Baby gifts

I love making hooded baby towels as gifts. Sometimes I make a washcloth to go with it. Ri also enjoys working with me to make baby gifts. She's done bibs and washclothes. We usually make it a joint project so we can give a couple of things for the new baby.

This is a set we made for my cousin.

Ri did the cross stitch for the bib,

and for the washcloth.

I did this cross stitch and the sewing. The blue border stitching was done on the machine. I thought it needed a little something more to pull it all together.

This is one I just finished recently for some long-time friends.

These little elephants were just too cute.

Not wanting to border this in plain white bias tape, and being unable to fine any that had a pattern (not counting the expensive ones I found online), I decided to try my hand at making my own. You may be unable to tell from the picture, but the green has tiny dots on it, to match the polka dot umbrella. 

Ri made this bib for them.

She found the pattern for the boy and girl ducks, but they were just single patterns. Since she wanted to fill the space, she worked out the spacing for the repeat and then added the pull string. I think she did a great job.

One of the first projects I gave to my sewing class was a receiving blanket. This is one of the two I made as an example. I decide to add it in with the other two items. I'll keep the other for a future gift.

I have to admit that I really dislike the modern way of giving gifts for baby showers. You are told where the mother-to-be is registered, you go to the store, and you get a print out, often several pages long, which details exactly what the mom wants. There is absolutely no room for individuality from the giver. And trust me, I've seen some of the most ridiculous items listed on those things. It seems as though she walked through the store scanning every little thing that caught her eye, without really thinking about what would or wouldn't work, what might really be needed, or whether or not she would even get to use all of the twenty five dressy outfits she picked out in the 0-3mo. size before the baby grew out of them (she won't). It's a great way for the store to make money, but it's definately not the most practical for the parents, who will end up running out to the store 85 times during the first month in order to buy all the things they found out they really needed.

In protest, I decided several years ago to make baby gifts, unless it was for an expirenced mom whose list looks something like this: Diapers, wipes, tee-shirts, and more diapers. It gives them something special and keeps me out of Babies-R-Us, which is best for everyone. Just ask my kids - they've protested ever having to go with me again to shop from one of those registers. On the bright side, they did say that the last time it happened a young mother started following me around the store, taking things out of her buggy and putting in things that I was picking up. Maybe I helped convert one young, inexperienced mom. Don't ask me how this woman knew I disapproved of the choices she'd previously made. I never spoke to her and wouldn't have known what she had done if the kids didn't tell me while they were expressing the desire to never again set foot in the store. Suffice it to say, sometimes kids embarass their parents when they are out in public, and sometimes the shoe is on the other foot. Not that I intended to embarass them - I was just a triffle put out with the whole expirence; the list really was absurd. And for the record girls, I wasn't all that loud.