DIY Easy Minky Blanket Tutorial in Only 30 Minutes

It's a boy!

My (husband's) niece is having a boy in a week or so and while this isn't her only gift, it is my favorite one! I'm only 26 and certainly not old enough to be a great aunt (ugh!) but my husband's sisters are much older than. Besides, nothing makes me happier than new babies in the family!!! This is such a lovely blanket and the best part is that it comes together so quickly!

I made this one with the following items:

1 yard minky fabric

1 1/2 yards patterned fabric

Scissors

Pins

Sewing machine

Coordinating thread

Place both cuts of fabric back to back with the patterned fabric hanging over by 2-3 inches on each side. You can leave less for a thinner border. Whatever amount you leave will be double the thickness of what you will see. 

Fold the patterned fabric in evenly with the minky fabric. Then fold in again over the minky fabric and pin into place. This will create the framed blanket look. 

I fold the corners like this (above) so that they look neat and even. After pinning the entire perimeter, sew two seams for a finished look at the end.

 

It still needs to be washed and ironed before being wrapped but I think it came out pretty well. All in all it only took about 30 minutes of nap time. Plenty of time left to bake a loaf of bread and clean the pantry out ;)

What kind of homemade items do you give as gifts for babies?

Pillowcase Dress DIY

Tonight I had a great time crafting in the kitchen. I decided to attempt the "Pillowcase Dress" that often pops up as soon as the summer begins. I am very green when it comes to sewing, very green! Let me preface that by saying that I am not a puzzle person. Does that make me anti green puzzles... maybe so. I look at sewing patterns like a puzzle and I find them very difficult to follow. This is why the pillowcase dress appealed to me so much (though I didn't use a pillowcase). I just browsed google images and free sketched my basic design. Here is my finished dress.

The end result was decent although I marked the dress in pen and so this was just for practice. I have made drawstring pj pants for myself using the sewing machine (the hubby walked me through the pattern portion of it, darn puzzle!) My other projects included: 2 dog beds, 2 dog coats, a 6 month onesie, car seat canopy, a skirt with a zipper back, and drapes. The dog beds were the easiest and turned out the best. The pj bottoms are great and I still wear them occassionally. 

This week has been a doozy! We have had my niece over three days this week as well as plenty of fall chores to complete. We've been working on the chicken coop as a family. The floor is in and two walls are up now!

We also finally had good conditions to burn up the huge brush pile at the back of the property. It may look small but those are 4x4x8 posts in the picture. Luckily we kept it very tame and the neighbors didn't call the fire dept.

We also mapped out the dog run and next year's raised bed garden. All in all, it was a productive week. What have you done to prepare for shorter days and colder nights? As always...

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