Thanks to my mom, who put me in sewing camp when I was a kid (for real), I know a little bit about patterns, pleats and patchwork. While sewing doesn't evoke some kind of longing for the carefree days of my youth, I do get pretty sentimental over making something sweet for my babies. And I find the easiest thing to sew, even for the craft-challenged, is a baby blanket.
Related: The company that takes personalized baby blankets to a whole new level.
Check out these adorable DIY baby blanket kits from Itty Bitty Handmade. These beautiful quilt kits make it so easy (promise, I tried it myself!) to handcraft a keepsake for your baby, or a special gift for someone else's. Plus I love that each kit donates $2 to Quilts for Kids, a non-profit organization that gifts handmade patchwork quilts to children with life-threatening illnesses and children of abuse. Each kit comes complete with everything you'll need except the sewing machine. The instructions are a cinch, and everything's pre-cut to the right size, so you don't have to make a mess with fabric scraps -- or risk ruining your project because you can't cut a straight line to save your life. Which is most of us, I'd imagine. From start to finish the project will likely take you just a couple of hours. Their instructions say 4-6 hours; though it took me about 2 (plus the 8 hours you have to wait for the glue to dry). The baby naps, and the blanket is made! I especially love that Itty Bitty Handmade includes a personalized tag, so your child knows you made it just for them.Now this kit is definitely not for everyone. As one of our editors, Christina, said, "It's $80, and I have to make it myself!?" If your happy place isn't found in the pages of a Martha Stewart magazine or the aisles of a yarn store, skip this one. But if you enjoy sewing, especially when all the annoying detail work is done for you, you might heart Itty Bitty Handmade as much as I do.
You can find 10 different DIY baby blanket kits at Itty Bitty Handmade's website, plus video tutorials and tips for making your quilt.
