Sewing! A baby blanket and 2 burp cloths

So I've had a sewing machine since my birthday a year and a half ago. I got it right after having a baby. Maybe that was really bad timing, because this said baby was very stubborn and did not go to bed at night. This did not allow for much time to practice.  So the whole learning to sew thing, sort of got pushed to the side for awhile.  A long while. Anyways, then I tried to learn later on, but kept getting frustrated because I kept getting the thread tangled in knots and was just having a hard time. Then I moved to a new house and the sewing got pushed aside again. Then I got frustrated again. I finally discovered that I was using the wrong type of thread. A super thick thread too. No wonder I was having problems. Oops! Make sure you got the right thread if you are learning to sew. That will make things a lot easier.

Anyways...I'm still not amazing at sewing, but I finally feel like I've gotten to know my sewing machine enough to work with it and actually accomplish things without going away super frustrated. Yay! This week I had a baby shower to go to so I decided to make a baby blanket with matching burp cloths. This was a good starter project because it is relatively simple, (still takes work) and it turns out really cute. I got 2 different flannel fabric pieces I liked. (One for the back and one for the front.) 1 1/2 yards of each. I used 1 yard for the blanket and the remaining 1/2 yard is just enough to make 2 burp cloths out of.  I washed the fabric first. Unfortunately the fabric got a bit frayed and ripped up in the washer. It also did a lot of pilling. Fortunately this was fixable, but took time. I trimmed around the frayed parts at the edge and there was still enough fabric for the blanket. I also found a sweater comb to get out all the pilling. (A cat brush also worked.)

For the blanket I took the two yard size pieces of fabric lay them together right sides facing each other.  Pinned them together, and sewed around the edges, leaving a gap open, to turn the blanket inside out and allow the right sides to now face out. Then I ironed the blanket. Last I top stitched around the edges  of the entire blanket, closing up the gap in the process.

 

For the burp cloths I pretty much did the same thing as I did with the blanket, only I used a free pattern that I found online for the shape. I was also left with just enough fabric that I should be able to make a little bib and burp cloth for my daughters teddy bear.