It’s always fun to prepare for a new Baby, and celebrating someone else’s new baby is even more fun. There are lots of cute items available for babies, but with your Embroidery Sewing Machine, you have the opportunity to make the little ones in your life gifts that are one of a kind. I’m going to share some of my pattern ideas to help inspire you to make something truly unique for the infant or child in your life.

Simple Supplies and Set Up

For all of these projects, you should choose a cotton or cotton blend, woven Fabric cut into squares. Each piece in your embroidered set should be the same size. So, you’ll want to make sure you have enough fabric for the total number of squares you want to make. When calculating how much fabric you’ll need, be sure to add ¼ inch on each side of your finished Square for the seams. You should also pre-wash your fabric so that it doesn’t shrink after you’ve applied your embroidery design.

For these embroidered squares, you can use a standard medium weight stabilizer. You can save time by leaving the full stabilizer sheet in place after the embroidery is complete rather than cutting it away. Each square will eventually be backed by another piece of fabric so none of the stitches will show and neither will your stabilizer. Leaving the stabilizer in place will also add thickness and support to your fabric.

If you are interested in getting the quickest start on this project, purchase pre-cut fabric squares and stabilizer. Fabric squares are readily available in pre-cut sizes from 5 to 10 inches. Stabilizer is available pre-cut in 8-inch squares. To match your fabric to the size of your stabilizer, just sew the final squares together using a wider seam and cut off any excess fabric before finishing the square.

Fabulous Results

Each of these design ideas can be made into a fabric book, individual pillows, blocks, or a quilt. Once you have your set of squares, you can decide which final items you wish to make or make more than one type of item for a matching set!

Here’s my list of five Fabulous Ideas for baby items you can make and give:

1.Black and White Contrast

When babies are first born, their eyes are still developing. They are able to focus best on contrasting colors and large shapes. Many baby books feature bright colors and shapes for this reason. Embroidering something with contrasting black and white images and an occasional splash of color makes an attractive modern looking design while also helping baby learn to focus.

Now imagine if you take a piece of solid white medium weight fabric, perhaps even a light denim, and put a geometric design on it. Such a modern and sophisticated look, yet so simple. To make a black and white design just choose your pattern then use your embroidery Machine to stitch it in black on your white fabric. Make sure you purchase well-recommended thread for this project as you want your black thread to stay black and your white fabric to stay white.

To add even more interest, consider adding color to just one of the pieces, or rotating the design using your embroidery machine’s flip and rotate features.

2.Spell it Out

Your embroidery machine probably came preloaded with patterns for an alphabet or two. If letters aren’t preinstalled, you can find alphabet patterns online for this project. Use the alphabet pattern of your choice to customize a message for your little one. Spell out the child’s name or a special message to be crafted into blocks or a quilt. To make your gift even sweeter, add a little, embroidered character on each square. You could add a heart, or a bunny, an airplane or even a cupcake. With your embroidery machine, you can create whatever your imagination dreams up.

3.Early Concepts Made Fun

There are soo many things to learn when you are just a little guy. But learning doesn’t have to be boring! With soft books, quilts, and blocks full of color and texture, toddlers can pick up important basic concepts with no effort at all. When one of my children loved a flashcard set that listed the names of the colors in Spanish. Another child enjoyed a set that included the names and images of all different things, each with a different color and texture. We had a giant soft block that had a different shape appliqued on each side, it lasted through several children and each one loved its texture and colors. You can use your embroidery Sewing Machine to create a custom set of squares that teach any concept you wish to your little one.

4.Customized Colors

Every new mom I know enjoys designing her baby’s nursery. One of the benefits of having a baby is that it means a new opportunity to decorate. But I’m sure that you’ve noticed when shopping for quilts and other baby items, the color choices are limited. Manufacturers have to try to please the most people possible so they have to stick with the most popular colors. But you don’t! You can create something special using any combination of colors, whether it’s the new mommy’s favorite shade or something you dreamed up all on your own. For toddlers, you can make them a very special gift in their favorite colors. Select your design from your embroidery machine’s included selections or purchase a design card filled with new ideas and then let your imagination create a one of a kind color experience for the child in your life.

5.Tell a Story

There are so many patterns to choose from for use with your embroidery machine. Select an image of a child or an animal and then create a story around that image. For small children simple is best so a single word on a page is just fine. You can use patterns of flowers, birds, a house, or toys to create a custom story for your child. You won’t even have to combine more than one pattern on a square for this project. Select the word for your story and place it on one square, then place the picture on another.

Make Something Fabulous

Now that you’ve had some time to think about it, I bet you have some fabulous ideas of your own. Be sure to let me know what fabulous creations you’ve made for the little ones in your life using your embroidery machine. I would love to hear your creativity success stories.

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