Finished: Baby Shower Gifts

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Baby Gifts!

 I'm going to take a break from my usual posts about dresses and curtains and post today about babies! Specifically, my amazing friend Rachel from Layer, Stitch, Repeat is having a baby in the next few weeks, and last weekend was her baby shower.

Knowing very little about babies, but also knowing I wanted to make something, I consulted my sister who suggested I make baby gloves (to keep them from clawing their faces), a baby bag (which I pictured as a bowling bag that had a spot for the baby's head to stick out), and a few other weird things that I thought she made up.

Turns out they're all real.

The first thing I decided to make was a baby bag. I was very insecure because aren't baby blankets more popular? Can't they use them when they're older? Don't some people still carry around fragments of their baby blanket? According to my scientific sources sister, blankets are terrible because babies kick off the blanket, and apparently a couple babies have also somehow been killed or suffocated by them.

My faith was renewed in the baby bag. I found darling fabric at my local fabric shop. It has a bunch of dragons doing the silliest things.

This is Franklin's favorite.

The fabric is cotton, and I found the softest jersey to line it with. None of the seams are exposed, so everything touching the baby should be soft and comfortable.

Initially I found a pattern online, but after a chat with my mother, who also had baby sacks for us growing up, I ditched the pattern and drafted my own. I made it based on the onesies I purchased for babies 3-6 months. It's also ridiculously long because I wasn't sure how long a baby's legs were. Most baby bags had zippers down the front, but I added one at the bottom so it could just go over his head easily, and also so you could change the baby easily and without undressing him totally.

The one problem I realized when I was almost finished was that the neckline didn't stretch. Initially I had scoop necks, and I liked the scoop neck, but I switched it up and made a v-neck on the other side so the baby could actually get in to. (That zip in the front would have been useful!)

I was really upset about the v-neck, but it worked out perfectly that his head would pop through on top of the dragon body, so that's kind of cool.

I also made this adorable bow tie. The pattern said it was made for toddlers, so I figured he could grow into it.

Inspiration/Pattern

Pacifier holders were another thing I didn't realize existed. But they're amazing! The whole idea is that when the baby spits out his pacifier, if it's hooked on to his clothing, it won't fall onto the floor. Perfect for when you're travelling in cabs or subways! I used suspender clips to easily hook onto whatever the baby is wearing, and I used jersey as a loop on the other end. Jersey is stretchy so it can easily loop onto a pacifier.

And finally the onesies! Oh my gosh, baby clothes are so tiny. It was so difficult to not only cut out, but then to pin on and sew on. Here's my initial sketch:

Inspiration Source

Unfortunately it didn't turn out that great. Due to size issues and general sewing problems, nothing turned out exactly like I wanted, but generally it looks fine. 

Also, I grabbed onesies in a bunch of different sizes so the baby can have something in the next few months. Hopefully he likes them!