How to Make the Perfect Handmade Baby Shower Gift

Looking for the perfect gift for a new arrival can be a challenging endeavor. There are some things that need to be duplicated, many times, and some items a baby only needs one of. By making a gift for the baby, you know it will be unique and not a store-bought duplicate.

Most of us learned how to sew in home economics back in high school, some were taught by their mother, and some were self-taught. If you know the basics of sewing, you can accomplish just about anything that requires needles and thread or a sewing machine.

The supplies needed for this project are: a yard of polar fleece fabric, thread, scissors, a large rounded edge, a dinner plate works best, and a sewing machine. If you choose to do this project completely by hand, you will need to add needles to your list.

The first thing you will need to do is to trim the selvage (the edge of the material that is woven) off of the fabric. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise and then fold in half that length, just as you would if you were folding a completed blanket. Locate the corners of the blankets, this will be the corners of the fabric that have no folds. Use your rounded edge to mark the corners, so that after being cut, they will come out rounded. Trim the edges, evenly. Finish your project by sewing a decorative stitch around the material to help the material to hold its shape and to finish the edges.

Now that you have made a blanket used to keep the baby warm on a cool evening, let's make a receiving blanket for the upcoming or new arrival. Receiving blankets have a hundred and one uses from an over-sized burp rag to a changing pad, and this one can be the perfect gift to complement your fleece blanket.

The supplies needed for this blanket are: a yard of flannel or soft washable fabric, in a color that matches or complements your fleece blanket, thread, scissors, straight pins and a sewing machine, unless you do this completely by hand, then you will need to add needles to your list.

Preshrink your fabric and trim the selvage off of the fabric. Turn your fabric under one quarter of an inch, pinning as you go. Iron the seam, then remove the pins. Turn the fabric under one quarter of an inch again, pinning as you go, then iron. Make a small stitch at each of the corners to hold them firmly in place. Top stitch the hem, then remove all of the pins.

A decorative pillow helps to tie these two fabrics together, and will give your gift a finishing touch.

Cut a ten inch square from the remnants of the fleece material and a ten inch square from the remnants of the flannel. Pin the two squares of material together with the sides you want to show, facing each other or inside out. Stitch a quarter inch seam around the edges leaving a one inch opening on one of the sides. Cut off the edges about an eighth of an inch, then turn your project out right. Fill with polyester fiberfill or cotton, then sew the opening closed by hand stitching.

Fold the two blankets, place on top of each other, then place the pillow on top of them. Tie all of them together with a piece of wide ribbon, and you have the perfect baby shower gift.