Stitched with Love

One of my many cousins recently had a baby. I wasn't able to attend the shower for her, so I sent a gift when my parents visited her parents.

Since I quit work to stay home with the Goose, our budget has become much smaller - the same story as many families out there. My mother-in-law bought me a very nice sewing machine and helped me re-learn what my mother taught me so many years ago about sewing.

For my cousin's gift, I selected a pair of hand stitched baby leg warmers that I made, (that link will take you to my post on how to make them, you can see my Etsy shop here and all the styles I have available here) and I made some crinkly taggie squares.

I've linked to crinkly taggie squares before in a "Reading the Whole Internet" post, citing this post from Chasing Cheerios that references this post at Joy's Hope.

Pictured above, one square was camouflage print on one side with black on the other, and the other square was light blue on one side and a farm print on the other. (I have posted before on how I organize my ribbon scraps using wooden clothes pegs, and I have some tips on getting fabric and ribbon on the cheap in my baby burp cloth and taggie blanket post.)

Unfortunately, I'm drafting this post without the benefit of an internet connection, so I'm unable to pull those posts up and tell you exactly what I did differently (since I tend to be a tweaker!). I think I cut my squares about 6.5" square so that they'd be about 6" with seam allowances. Not sure if the posts recommend it or not, but when I sew something and turn it inside out, I trim the corners diagonally (cut off the "peak" - but don't cut too much!) so they lay better once turned inside out.

I also cut the crinkle piece (I used part of a wipes refill bag) a bit smaller and stitched it to the plain side of fabric, making sure that the writing faced whichever piece of fabric that seemed less likely to let it show through. I also topstiched (if that's the right word?) a tic-tac-toe design to help hold the pieces together. You could also do an X, or anything else you wanted.

Something that I am considering with the crinkly squares - I'm not sure how well the bag will hold up to washing and drying and, well, constant crinkling by a little one. I have read of people using items such as washed cereal bag liners (I think it was this post on Frugal Family Fun Blog?) where others weighed in and identified that they may be sprayed with a chemical preservative - not really something you want a little one gumming! I have asked a friend to save me wrappers/liners from organic food items (anybody else want to collect them for me? :>)) and am hoping that will be an appropriate alternative.

The wonderful thing about handmade gifts is that all the while I work on them, I pray for and think about the recipients. They certainly are one-of-a-kind, and since I'm a careful shopper, they permit me to give of my time and love instead of just money. (And that’s definitely a finer thing!

For more frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom and for more finer things, visit Amy!