seeking advice from mommies

[paperflowers]

I need to make some stuff for a baby shower in two weeks. I've never done baby items before and don't know much about babies in general. The parents-to-be are very "get er done" and I wanted to focus on making simple, functional everyday things that they could get a lot of use out of. We don't know the sex, so I wanted to stay away from froufy stuff in case the baby turns out to be a he. I was thinking pastel blue.

 

So, what do babies wear? She's due in April - maybe spring/summer stuff in 3-6mos size? Cotton, synthetic - does it matter? How about booties - are those just for show?

[CrisKad]

http://bellabambinaknits.blogspot.com/2007/03/kellys-sweater.html

 

I made this for my cousin who is having a shower soon too. This works up fast and is practical, especially for a winter baby. I made one in mint green.

[Tiga]

A simple sweater, like the one above, or a small blanket are very useful. I never did the booties thing with my daughter - I just let her wear socks, as we live in Florida. As this baby will be a "baby" in the summer, I'd skip the booties.

 

But a light sweater in a sport weight cotton/acrylic blend would be nice. Do NOT make a newborn size though. My newborn wore a size 3 mos outfit out of the hospital, lol!

 

As for fiber, again, since this will be a warm weather baby, go with a cotton blend. I like TLC Cotton Plus - it has lots of bright, cheerful colors and although it says "worsted" it's more like a sport when it works up.

 

As for colors, go with bright, cheery colors. You can't go wrong with them for either sex. Yellows, oranges, greens - nice spring-y colors that aren't "boy" or "girl".

 

I never liked pastels for my daughter, personally, and there are so many nice bright colors out these days.

[LaurieE]

I have a co-worker also due in April. I'm making things for the 9-12 month old.

 

Here are some quick items to make: bibs; knee high booties; and bottle warmers/cozies

[Empress Busy Bee]

I personally love pastels. However I have noticed the trend is for younger moms not to like them so I'd have to agree you might not want to do pastel. If you know what colors they're using in the baby's room, you could pick from that.

[leaette]

my son is 8 months old. born may 8th.

first off: DON'T MAKE PASTEL STUFF!!!! i can't tell you how much baby blue stuff we got for my son. i wished i had some reds, greens, primary colors.

if you want to make a blanket, make it bright fun colors. and as for blankets.... i don't know if you should make one. my son had 8 blankets! how many blankets does a baby need? but...i can tell you, he only got one small blanket, i'm talking just big enough to cover a sleeping baby. it's nice because it's a small size. i threw it over him in his baby carrier. the other blankets were too big (i had to fold them just to fit him) and since he was a baby in the summer, that was too warm. so if you are going to make a blanket, make it small.

 

depending on where in the US the baby will be, booties would help out. i'm in PA, and the evenings can get chilly at times. so we put socks and booties on him until july.

 

i made my son a cotton bib and it doesn't work as well as a store bought fabric bib. doesn't soak up spit up. sure, it looks cuter than a store bought bib, but bibs need to be functional, not cute.

 

i can tell you that we got a lot of gifts in the zero months till 6 months. after that, we needed to buy almost everything. so how about some items in the 6-9 months. and 12 months. he had no winter hat. he had no mittens, scarf, blanket for his stroller (there is a great stroller blanket pattern in the crochet stitch n' bitch book, it has a slit in the middle for the stroller straps).

 

can't go wrong with toys. make him a stuffed bear.

 

hope that helps out some.

[CrafteeMonkies]

I am not sure about little things.....seems like every time there is a baby being born I am asked to make a star-ghan. They are wonderful for babies...or even a little bigger kids. This is the pattern I use: http://www.angelfire.com/va3/heartfeltangels/littlestarafghan.html It actually is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

[CrafteeMonkies]

my son is 8 months old. born may 8th.

first off: DON'T MAKE PASTEL STUFF!!!! i can't tell you how much baby blue stuff we got for my son. i wished i had some reds, greens, primary colors.

if you want to make a blanket, make it bright fun colors. and as for blankets.... i don't know if you should make one. my son had 8 blankets! how many blankets does a baby need? but...i can tell you, he only got one small blanket, i'm talking just big enough to cover a sleeping baby. it's nice because it's a small size. i threw it over him in his baby carrier. the other blankets were too big (i had to fold them just to fit him) and since he was a baby in the summer, that was too warm. so if you are going to make a blanket, make it small.

 

depending on where in the US the baby will be, booties would help out. i'm in PA, and the evenings can get chilly at times. so we put socks and booties on him until july.

 

i made my son a cotton bib and it doesn't work as well as a store bought fabric bib. doesn't soak up spit up. sure, it looks cuter than a store bought bib, but bibs need to be functional, not cute.

 

i can tell you that we got a lot of gifts in the zero months till 6 months. after that, we needed to buy almost everything. so how about some items in the 6-9 months. and 12 months. he had no winter hat. he had no mittens, scarf, blanket for his stroller (there is a great stroller blanket pattern in the crochet stitch n' bitch book, it has a slit in the middle for the stroller straps).

 

can't go wrong with toys. make him a stuffed bear.

 

hope that helps out some.

 

I totally agree....make something other than pastels. I am in the process of making a star-ghan for my niece and everyone said to use pastels..I said NO...and used a magenta, dark purple and a blend with some blue as well....it is gorgeous. I love it!

 

As for the stroller blanket...I LOVE the pattern in Stitch n' Bitch! I haven't made it yet...but want to....too bad my son is too old for that...darn it....and the fact he's addicted to his spiderman blanket!

[bettycrackpot]

NO PASTELS!!!! babys cant see pastels that well, they can see bright, strong colors. (black, white, red, etc) and i second stuff thats bigger, not 0-6.

my never fail gift is a hat, a blankie ( a starghan, the seija set from happy hooker, or a rr) and a box of diapers and a pack of wipes.

[sammimag]

I'd ask them what they want. I'm in the camp of wanting brighter colors and no pastels and I am an older mother. Everyone is different.

 

In some ways I can agree with how many blankets does one baby need but I had several and used them all. One was always dirty or one was in the car.

 

Later the baby blankets become baby doll blankets.

[paperflowers]

I'm taking notes here . There are some great ideas here. I'm open as far as color. I just happened to already have some pounders lying around. Our weather can sometimes be unseasonably chilly in the summer, particularly at night. Some cold weather gear would likely come in handy.

 

Thanks for all your help ladies. I'm actually thinking I might make extra and put it in storage. If it's not my turn in a couple of years, it'll be my brother's.

[Momcrochets]

Lily (Sugar And Cream) used to have a nice leaflet out with some cute baby stuff. I think there were some baby blocks on the cover...anyway, it had some nice ideas...there was a hanging pocket thingy for baby's "stuff" (which we always seemed to have tons of), those blocks, and I forget what all.

 

I personally enjoy pastels, but especially for boys, more bold colors as well. (My son had curly hair, and even in blue I heard "What a cute little girl! How old is she?) It's true babies can't distinguish soft colors. black, white, red...strong contrasts stimulate their vision best...soo many choices...see if you can find out a theme or color for the baby's room.

 

You could even make a nice tote bag and fill it with goodies for baby and mom...wipes, diapers, baby wash, baby bath, baby lotion, etc...baby washcloths (Can never have too many of those!), and some nice lotion or bubble bath, or foot cream, or whatever...something luxurious for mom...Several moms in our church like the "non-diaper bag" look, especially once the baby gets to toddler stage. (and guys don't seem to like diaper bags either)

HTH

[leaette]

i just thought of an idea. i'm going to sew one one of these days soon.

how about a bag that hangs off stroller handles. just make a very long rectangle, and fold it in half and sew up the sides. put on straps that attach with strong velcro or buttons. and the straps loop over the stroller handles.

 

i want one to put stuff in: spit rags, my keys, extra bottles of water, whatever. it's more of a "mommy" item than baby but i know it is something that would be needed.

[Sahahne]

My bub's 4 months old now. We got given a HEAP of booties before he was born. They are absolutely adorable but completely impractical. It didn't matter how snugly I tied them, or how well they fit, whenever he woke up from a sleep, the booties were missing and his feet were freezing. I gave up on using them and just used socks.

 

Things that I did use were light jackets (he was born at the beginning of Spring so the weather was still a little cool) and little hats. I found it really difficult to find cardigans or jackets to buy for him (and I was just too tired to crochet any for him myself!). But the knitted set my Mum got him we used a lot. I preferred being able to dress him in layers so if the day warmed up, it was easy to take off the top layer and he was still dressed warmly enough.

 

As for blankets - I've made him a bunch of blankets and have yet to use any of them unfortunately. But this ought to change once the weather gets cooler again. Right now it's just too hot. I made them both in pastels and in bright colours. I think it's nice to have a bit of a mix. I recently made a rainbow blanket for a friend's baby and I used bold and pastels all in the one blanket and it turned out very nicely.

 

Good luck with it. I think it's great you've put so much thought into it so that your gift will be something useful as well as beautiful.

[texasredhead]

my son is 8 months old. born may 8th.

first off: DON'T MAKE PASTEL STUFF!!!! i can't tell you how much baby blue stuff we got for my son. i wished i had some reds, greens, primary colors.

if you want to make a blanket, make it bright fun colors. and as for blankets.... i don't know if you should make one. my son had 8 blankets! how many blankets does a baby need? but...i can tell you, he only got one small blanket, i'm talking just big enough to cover a sleeping baby. it's nice because it's a small size. i threw it over him in his baby carrier. the other blankets were too big (i had to fold them just to fit him) and since he was a baby in the summer, that was too warm. so if you are going to make a blanket, make it small.

 

depending on where in the US the baby will be, booties would help out. i'm in PA, and the evenings can get chilly at times. so we put socks and booties on him until july.

 

i made my son a cotton bib and it doesn't work as well as a store bought fabric bib. doesn't soak up spit up. sure, it looks cuter than a store bought bib, but bibs need to be functional, not cute.

 

i can tell you that we got a lot of gifts in the zero months till 6 months. after that, we needed to buy almost everything. so how about some items in the 6-9 months. and 12 months. he had no winter hat. he had no mittens, scarf, blanket for his stroller (there is a great stroller blanket pattern in the crochet stitch n' bitch book, it has a slit in the middle for the stroller straps).

 

can't go wrong with toys. make him a stuffed bear.

 

hope that helps out some.

 

I agree! I made a small blanket from Bernat's baby coordinates for a baby born in California. The yarn is thin and soft. It is a size for their carrier or to cuddle. This is it:

 

[Angeleyz14]

Booties are cute...but the most we did was put socks on dd since she was born in Oct in Dallas, TX.

A blanket is always useful (esp. when not frilly and such) since it can be used at home, in the car seat/stroller/etc.

same with a simple sweater or sweater and pants outfit...

also a soft handmade toy with embroidered eyes.

[Christina92786]

I don't have babies, but my friends and cousins who have them seem to go through bibs and blankets quickly. Bibs definitely don't stay clean, so its good to have a lot of them. My aunt made bibs for my cousin's baby with Sugar and Cream cotton and they did pick up spilled baby food just fine. Maybe they just have to be washed first so they are ready to absorb well, like dishrags. Babies go through receiving blankets quickly as well. If you sew another good idea is just getting flannel and hemming the edges. Crocheted baby blankets are also great and easy to wash! All of my cousins have them and I make them for my friends. I agree that most young people want brighter colors. Another good idea would be a toy for a baby. If you could find a pattern or make one up for a penguin toy or something those are great toys for newborns because they are black and white! I always try to find a black and white toy for newborns! I hope that this helps!

[stillwjo]

Seems like all the baby stuff that gets made is either pastel or some other kind of "baby" color. Consider the dad (or the mom if she's a fan) and make something in a favorite team's color. I made an afghan and booties for my brother's new baby in Miami Dolphins colors and he loves them even though they have a girl. I wish someone would have made something like that for ours way back when we were having babies.... I made a pair of blue and a pair of orange but he mixed them for the photo.

[alchemyfyr]

I completely agree with Leaette.....for my daughter we have a TON of blankets. My grandmother sewed a blanket complete with her name and birthday, crocheted her a blanket, my aunt made two crib quilts for her, a friend of my mom crocheted a blanket, I made the watercolor round ripple for her, and then I received 8 thick blankets and also about 12 thin receiving blankets.....oh and my mom gave me the two crib blankets that I had as a baby!!!!! My daughter is now 22 months old and really only uses a few of them. It's a good thing I'm having another baby in a few weeks so we can use more of them! lol

 

Also, I agree about making items older than 6 months. For my shower I received everything from preemie (which my daugher was 8 pounds so never got to wear them) up to 6 months. Then I had to start buying clothes, although I'm lucky and my niece is a year older so we get all her really cute clothes too.

 

I really like the idea of the parent's favorite sports team colors. That's really cute! I know a friend of mine always dresses his infant son in a baseball or football jersey when he watches the games. It's cute.

[01buckler15]

Some other ideas would be toys for the baby. Such as a rattle or something. I made the happy/sad face into a rattle and was told by the grandmother that the baby LOVED it! I make other stuffies into rattles too. Like little bears or cars. These things usually go over well. And they are easy and quick to make!

[snugsmontreal]

ditto to what a lot have said, you think pastels and so does everyone else thats gets them something, having some neutrals are great too off-white beige tan and brights too. and booties really arent functional once a baby moves round (after about 3 months) and if its a summer baby that isnt worth your time. i ditto the no new born sizes too so many will fit for about 1 week if that! and stick with larger sizes, as already mentioned everyone buys for 0-6 months no one thinks past that and gets sleepers for 12 months or sweater/pants etc etc

[silvermoon42]

I am a young mother, and while I love pink for my girls, I also love the bright colors and they'd work for either boy or girl. The round ripples are awesome, especially the rainbow motifs you can work out. I think something kinda bright and flashy would be a great idea

[Ladycrochat]

If you are going to make a blanket for these folks, then make a practical blanket.....make the stroller/carseat blanket that has the hole in the center for the seat belt to come through, it keeps the blanket in place.....

http://www.woolcrafting.com/baby-car-seat-blanket-pattern.html

[Tracey4610]

I just had my 2nd 1 month ago, and I have a few ideas that would have made my life just that much easier. I plan to do this for my friends as they have babies. If the mother is going to be nursing, make a nursing tote. LB's 8-pocket tote would be great for this!! Fill it with things like cloth dipes or flannel receiving blankets for burp cloths, perhaps a package of either disposable or washable nursing pads, a tube of lanolin (if ya wanna go that far), a HUGE water bottle (nursing makes one VERY thirsty!), perhaps some non-perishable snacks (oftentimes, mommy can't get up for several hours, so snacks are quite helpful!), a nursing cover (check out bebeaulait.com [THUD] for ideas--these things are very easy to make using fabric remnants. pm me if you want to know how I made mine).

 

As far as colors go, yes, brights are "in", as well as blacks and whites. This is mainly because "science and research" suggest that babis prefer these colors since they really can't see pastels until they're several weeks old. While this may be true, I personally prefer toys and stuff to be bright, as /I don't want the baby over-stimulated. So, I tend to stick to the folowing: If you'd like a variation on an old theme, perhaps focus the main colors on browns or taupes, and only highlight with your pastels. For instance, pick a baby blanket pattern, and make it in a taupe-y color (Bernat has some great colors in their ww selections). Work the edging in something like Yarn Bee Baby Bee--I forget the colorway, but it's a tweed with a twist of dk brown, pale blue, and pink. When the tweed is worked up, the patels are so pale they look like a soft lavender or even white, and it would still look trendy yet practical. Use the same idea for a sweater or a hat, booties, etc. The Sock Monkey set in the SnB book might be a hit, as well. Work it in whatever colors the parents like, as the Bernat Denim (for the monkey heads) comes in several colors from pink to gray, etc.

 

HTH! Please let us know what you choose to do!