Hi! Wow - didn't think this was going to hit as hard as it is ... I am attempting to make a baby blanket for each of my kids from their baby clothes --- has anyone done this .... any suggestions on what to use - what to keep for grand kids -- some stuff is too precious to cut up ..... please share your thoughts .... thanks!!!
I don't know about baby clothes but my friend made a quilt for my mom out of my dads clothes after he passed and it was beautiful:) she took all his clothes and made squares, making sure any logos were in tact.
One thing to remember... if it is a knit (stretchy), you will need to fuse it to a secondary piece of material. This is how they do it for t-shirt quilts.
Cut the square you are using, and a square of a "backing" material (I use old sheets... it won't show... it will be between the top and the final back), and use an iron-on fusible to put between them... Heat n bond is one of those kinds of items.
PM:
My mom does this. She's about 1.5 hours away from you.
She uses blue jeans as the backing - therefore we use them OUTSIDE!! :) Cut the blue jeans into large squares, pin them together and then sew them together. You can get batting (lining) at JoAnns fabrics.
cut up the clothes that you want - t-shirts, etc. and lay them out. if you stick to t-shirts it will be easier as it makes the "rectangle" of the blanket.
She used the waist bands as the "hem" and she has done this for all of her grandchildren - and now her upcoming great-grandchild! My oldest nephew is 30 years old - he and his wife are expecting their first child this year! The blanket that my mom made for him has been around the world...no kidding...used at baseball games and other outdoor festivities.
For my family? My son refused to get rid of PJs that were way too small for him - so my mom made a blanket for him. She attached his too small PJs to a dark blue sheet and laid that over the blue jeans and sewed it all together.. My son is SOO happy that he didn't have to "give up" his favorite PJs.
I have never done it, but I think you will have to cut the clothes up. No one else will use it and it will be the best way to preserve it for future use.
I would cut some for squares and some to use on top of the squares. So a piece of denim square with a pocket or overall clasp and then for the baby dress cut it to the front half so that it can be attached and the poof of the dress, bodice, and sleeves are on top of one of the larger main squares.
Have fun.
I saved a few baby fancy dresses, the rest I made into the quilt. I used scrap quilt patterns. It is looking nice so far.
My mom made crazy quilts with our old clothes. Just cut them into odd random shapes and started quilting away. Most the knits were small enough she got away without interfacing.
I'm doing something similar with DD's old dance costumes. I've cut big swatches out of each years costume and am constructing a block for each. Any special hair pieces or trim get incorporated into the block. When she's all done with dance (4 more years?) I will arrange all the blocks together and give to her as a graduation present.
I have been keeping the bottoms of all the pants my boys have put holes in, once I turn them into shorts and plan on making them something similiar.
It's a great idea!
I don't know about what's 'too special' to cut up, as I cut up each one of my kids coming home from the hospital outfits and turned then into some thing cute to go on their hand-made Christams stockings!
It's a wonderful idea and I know that they will chrish it however it comes out! I am sure you will get more helpful hints than what I (didn't) give, Ha!
Great, Great idea! love it!
