As I shared with you all last week, Disney at Ruffles and Stuff is having an awesome contest on her blog this month. After making Eleanor's t-shirt ruffle skirt, I fell in LOVE with ruffles and came up with the idea of making a baby blanket covered in ruffles. I haven't really seen anything like it online and am excited to add it to my upcycling repertoire.
Before making the blanket, I sketched out my idea and came up with some color scheme possibilities then headed out to the thrift store. I already had a couple of men's white t-shirts (clean & unstained!) at home, and I knew I was going to need a lot of material so I headed straight for the men's section. I was lucky enough to find some x-large/large pink and yellow t-shirts. I did go over to the women's section, and although it was more colorful, there weren't as many choices as far as large blank tees go (I did settle on a couple just in case though).
I used one shirt of each color for my first blanket, and it measures about 20x22". I would have loved to make a full-size crib blanket, but I didn't want to mess with funky seam lines on the back.
I had also thought of adding a ruffly E (for Eleanor) to the back, but decided she has enough blankets already. And since we haven't decided on (and won't be disclosing) a name for the new baby, I decided to try my hand at a little ruffled rosette instead. I don't think a letter would have turned out quite as nicely.
I bought the shirts last Sunday, so overall it took me about a week to make--the next one will probably go more smoothly (I had a few ruffles with the ruffles) and turn out even better! I think I'll be taking this one with me (along with any others I can whip up) to the craft show next month. I'm so excited about how well it turned out--this will definitely become one of my baby gift staples!
Labels: baby, eco-friendly, gifts, sewing, upcycle
