Introduction: DIY Baby Blanket and Swaddles.

Good Day Everyone!

When my best friend had her very first baby the first thing that came mind, baby presents and lots of them! I've never shopped for a baby before in my life but really, how hard could this 
be? I was excited! My goal, to create the biggest craziest gift basket of all times! I thought, how many awesome things will I find? A baby blanket here, a few dozen pacifiers there, throw in a couple pairs of tiny baby socks, a few onesies and a bag full of diapers, that's until I finally stopped day dreaming and realized...

Baby merchandise = EXPENSIVE BEYOND BELIEF

I was blown away, I pass through the isles of Target almost everyday and see "Children's Tees 2 for $7.50" or "$5 denim", I figured if that was the price for toddler stuff, baby merch. was going to cost me NOTHING, and my goodness was I wrong.

I also quickly learned there are certain items new borns and first time mothers need over other things, which made the dollar signs creep up a little more and a little more.

This FINALLY brings me to my DIY project, why don't you just make your own Baby Blankets and Swaddles?

I did a lot of research on the best dimensions for swaddles and 40" by 40" seemed to be universal. 

I bought all my fabric from Jo-ann Fabrics store. I was fortunate enough that the little one was born in late Feburary so all the winter fabrics had gone on sale which was great for me. That meant all muslin and fleece was on sale for 30 - 70% off!

Since I wanted the blanket to be two-toned (to match the theme of her nursery, baby pinks and browns), I bought this super soft silky fleece in pink with the dimensions of 58" by 60" and found this beautiful nursey fabric with a gorgeous brown print. 

Note: The nursery fabric wasn't on sale, but you can ALWAYS find great Jo-ann Fabric's coupons, online or in their paper ads, you can always ask the cashier if they have any available at the counter as well. Also,
 You might need to shop around Jo-ann's for the right width of the fabric. Some muslins only go to 28" in width which I found out the hard way... I had to shop around 3 different Jo-anns to find the right dimension but I promise it is worth the search!

I found just enough of this great unbleached cotton muslim to make three different shades (shown in the photo) of swaddles and purchased fabric dye in "Rose Petal Pink". I left one white. 

Once I got home I sewed the edges of the muslin over to prevent unraveling and to make sure the edges were squared off. Then I threw them in the wash, dried them and began the dyeing process and finished the with another wash. 

Important: The dye bleeds out a lot when you put them through this first wash so make sure you've soaked the fabric for a good amount of time.

Now, on to the blanket. I just matched my two fabrics right on top of each other making sure the sides I want visible are touching together on the inside. I then sewed up closely along the edges leaving about a 5 inch opening which allowed me to flip the blanket inside out. 

Once I managed to pull the entire blanket through I closed up the opening and sewed a 3 inch frame around edge to polish it off (you can notice this detail in the photo above).

And...

Walla! There you have it. The entire set including fabrics and dye, cost me around $20, which is a GREAT DEAL!

I hope this post inspires you to create your own blankets!

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have about this project!

Thank you guys!

Bye for now!












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