Sew: Bright Bunny Blanket & Baby Bibs {Tutorial & FREE Pattern Links included}

Gee, I just love handmade baby things! They are so fun & easy to make. Plus you can be bright and bold and fun with baby things. I made this as a Christmas gift but haven’t had a chance to blog it until now. Maybe, that’s all for the best because it’s almost Easter and bunnies are a perfect for the occasion! I made a set of three bibs and cotton blanket/cot cover/bunny rug with cute appliques. Cotton is perfect for Australian temperatures but you could easily use flannel or fleece instead. Let’s start with the bibs.

I made these bibs exactly the same way as my nautical bibs, using the same pattern. For each bib, I cut one piece of the polka dot cotton and one piece in flannelette. Cutely enough, the flannelette was remnant that belonged to a wonderful woman in the baby’s family. I love it when those sentimental things happen. The polka dot cotton was on the thin side and a little sheer, so I applied a light weight fusible interfacing to back of those pieces. Doing this helped to keep the applique from puckering.

I wanted a rainbow effect for the appliques. I cut strips of plain cotton and stitched them into one piece of fabric, big enough for the appliques and pressed the seams open. I used this bunny template , scaled it to size and printed it out. Then I traced it vlisofix, ironed to the rainbow fabric piece and cut it out. I ironed that on the front of the bibs and stitched the applique on. For a more in depth info on applique, see this post. I simply followed the tutorial that came with the free pattern! I used Velcro as the closure, being sure that the soft side would be facing the baby and voila!

For the blanket, I followed this tutorial. I cut a 30″ x 30″ square of yellow polka dot fabric and a 40″ x 40″ square of the pink polka dot. I used a rainbow bunny from the bib making and cut two bunnies from the pink and appliqued them on before I started to construct the blanket. I followed the tutorial and all was going well until I sewed and cut the corners wrong! I kinda cried and then laughed hysterically as I unpicked the blanket and cut a new pink polka dot piece. Of course, this was being made at (almost) the last minute and that’s when giant mistakes happen! So pay attention to which way to do the corners! Once it was all sewn, it needed a line of stitching to close up the turning gap and keep everything square. I decided to be brave and use one of my fancy stitches in a contrasting teal thread. I’m so glad I did because it finished everything beautifully!

Needless to say, Mum loved the bibs and blanket and thought it was so nice to have bright, breezy baby things. And corner sewing aside, I really enjoyed making them. I think these sorts of things are great as gifts, especially if you know the style or decor of the parents and can make it to their tastes. If you are looking for  cute baby gifts to make, Mummy Ask made some cute ruffle butt rompers and these baby leggings have been a hit several times now. I do love these cute, little things. If only my cats would be cool about wearing clothes…..