Free Crochet Pattern: Baby Blanket

This has become my favorite baby blanket pattern. I have made 3 of them so far, and I'm sure there will be more to come! This particular blanket is for my new little niece or nephew who is due to make an appearance in about 8 weeks. Ahh, I can't wait for this new baby to snuggle and love!

 

I love this pattern because it is super simple, it's durable (seriously--I throw my daughter's in the washer and dryer all the time), and the finished result is flat and smooth. Some baby blankets either seem too delicate for little fingers to be tugging on, or too "lumpy" because of intricate shell designs, etc. to be comfortable for babies to lay on. This blanket is neither of those things, and it is easy enough for a beginner crocheter to make.

Completed Nursery!

Our little girl's nursery is finally complete, with exactly 2 weeks until her due date! This isn't my typical tutorial-style post; I just couldn't resist showing off her little room. There are, however, links throughout the post to the various tutorials I wrote while putting this room together.
There are also many things that we made/updated in this nursery that there are no tutorials for, such as repainting and recovering old furniture. If it's not something that I consider being in my area of expertise, I didn't write a tutorial. I may be able to figure out how to do something, but unless I'm sure I'm doing it the right/most efficient way, I won't share my figuring-out process. There are probably tutorials out there by people who actually know what they're doing. :)

Hubby and I both love Vincent Van Gogh, especially "Starry Night"; this became the inspiration for the nursery.

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See this gorgeous crib? My husband completely made the whole thing. It's the most beautiful crib I have ever seen, and so special for our daughter that her daddy handcrafted it for her. He also made the frames for "Starry Night" and "First Steps". It's such a blessing to have a handy husband. :)

**Update 08-08-13: I realized I didn't explain about the paintings! No, we did not pay a bazillion dollars to have these huge frames made. We had the posters, and had gotten some quotes on having them framed professionally--YIKES!!! We're talking hundreds of dollars for each one! We ended up using Mod Podge to attach the posters to a thin board, and then put another coat of Mod Podge on top instead of using glass. The finish looks pretty cool, actually. Even if you do not have a husband who can make picture frames, anyone can Mod Podge a poster to a board, and, really, it could be hung up like that, without a frame. You might want to practice first with a cheap poster you don't care about; I ended up getting a few wrinkles in these because it's difficult to maneuver such a large poster while keeping it straight, and adjusting everything before the glue starts to set. Although, once it has dried you can't see the wrinkles too badly. Anyway, a little practice will make it easier (and posters that aren't ridiculously huge like our copy of "Starry Night" are easier, too). Art on the cheap!**

I made the quilt; no tutorial for that--even though I sew, I am NOT a quilter, and I'm pretty sure I did things "incorrectly", so I didn't want to steer anyone wrong with my directions--ha! I also made the fitted crib sheets, which were surprisingly quick and easy.

Here's her changing table, which started out black and now is repainted to a refreshing white. It's amazing how a random mix of furniture collected from here, there, and everywhere can be made to look like it belongs together with a little updating.

My favorite part of this corner of the room:

These canvases. For some reason my picture doesn't look very clear; I'm not a photographer, either, as people who have followed my blog may have noticed. :) Anyway, this picture does not do them justice, but these lovely canvases were custom designed for our little girl by Rich in Blessings Photography. Traci took our nursery colors and some favorite quotes/Scripture verses and turned them into lovely artwork, made all the more special because they were designed just for our daughter. Traci does awesome custom work, but she also has dozens of adorable prints ready to order; click the link to view her gallery.

This corner houses the one window in the room, for which I made the curtains, valence, and tie-backs. I love how they turned out, and how they match the sheets and quilt.

**Update 08-08-13: We've added another piece of art to the wall, and I just have to show you all. It's in the corner pictured above, between the door and the window. It was a gift from Nicole at Nouvelle Mere. She has lots of beautiful artwork, and also does custom designs.**

Continuing around the room is the dresser with Van Gogh's "Mulberry Tree".

 

I need to find something cutesy to set on the dresser--maybe some picture frames or something. We'll see.

The next wall features Van Gogh's "First Steps"--what a perfect picture for a nursery!

We painted and reupholstered the glider, but as it was my first attempt at reupholstery, I did not make a tutorial. I got the job done, but probably incorrectly. However, it looks a million times better than it used to!

Also on this wall is the bow and headband holder, which I did make a tutorial for.

So there you have it; our nursery is finally complete and ready for its inhabitant, who can arrive any day now!

Bow and Headband Holder

So as you all know, I am expecting a little girl in about six weeks. :) Hubby and I are getting super excited to meet her, and, as we are both crafty people, we have both been making things to prepare for her arrival. I finally got all of the "big stuff" done (sheets, quilt, curtains...) and have moved on to some smaller projects like this one.

I have seen many bow holders using this basic concept--an initial or plaque with ribbons hanging down from which to clip bows. What I had not seen was one that could also hold headbands. My little girl has already got a collection of headbands, and I wanted to be able to hang these from the same bow holder--you know, to keep all her little hair accessories in one place--so I came up with this design. It's simple and involves no sewing (which is a rarity for me, lately).

*Don't have the time or inclination to make one yourself? Check out Apples to Applique on Etsy and have me make one for you!*

To get started, you'll need an initial (or plaque), ribbon (I used two different widths: 5/8" and 1 1/2"), acrylic paint, paintbrush, Velcro, and a good craft glue (I used E-6000). You will also want something to keep your ribbon from fraying, such as clear fingernail polish.

Paint the initial your desired color. My baby's nursery is sage green, so I went with that for my base color.

This was too plain for my taste, so I decided to jazz it up using a really simple but cute technique. I wadded up a paper towel and dabbed it in my second color, then dabbed away on top of my base coat of paint.

Super simple, but look at what a cute finish it gives.

After this dried, I also put a coat of Mod Podge over the whole thing because I thought my paint was too flat. If you use a glossy paint or prefer flat paint, you can skip this step.

Next, you will need to cut your ribbon. From the 1 1/2" wide ribbon, cut one piece 21" long. From the 5/8" wide ribbon, cut one piece 21" long, one piece 5" long, and 12 pieces 3 1/2" long.

(The really observant ones of you may notice that the list I wrote down in the picture above says to cut the one piece 5 1/2" long and not 5", but I was making this up as I went and discovered that the 5 1/2" I had cut was slightly too long.) :)

On each of the 21" long pieces, cut one end at a 45 degree angle. It looks best if these angles mirror each other--meaning that the shorter sides are both toward the middle.

Using clear fingernail polish or some other clear finish (I actually used Mod Podge for this step as I was out of clear nail polish), paint the ends of all your cut ribbons. Just run a thin amount on each end and let it dry.

Do this for each end of each ribbon piece you cut. This will keep your ribbons from getting ravely and scraggly.

When the ribbons are dry, flip the initial over. Take the 5" piece of ribbon and glue it to the top of the initial on the back, forming a hanging loop. Glue the non-angled ends of the 21" long ribbons to the bottom of the initial on the back. I put the wide ribbon on the wide side of the initial. Let dry.

When the ribbons are all nice and dry, flip the initial back over. If you want just a bow holder without the capability of holding headbands, you are done at this point. If you want a headband holder, keep following along!

Take the 3 1/2" pieces and lay them out upside-down in the center of the wide ribbon. I started at the top and worked my way down the ribbon, laying each new piece roughly 1 1/4" inches below and underneath the one before it. This sounds more confusing than it is; just make sure they are pretty evenly spaced before you start gluing them down, and remember that they will overlap.

When you have your spacing figured out, glue just the top end of the narrow ribbon to the wide ribbon. Yes, you want to glue it upside-down.

Keeping the first little piece back and out of the way, glue down the top of the next ribbon.

Keep going until you have all 12 ribbon pieces overlapping and glued on. At this point, they will hang off the end of the wide ribbon a little.

Here's what the whole thing looks like so far.

Once those little pieces of ribbon are nice and dry, you're going to attach some Velcro to them to make little loops to hang headbands from.

I used sew-on Velcro for two reasons. One, my first intent was to sew it on, but then I decided that would be a pain with all of the little pieces. Two, while sticky-back Velcro would work, I would have had to cut the pieces smaller, and I hate what that adhesive does to my scissors. It's pretty impossible to get off, and the scissors are never the same again. If you want to, however, you can easily use adhesive Velcro.

Cut 12 pieces each of the hook side and the loop side of the Velcro. Make sure they are no wider than your narrow ribbon.

Glue a hook side to the top and a loop side to the bottom of each short piece of ribbon, forming little closeable loops.

Note: I feel I should mention the importance of making sure the loop side (aka the soft side) of the Velcro is attached to the bottom (the free end) of the ribbons. The reason for this is that this is the end you will be feeding through the headbands to hang them up, and the loop side will not catch on any delicate lace or elastic and ruin it, while the hook side (aka scratchy side) might.

Once your glue dries, you are finished! Hang it on the wall and get ready to display the cuteness of baby hair accessories!

Clip barrettes and bows on the narrow side.

(Side note: How adorable are these ladybug barrettes? I mean, seriously.)

On the headband side, simply feed the free end of a loop through the headband...

...and Velcro it closed.

There you have it! A way to display and organize all those precious hair accessories!

Lined Valence with Rod Pocket

I just had to make a valence to go along with the curtains and tie-backs I made for my baby girl's room. The curtains didn't look complete without it.

See how boring?

This is another lengthy, picture-heavy post. The sewing itself is not complicated--it's all straight seams--so I encourage you to give it a try, even if you're fairly new to sewing. Really, the only overwhelming thing is the amount of fabric you're working with, but don't let that scare you.

Decide how long you want your finished valence to be. I went with a finished length of about 18". The width measurement isn't very critical as this is a gathered valence. I wanted the valence to have more gather to it than the curtains, so I went with a finished width of 120" for my 48" window--or roughly two-and-a-half times the window width.

To keep things simple, I am pretending that you are making your valence out of one fabric, rather than using two, as I did. (If you want to use two fabrics, figure out how long you want the bottom piece to be, and then add only your hem measurement to that and add only the rod pocket and "frill" measurement to the top fabric).

First, we need to figure out our cutting measurements. The width is easy--120" plus seam allowance. Actually, I decided to piece together two rectangles, giving me a seam down the middle of my valence. It saved me a lot of yardage! I cut them each 61" long.

The height cutting measurement takes a little more math. Don't worry, I'll walk you through it.
Ready? Let's dive in!

Start with your desired finished height measurement--mine was 18". Add 4" for the hem, bringing your measurement to 22". Now, add the amount you need to create the pocket to fit your curtain rod, plus 1/2" for seam allowance; mine only needed 1" for the rod pocket, plus the 1/2" seam allowance, bringing my measurement to 23 1/2". I also wanted a little "frill" at the top, above the rod pocket. I went with 1 1/2" because I wanted it to be just slightly higher than the frill on my curtains, which I had made at 1". This brought me to an even 25" for my height cutting measurement.

Okay, almost there, we can do this!

Now for the lining. You want the lining to be 4" narrower than the curtain--in other words, instead of a 120" finished width, you want a 116" finished width. Again, I was piecing mine to save on yardage, so I went with two rectangles, which I cut at 58" each (2 inches shorter for each one, pieced together, takes 4 inches off the total measurement--with me?)

For the height measurement, we will again start with our desired finished measurement, which was 18". However, as I realized when sewing the curtains, you don't want the lining quite as long as the main fabric. Therefore, I went with a finished measurement of 17". Starting here, I added the amount needed for my hem. I didn't want my lining hem to be as deep as my valence hem, so I only added 2", bringing my measurement to 19". Then, I added the same 1" for the rod pocket plus 1/2" seam allowance, bringing me to 20 1/2". Finally, I added the same 1 1/2" "frill" allowance, for a cutting measurement of 23".

Phew!

Here's what we're left with:

Cut two rectangles of valence fabric, 61" x 25"
Cut two rectangles of lining fabric, 58" x 23"

Seriously, it's almost irritating to spend that much time on math for four pieces of fabric. But now the fun part can begin!

Sew the two valence rectangles together end-to-end with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving you with one long skinny rectangle. Do the same for the lining pieces. (If you are making yours with a different color at the bottom, as I did with mine, attach it now.)

Taking the valence rectangle, press up 4" for your hem across the entire length.

Unfold. You should be able to see a nice straight crease all the way across.

Take the bottom edge and bring it up to the crease, leaving you with a 2" fold. Press.

Leaving this folded, fold again on original crease line, giving yourself a 2" doubled hem.

Pin along the edge.

Stitch as close to the pinned edge as possible.

What a beautiful hem!

Now you're going to repeat this same process for the lining hem, just using different measurements.

Fold up and press 2" of your lining hem.

Unfold so you can see the crease.

 Fold up 1", which will take your raw edge just to the crease. Press.

Leaving folded, fold again on original crease, giving yourself a 1" doubled hem.

Pin along edge.

Stitch as close to pinned edge as possible, leaving you with another professional-looking hem.

Now lay out your valence fabric, and then lay your lining fabric on top of it, right sides together. Line up the top and one edge. Now, getting 120" of fabric all lined up at this point may seem overwhelming. Just line up enough of the top to make sure everything is straight. You're only sewing the side right now, so that's the only critical part. Remember, your lining will be 1" shorter at the bottom, and that's a good thing. Pin the side edges together.

Stitch the edges together using a 1/2" seam allowance.

Now, still keeping the top lined up, line up the other ends and stitch them, as well. The fabric won't lay out smoothly at this point, because remember, your valence fabric is 4" wider than your lining fabric. As long as your ends and the top edges are lined up, you're good.

Once both sides are stitched together, flip the whole thing right-side out. Lining-side up, arrange the fabric until the amount of valence fabric peeking around the sides is about the same on both ends (roughly 1" showing on each end). Press, taking care to make sure your seam allowance goes the same direction for your entire seam. Serge or sew the top edges together.

Now, down at the hem on each side, you've got this weird unfinished piece of valence fabric sticking out. We're going to clean that up a little before moving on.

Tuck that raw edge under, forming a diagonal fold from the corner of the valence to the corner of the lining. Press.

Using a blindstitch, stitch this closed by hand.

Tie off and snip your threads.

Much better! Maybe no one will ever see it, but I feel better when even the hidden parts of my projects have a professional finish!

Going back to the top edge, where you just serged your fabric and lining together, press under 1/2" across the entire length of the valence.

Keeping that folded, fold and press an additional 2 1/2" (or whatever the measurement is for your rod pocket plus "frill"). This is where we are forming the rod pocket and "frill", and where all those extra measurements we took in the beginning come in.

Pin along the edge.

Stitch as close to the pinned edge as possible.

Measuring up 1" (or whatever your rod pocket measurement is) from this stitch line, run a second line of stitching.

Guess what? You're done! Go hang that puppy up and admire your work!

A valence can really complete the look of a window treatment!