What shall I make for my PFB?! knit, crochet, sew...

[moggle]

After a couple of years of trying and then a round of IVF at last I'm pregnant and we're over the moon, (obviously!). I love everything crafty and have spent the last four years knitting, crocheting, sewing things for new babies of friends and family and am so so excited that at last I can make things for our own baby. But I feel a bit like I have too much choice - have multiple pinterest boards, books at home etc but don't know where to start!

So would love some ideas of nice things you have made or received for babies or patterns/ideas you have seen and loved. Anything from practical to totally impractical! Especially would love suggestions for something really special / intricate that I won't have time / energy to concentrate on after baby is born / for the next 18 years... but also quick easy knits I can use up some of my stash with (I have already made a Baby Sophisticate cardigan on this front, which I have to get it out every evening to coo over ...). Colourful patterns for a small carrycot / carseat blanket would be wonderful too.

Sewing stuff too, I have a sewing machine too and basic-intermediate skills. Have quite a lot of quilting fabric hanging around, so far I've just bought some terry to try and make some reusable wipes! Wondering about a moses basket liner...

Argh I'm just too excited. Oh nearly forgot... Baby is due in mid November and we probably won't be finding out the gender so at the moment I'm concentrating on bright or neutral colours and patterns that aren't too frilly.

[StainlessSteelCat]

My aunt knitted this for my PFB. It fitted him for ages, maybe a year or so (well, sort of fitted at either end of that range) and did the same again for the brother and sister that followed. I'm knitting another cotton jumper for my youngest at the moment, because of how wonderful that one was.

My mum made quilts for all three, and a couple of extra ones as they grew older. The baby ones she made roughly 2" by 3", so a suitable size to be used for tummy time, or as an extra buggy layer.

I've seen a beautiful ripple blanket on a baby near here, three shades of blue repeated.

I've seen, and knitted, some beautiful bootees, but I have no idea how the sizing worked out on those, or even how useful they were. I think they may have been a present received with genuine thanks, then never used!

I started knitting again just before the birth of my youngest - I think it was the laziest nesting ever. I knitted socks, just because they were small.

[minipie]

Congratulations on your hard earned BFP

I would suggest some jumpers or cardigans in baby cashmere or cashmerino. It is near impossible to find lovely warm cosy wool/cashmerino knitwear for babies and toddlers - it's all cotton. (I guess that's because of washing but I just put wool through the delicate cycle and it's fine).

Make things big! A big jumper or cardi can be used as a jacket/top outdoor layer at first and then as an indoor layer when they grow.

Moses baskets only have a very brief period of use and some babies refuse to ever sleep in them so might not be the best value for effort iyswim! However something to go around the inside of the pram carrycot would be great - they love having things to look at there - you want to have bold contrasting colours and incorporate a bit of mirror and rustly stuff and so on.

When I was little my grandma made me this book - I loved it and still have it. it's for a 2-3 year old rather than a baby but you won't have time when you have a toddler!

[yellowsnownoteatwillyou]

Make a couple of ribbon taggies, and you can make taggy cubes with bells in, my ds played with them from a couple of months and still does at nearly a year.

[MinesAPintOfTea]

A Christmas stocking (ds's is named). Hats, mittens, a small cot blanket in non- pastels

[moggle]

Ah thanks for all the suggestions! A stocking is a great idea- I will have to check with mum whether she's planning on making one. And a taggie- I have metres and metres of ribbon so that's a brill idea :-)
minipie that book is very cute- I often get fabric printed at Spoonflower and I think they have similar types of fabric to make books so will have to investigate.

I was looking at how to make a playmat last night- need some interesting or crinkly fabric for that.
Thanks all!

[NorksEnormous]

I made a taggy for my pfb and he's now 4 and still can't go to bed without it

Also made one for my second born, which is lying under her cot because she couldn't care less about it

[Onelittlepiglet]

Congratulations! Hope you are feeling ok.

I knitted a lot for my first dd (didn't know the sex so just unisex type stuff) but less for dd2 (who is a month old) because I didn't have as much time and also am now living somewhere hot so don't need wooly things!

But I have knitted a special baby lancet for her as a keepsake. I did one for dd1 too, but it wasn't as nice as this one. It's the sheep blanket which I found on ravelry (great site for getting ideas!). It wasn't too hard to do and looks really great! The book it is in also has some other lovely blankets to try.

I wanted to keep some of the cardigans I knitted for dd1 but found that they did get a bit bobbly after a few washes so the blanket was much easier to keep nice and save.

Good luck!

[Onelittlepiglet]

Lancet?! I meant blanket!

[moggle]

Haha I did wonder what a baby lancet was, thought I'd read all the "what do you really need for your baby" type lists but hasn't seen that on any of them!
That blanket is lovely. Can I ask, are the sheep stitched on afterwards or knit as you go along? I will look for the book.

[moggle]

Oh those granny squares are so cute! I have just pinned them :-) I have seen some nice squares with owls too but lost the link.

Today i bought a big pile of remnants from a fabric website to make a playmat ... All different texture fabrics like nylon, narrow and wide corduroy, fleece, brushed cotton, plush, terry, etc in a rainbow of colours. Most of them were huge sizes, 1x1.5m etc so hoping I'll have plenty left over for other projects including some toys.

[Gettingmedown]

If you're after crinkly material, you could buy space blankets from the £ shop. They have them at a lot of baby groups for sensory play and I guess you could sew some between 2 pieces of fabric for a playmat.
I made my PFB a knitted dog from my PSB when I was pregnant. He gave it to her the day after he was born and she's gone to bed with it every night since. It was the first (and last!) thing I ever knitted and finished. I intend to knit a toy for my DS too when he starts sleeping through and/or is happy to be apart from me for more than 5 minutes.

Congratulations, took us 4 years to conceive our first, it's so special x

[Tidypidy]

I made myself a nappy pouch and matching roll up changing mat. So useful! The pouch is rectangular with rounded edges and slightly bigger than a packet of wipes. The mat had wipe clean pvu on one side and cotton on the other. I sewed both in about two hours.

[Onelittlepiglet]

The white part of the sheep is knitted in and the faces and legs are sewn on afterwards (takes a while!). Knitting the white yarn in was actually easier than I thought but I had to keep an eye in which row I was on because my memory is awful!

[BigBirthdayGloom]

Congratulations on your pregnancy! I had my three after treatment and its a long old. Second the idea of a blanket-I knitted one for all three of mine and it was the only thing I managed to make, despite all good intentions. But a blanket gets used for ages and all of mine have still got theirs in their rooms. I used a sirdar pattern that was knitted all in one piece so that once the knitting was finished there was no making up to do which helped a lot when my due date was creeping up faster than the blanket grew.

[Happydutchmummy]

I sewed a nappy stacker using thick curtain fabric when I was pregnant with ds. It's perfect, matches the room really well, is used every day and I'm glad I made it.

I also saved all of dds clothes because I couldn't bring myself to give them away and so when she was 1 I cut them all up and made a cot bed sized quilt out of them. It is awesome (despite me not being a very competent sewer)

[moggle]

Thanks miaow! That is it indeed :-)
Thank you for all the suggestions. I am looking forward to getting going with everything :-D