Sew Your Own Baby Swaddle/Receiving Blanket

Blankets are one of those baby items that everyone needs! Next time you are preparing for your own baby, or want to give a friend a handmade gift, try sewing your own. The fabric options are endless and unique, and you can usually save quite a bit of money over buying one from the store. If organic cotton is important to you, you can find a great quality fabric for much cheaper than a retail organic cotton blanket.

This project does require a few more tools than some of our others. You will need:

• Fabric (approximately 1-1.25 yards per blanket)
• Sewing Machine
• Iron and ironing board
• Pins
• Scissors
• Thread

Steps:

1. Buy a pretty fabric! We used cotton gauze (the typical fabric used for muslin swaddle blankets) and asked for one yard. If you would like a slightly larger blanket, ask for 1.25 yards.
2. Cut fabric into a square with your desired measurements. Standard swaddle sizes are 40", 44", and 47", but we made ours 36", and it seems like it will work well. The straighter the cut, the easier this project will be!
3. Use pins and an iron to fold the edges over twice to hide the raw hem. Our edge ended up about the width of the sewing machine's pressure foot, but anywhere in the range of 0.25-0.75 inches will work.
4. Sew all the way around your blanket to hem it, and you're done!

Try following the same technique with your leftover fabric to make burp cloths!

This is a great project for those who want to improve their sewing skills and practice using their sewing machine, without getting too complicated. Plus you get the satisfaction of making something with your own hands and sharing it with others!