Sewing for a friend's baby

[snickersnack]

It turns out I'm not as incompetent at sewing as I feared. I have successfully made 2 sundresses for dd (encouraged by MNers - thank you!) which, whilst they would enrage my old home ec teacher, are perfectly fine.

So, inspired by this, for my next project I'd like to make something for my friend's baby, due in a month or so. I usually knit things for babies, but am slightly bored of knitting plus it takes ages (am a slow knitter).

Any suggestions? I don't know the gender, so clothes are probably out. I don't mind buying a book if anyone has any recommendations, and I work in central London so won't have any problem getting hold of fabrics. I'm just very unimaginative - need some inspiration.

quilt! quilt! quilt!

i made a playmat for dd2 - my first quilt - and someone made me one too - have both been sed daily for last nearly-2-years and much loved (and admired).

sed = used

The word "quilt" terrifies me. I vaguely remember struggling with a bloody quilted bag at school - hideous, but really really tricky (it was the first time I'd ever used a sewing machine, maybe that was the problem). Where would I start? Would I need some kind of padding? Or a pattern?

you start by making a patchwork "top" - i.e. patchworking according to a pattern or at random pieces together to make a square/rectangle slightly larger than finished quilt size. 100% cotton nicest for baby stuff.

then you buy a roll of cotton quilt batting from ebay, and have a single piece of cotton fabric backing the same size as the top, sandwich the batting inbetween (pin togather with hundreds of safety pins, or spray glue together with 505 spray) and sew lines of quilting stitching through all 3 layers (a walking foot attachment would be handy for this, otherwise you don't need any special equipment).

cut the edges square, find an online quilt binding tutorial and run binding all aroud the sides. done.

really it can be so simple - you can just use a single piece of fabric rather than a pieced top if you prefer. and it's sooo much fun

my first quilt

a few years ago, i used to make nappy stackers for friends new babies. they are very simple to make, you need about a material of cloth, a hanger, and i would just decorate with felt and fabric glue.
have a look at one of them inthe shop, and think wrapping a present. pics

oops, metre

I made a fleece double sided playmat. I'm very proud of it - striped fleece on one side, blue with applique stars on the other, then fringed and knotted around the edges. It looks amazing, and only took a couple of hours. Am going to make a couple more for other pregnant friends, then will try quilting