Thursday 15 January 2015

6 Steps to create the perfect baby clothes quilt

I have had so much interest in my baby clothes quilts I thought I'd put together a brief guide on how to make one for yourself. This will show you how to make a baby clothes quilt with a squares design.

Step 1 - Cut your baby clothes in 6 1/2 inch squares and interface to stabilise


The first step is to get your baby clothes and lay them out to find the most interesting pieces. I use my 6 1/2 inch ruler and rotating cutting mat to find my favourite feature and cut out my square. I look for writing, embellishments, ruffles etc. anything that will create interest in the finished quilt. I then cut 6 1/2 inch squares from light weight fusible interfacing and per the manufacturers instructions fuse to the back of each square. This helps stabilise the fabric when you join them together. I choose light weight as I want my finished quilt to still feel soft and snuggly.

Step 2 - Layout your squares into rows in a pleasing design


I use my design wall or floor and layout my clothes into rows to balance out the colours in the quilt. Don't worry there are so many different fabrics and colours in the quilt it is meant to look scrappy I just make sure that all my pinks (for example) are not on one side or in one corner.

Step 3 - Sew your squares in rows with your sashing

 
For my quilts I chose a sashing width of 1 1/2 inches but chose whatever width you feel comfortable with. Be careful when sewing not to pull the fabrics to much and use lots of pins to avoid stretching and warping. 
 

Step 4 - Sew your rows together with your sashing to form the quilt top
 

Similar to the above be careful and take your time sewing on the sashing strips and pin, pin, pin. The interfacing does help stabilise the fabrics, especially those stretchy ones but as it is lightweight only they is still quite a bit of stretch.

Step 5 - Add your borders


For this quilt I used a boarder cut at 7 1/2 inches wide to frame the quilt. The customer had requested purple sashing so I needed a print to tie the pinks in the clothes and the purple sashing together.

Step 6 - Quilt as desired and add your binding to complete



Till next time.....happy sewing....

xxx Jenny



4 comments

  1. Your tip to use interfacing is really helpful; if I ever make a clothing quilt I'll try to remember to do that!

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  2. This is a great memory quilt! Now you've given me one more project I want to do! I found your post at WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

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  3. I wish I had kept our baby clothes - this is a great idea!

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  4. This is such an amazing site! I really enjoyed reading the content. Thanks!

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