What Would You Do If You Knew How To Sew…

I recently started a series on my Facebook Page titled,  “What Would You Do If You Knew How To Sew…” to show the awesome things that others are doing because they know how to use their sewing skills.

But just this weekend, I had to ask myself this very question when I received a text from my sister-in-law reminding me of the baby shower planned for my niece who is expecting twin boys.  I knew the shower was in October, but for some reason I thought it was for the following weekend.  That’s what I get for not adding special events to my calendar.  So needless to say, I was very grateful for the reminder.

Last minute gifts

One of the benefits of knowing how to sew is you can wait to the last minute to make something different.  I had no idea what to get for the twins.  I mean, I know I can go to the store and purchase something, but I wanted something that would be memorable.  Therefore, it had to be someting handmade blanket.

I called my niece to confirm my attendance and asked for the babies’ room colors, then dropped what I was doing and drove to the fabric store in search of coordinating nursery fabric that was 100% cotton.  As much as I like the way the minky fabric looks, it’s 100% polyester and I prefer natural fibers for babies.  

The fabric was more challenging to find than I expected.  Was everyone having boys?  Not many choices in blue, but finally found something that met my criteria at Joann Fabrics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once home, I washed the each fabric individually to prevent any bleeding from the darker colors, and found a favorite YouTube video by Shabby Fabrics to  use as a foundation.  I’d used it before to make a couple of other blankets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the benefits that knowing how to sew has afforded me of looking at other items and adding your unique, special touch.  And, then I ask myself,  “What Would You Do If You Knew How To Sew…”

I fell in love with the extra large self-binding mitered corners, done on the machine which saves time and really looks so professional.  I take it a step further by adding batting for machine quilting,  a few appliqués and personalization.

The fabric that I purchased is 45″ wide, so I made the bottom piece 40″x 40″ and the top piece 30″x 30″.  Next, I marked each piece by folding in half and pressing a crease both ways to look like a cross.  

Then, take the folded top piece, 40″x 40″ and set it aside.  Take the smaller piece, 30″x 30″ to the sewing machine and run basting stitches on the creased lines.  Then, back to press in diagonal lines in between the halfway marking, then run basting stitches on the diagonal creases.  

Next, cut a piece fusible cotton batting the same size as the top piece, 30″x 30″ and attach to the top piece.  Go back to the sewing machine, stitch through both the top and the batting following the basting to create the quilting using my walking foot attachment.

Next, follow the video instructions by Shabby Fabrics to complete the blanket.  

When the blanket is done, the stars were added in a corner using zigzag stitches.  Lastly, the blankets were personalized using the Alphabet module on my sewing machine.

The final results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, it appears that the parents were extremely happy to receive them.  Just think, all of this because there are great benefits from knowing how to sew. What would you do if you knew how to sew?

 

Here’s the video I followed: