Baby Blankets!

A few years ago, one of my close high school friends had her first baby. I was kind of at a loss as to what to get her. I was 18 for pity's sake - I knew nothing of the intricate world of baby paraphernalia! Luckily, my mom stepped in and taught me how to make the simplest, most gift-able baby blankets EVER.

Since then, I've had three more opportunities to make these blankets - twice since I started working at my company! Now, I'm very hesitant to share the secret because I've been enjoying the raving gratefulness I've received from new parents about these blankets, but I suppose I should share. Generosity and stuff, right?

To make one blanket, you'll need a yard each of flannel in coordinating colors - I like a pattern for the front and a solid for the back (for these, I got a sports theme and an animal theme for the front and a stripe for the back). I tend to make these blankets in pairs, just so that the gift feels more substantial, so I get two patterns and two solids.

First, wash and dry the fabric. Because it's for a baby, you should use detergent with no dyes or scents. Then, trim any loose threads. Take a blurry picture, if possible.

I'm a terrible person and take shortcuts, so at this point, I place the two pieces right side together and sew all the way around, leaving a 4-5 inch opening in the middle of one side. If you want to be more precise, I would suggest trimming the pieces to be the same size before sewing.

Here's where I trim the sides to make them the same size. If you're more meticulous, you've already done this.

Then, turn right side out, poke out the corners (I use closed scissors), and stitch the opening closed.

Finally, topstitch about an inch away from the edge with a zigzag or other decorative stitch. This ensures the blankets keep their shape.

And there you have it! Throw them in a gift bag, grab a cute card, and you're all ready to make a newborn all kinds of cozy!

Golden Birthday - Golden Shirt!

Last week was my golden birthday. It was also a time when I learned how few people know what a golden birthday actually is - which surprises me, because I have been really excited about them since I was really little. But that might just be me.

Anyway, a golden birthday is when you're turning the age of the number of your birthday. So if you're born on the 14th of a month, your 14th birthday will be golden. Get it?

Now, the story of this project starts several months ago. Modcloth was having one of their grab-bag sales, where you pay a flat price and they send you an article of clothing in your size. One of my coworkers and I thought it would be fun to get something random from them. She got a lime green dress that she would never wear and I got... well, this:

At first, I was all excited because, you know, sequins. But then I realized just how many sequins there were. It's a little overwhelming. So I decided I would just be excited because I had some sequin fabric.

Then, when I realized that my golden birthday was coming up, I decided to use that golden sequin fabric to make myself a golden sequin birthday shirt. Drawing inspiration from this tutorial from Merrick's Art, I set off to make myself a contrast tee.

First, I bought a plain white tee.

Then, I cut out the back panel.

I then removed the skirt from the bodice of the dress and used the cut-out portion of the tee as a pattern to cut out a new panel. Knowing that sequins can be itchy, I also cut out a piece of the skirt lining. 

Then, it took little time to stitch the new back panel into the shirt.

I also wanted to embellish the front some, so I cut a small pocket out of the lining and added some sequin fabric to the edge. BAM pocket!

And THAT, my friends, is the short and sweet story of a golden shirt for a golden birthday!