours at a sewing center or library, is fast and painless now.
2. Fabric shopping! I love fabric shopping. Just go enjoy it. Breathe in the scent. Get inspired. Touch everything! For baby Ethan, I needed a fabric that would be strong but also not too strong for a baby. I got a yard of the pretty argyle patterned fabric, a yard of blue satin, a yard of light blue stretchy knit, and a yard of SUPER soft “minky” brown fabric for the back. Before you buy the fabrics, hold them all together and imagine them ON whomever you are making the gift for. Just because I fell in love with a peacock satin does NOT make it appropriate for this project.
3. The key to this simple striped pattern is to cut fabric strip of your three front fabrics into EVEN strips. I used 2” thick strips. Having done this, I strongly recommend 3” strips. They would be faster, neater, and I very much doubt a baby will care about the number of stripes on his or her blanket.
4. Pin the stripes together in THE SAME ORDER. I grouped all the pieces in sets of three. Run over to the sewing machine and sew right down the edges of the fabrics. I used a ¼” seam allowance. Also, this technique took A LOT of thread. Have at least 2 or 3 spools on hand to finish the project.
5. After you have all your groups of three sewn together, pin them together and sew the last seams to get one large panel of fabric. You will not use all the strips of fabric you cut.
6. Use the same technique I mentioned above to cut the back and front fabrics to match. Pin and sew the edges. Reverse and sew to create a soft seam.
***Time Estimate: 5 hours if you have had some experience sewing.
A little afterward:
Brandi and Nikki both LOVED their baby blankets. When Brandi got hers, she threatened to steal it from “lil bey-bey.” I hope her daughter loves the phoenix as much as she did! Ethan’s daddy actually fell in love with his son’s baby blanket before Nikki even got to touch it. I foresee many father/son cuddles with this cozy number!
