Handmade With Love
We’ve all been reminded at one point or another that “diapers ain’t cheap,” and I’m beginning to realize that nothing to do with raising babies is cheap. From clothes, to diapers and gear, it’s all really expensive… if you’re not smart about it. So as I make the budget each month, I have included a significant amount as the “baby budget” to make sure we aren’t hit with a huge amount of things to buy right before our daughter is born. I have a small addiction to online shopping, mostly because shopping around online means I have a chance to find the best values. I’ve been stocking up on cloth diapers and covers, $20 at a time, adding things to my online registries and hoping friends and family will come through on some of the things we will need at the baby shower next month.
These are the fabrics I chose to make some receiving blankets out of, as well as use the excess for quilt squares later.
In the mean time, I’m hand-making some of the things we will need for Arbor. Last weekend, I went to the Walmart fabric section and found some inexpensive flannel in baby prints so I could try my hand at making some receiving blankets. Unfortunately, I don’t have a sewing machine, so I have to literally hand-make anything I want to sew. This means it’s pretty time consuming, but yes, less expensive.
More importantly than being cheap, I find it is good time to reflect upon the life I am about to bring into this world. With every stitch, I envision my husband and daughter cuddled up on the couch under the blankets I made with love. With every pin I remove, I look forward to swaddling a newborn snugly inside of these simple pieces of hemmed fabric that are taking me hours upon hours to put together. It’s really a labor of love that I am enjoying quite sincerely. When I let myself slip back into the task at hand, rather than daydreaming of the future, I quickly move my mind to the next project: the family quilt. I have just enough edging that I clipped off to get my fabric into a 36″ square to make some good sized quilt squares with. Nevermind that I’ve never made a quilt before; I’ve been collecting fabric pieces for a family quilt since I found out we were expecting.
I absolutely adore the cute onsies I find online, and the convenience of picking up a complete outfit at the store, but nothing can replace the time, effort and care that goes into making things yourself. This tax season, I’m hoping my husband might invest in my hobby by buying me a sewing machine to make this a bit easier on me.
Do you hand-make anything for your little ones? Was there anything you particularly enjoyed? Was there something that simply wasn’t worth the effort?
