The Great Craft Thread

tumbleweed-1

Crafty parents, what are you making for the new baby? Do you sew, scrapbook, crochet, knit, paint, make soap, metal smith, or something else I missed? Please share your projects here! Photos of finished projects and how to DIY’s encouraged.

edited the title because I wasn’t feeling it. 

tumbleweed-1

This is the first thing I made for this baby. It’s a blanket. I’m not sure if I want to put satin binding on it or just call it good. 

runrinserepeat

@tumbleweed-1 my little cousins always LOVED the satin bindings on their blankies. I say go for it. 

Selina1313

I'm going to be making lots of onesies for the baby with my cricut and a blanket once I find out the gender (not sure if I will sew or crochet). It's killing me to not know the gender so I can craft! Lol

CecilB93

I'll probably wait until I know if baby is a boy or girl, because I plan to sew all the dresses if it's a girl! One thing I've got planned for sure is Christmas pajama pants, I make DH, DS, and myself matching Christmas pajama pants every year. I can't wait to have a family of 4 pajama picture! I'm kind of planning on making an outfit for bringing baby home in, we'll see how it turns out. I still need to get a couple things. And I'd like to make some cloth diapers! I have the stuff, just need to do it lol.

I'm also really excited to make myself good tops/dresses for nursing in! I'll share a picture this weekend of a dress I've already made, I'm planning to wear it to a wedding on Saturday so I'll snap a pic then. Oh, and post partum cloth pads are on my list of things to make for myself. I'm still new to cloth pads, but I think the cloth will be way more comfortable than the disposable!

GoyaBean913

Crocheting a simple blanket for him for the newborn stage .I'll do more as he grows .This is "antique white" and will have a blue (maybe mint?) Border when it's done .  My daughter is now requesting one so I'll have to make a much bigger one for her when this one is complete.

hoosiermama-2

MAKING your own family PJs?? I love it! All of you are super impressive. 

CecilB93

@hoosiermama-2 well I've only made the pants the last few years, I need to start making shirts to go with lol. I'm hoping to do shirts with the pants this year! We'll see how motivated I am when I'm mega-pregnant  

tumbleweed-1

@CecilB93 have you made cloth diapers before? I feel like that’s something that would be handy to make, but I think it’s a bit beyond my basic sewing skill and tools. Is there a certain style you make? 
I’m most likely diapering with prefolds w/ a cover over them. Or sometimes an insert with the cover over (rather than pocket inserted style), if the insert can go against baby’s skin. Need to do more research. Anyway, making the covers would be fun because I can pick the patterns and colors. 

CecilB93

@tumbleweed-1 I've actually only ever made one, it was just a cover style. Honestly, I'll probably talk with the daycare and see if they have a preferred style. I know some won't do covers and inserts, so I may make pockets for daycare especially. I prefer covers and inserts though because I like reusing the shell if it's just a wet diaper!

tumbleweed-1

Reusing the cover part (if it doesn’t get wet/soiled) is exactly why I want to do the prefolds/insert style. I don’t know why someone would want to double the laundry. I hadn’t thought of daycares rejecting certain types of cloth diapers. All of my cloth diaper experience is from working in daycare centers. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen all the styles. 
Edit- typo 

CecilB93

@tumbleweed-1 our first daycare with DS wouldn't do cloth at all. And I never made the transition back to cloth when we moved to the new daycare so I'm not sure if they have a preference. I do know I need to make a billion small wetbags though because every diaper has to be "double bagged". So the diaper goes into a small wetbag, then the small wetbag goes into a bigger wetbag with the other small wetbags. That's why I never switched back to cloth, we don't have enough wetbags and I never got around to making/buying more lol.

JilleBean

I am in the process of crocheting a baby blanket, which is about 85% done. Curtains, a simple shelving unit, and (possibly) refurbish a dresser are all on my to do list during 2nd trimester. 
 
Edited for missing word

ab_canada

So we have been doing a lot of house and yard work the last month or so, and I haven't had a chance to do anything else but here is what I was thinking of sewing:
- swaddle blankets (the kind that lets the legs flop freely)
- onesies
- my own diaper bag? I don't know enough of what makes one functional, so I will have to look around
- fitted sheets for the crib, once we have it 
- maternity shirts for me

CecilB93

NBR, but here's the dress I made myself for my sorority sisters wedding this weekend! It is nursing friendly, so maybe kind of baby related? Lol

binxybaby

I made two small crocheted blankets. I really want to try my hand at making burp cloths (the ones that are kind of angled to fit on your shoulder). If I'm feeling really crafty, I might try to crochet a hat or two as well.

tumbleweed-1

Selfishly bumping up my thread here. Any new crafts to share? Here’s a baby shirt I made. 

Boobopgirl

All my babies get a crochet baby blanket, hat and booties set. They all have green and brown (our nursery colors) Dd1s set is pink, dd2s is purple, and ds is green.  If this bub is a boy, his set will be orange or girl the set will be fuchsia.  I also crochet their little outfits for their baby dedications.

I recently started sewing again and want to make little Christmas outfits for all the kiddos (although if this one is a girl, she might end up in a dress we already have).  And jammies.  And probably some other sibling outfits.


Here's a pic of all the older kids' blankets.  I can't wait to start on the baby's.

binxybaby

@Boobopgirl Stahp being so crafty! It's intimidating lol

Boobopgirl

@binxybaby. It's a cover up for like...major anxiety issues.  Crafting is therapy, lol.  You should have seen my wedding, lol.  People who didn't know me that well we're like...woah.  All my close friends realized that crafting that much is me trying NOT to have a nervous breakdown every 4 seconds.

binxybaby

Crafting definitely can be therapeutic

binxybaby

Of course the rest of my comment didn't autosave...grrr. I was saying that your crafts are definitely impressive and I love your idea of making a personalized blanket for each kiddo. I may have to steal that idea...

omnommer

I have a set of things I want to make. I'm starting with the biggest. For so many friends' kids, I've made crocheted stuffed animal dragons. They're probably about a foot tall. (I found the pattern online - I'm not creative enough to create the pattern, lol.) This time, I'm making a giant dragon, so we can take pictures as baby grows next to it. It's been super hard to make the pattern expand and look right... it's definitely going to take some time. I'm hoping to have the head of the dragon finished this week. 

After I finish that, I want to make a blanket, and then figure out how to make a cute little sweater (which I've never made before). 

rosebud332

@omnommer I want pics of that dragon when it’s done, please!

omnommer

@rosebud332 Will do! But it might be a few months. 

trucksntutus

I admire all of you ladies and your craftiness. I need to be more crafty.... #goals 

kadeephd

I am thinking of decorating some plain onesies like this.  Seems simple enough and very cute.  I was considering having a onesie decorating station at my shower, but I'm too controlling for that I think lol

echo-charlietango

I’m finally going to participate in this thread...kind of. I don’t knit, crochet, or quilt. My sewing machines & serger desperately need a good cleaning because I prefer metal and woodworking. I don’t have access to a metal workshop right meow, but I’m -so- excited for my shop to arrive!

I’m going to make a shelf for LO’s little baskets of little clothes. I want to make it tomorrow, but I can build it better and faster with my sander and drill. So until then I bought a new pocket jig and am going to start looking for legs, finishes, and decorative hardware  

Here’s my inspiration:


Instead of metallic supports, I’m thinking about detailing the edges with copper contact paper, gold leaf, or pinstriping tape. Either way, LO probably won’t remember it because I plan on selling it when we leave Alabama next summer. 

kadeephd

That is beautiful @echo-charlietango.  Please post a photo your final product!

I also want to see this dragon @omnommer!

timesacharm

I love this thread! You're all so creative. Giving me some serious inspiration.

@tumbleweed-1 Love the dragon blanket! I think adding the satin border will really give it a beautiful finished look. Can't wait to see what you decide on.

@CecilB93 Making cloth diapers is such a cool idea. Doing my cloth diaper research I came across a brand that I think is exclusively made by work at home  moms. (Can I remember the brand? Of course not.) Also,  your dress looked great. Love the style!

My making plans include a knit baby blanket with stars (got the free pattern on Ravelry.) I also plan on scrapbooking life when baby arrives. After seeing all the great sewists here I am inspired to break out my sewing machine. Just wish it had a permanent home in the house. And maybe I'll buy some heat transfer material and make some cute onesies too. I have a Silhouette that I love to use. 

(Edited for spelling.)

runrinserepeat

Love all the crafts so far ladies! You’re all rocking it!

I’m working on a baby quilt right now that’s not for me. Need to quilt the border and do the binding and then I can finally move on to our baby. Thinking I’m just going to make a few receiving blankets, though I’d love to do another quilt for him. I’m just lacking inspiration, so baby quilt ideas welcome! I’ll post pictures when I’m done with the one I’m working on. 

omnommer

For all the sewists, what are the best things to learn how to sew with or resources that you know of? I'd love to start (and have crocheted/knitted for years), but haven't a clue where to begin. My grandfather bought me a sewing machine before he passed away because he thought I needed it. I've never used it, but would love to!

runrinserepeat

@omnommer I have a book that's pretty basic at home, with lots of good information and some projects to practice the different skills. Alas, I can't remember what it's called. I'll try to remember to snap a picture when I get home. 

omnommer

@runrinserepeat Thank you! The most I've done is hem pants by hand and put buttons back on things, so I'm definitely a total newbie at this.  

texas_t

@echo-charlietango Love those shelves! Can't wait to see the end result!

PensiveCrayon

So I’m not the craftiest person in the world — I’ve puttered around with everything but I have trouble finishing projects — but I have been meaning to AW the blanket my sister knit my son:

He loves the thing to death (as evidenced by the fact that I can’t even take a picture of it without him trying to grab it!). I want the next kid to have a favorite blankie of her own to love, and I’ve been looking for a different pattern for my sister to use but just can’t find anything similarly cool! So I’m thinking I’ll have her go with the same pattern but use these colors:

H really doesn’t want “girlie” colors imposed on her, and I think this fits that

lavenderlisa

Finished up some paintings for babies nursery!! Hit up Wal-Mart for paint and canvases, then drew my out line. Then just filled in the lines with paint. I love how they turned out!! Decorating the nursery is making things so much more real for me. 

runrinserepeat

@omnommer I keep forgetting to find that book and remembering at the worst times. I’ll try when I get home tonight!

Last night I finished the quilt for my brother’s baby girl, due next month. I hope my SIL likes it, but honestly I’m just so glad to be done. 

echo-charlietango

@runrinserepeat That’s amazing! I hope your baby niece loves it

scaredunprepared

@lavenderlisa I love the paintings! They are so sweet.  I made a collection of paintings for my niece before she was born.  I wish I had the same drive to make them for my new niece or nephew and my own baby, but I'm so lazy! 

@runrinserepeat how perfect!  That quilt is so beautiful. 

lavenderlisa

@scaredunprepared thank you! Your paintings are amazing. I'm not that talented!