Tag Archives: applique

Bib and Onesie Bouquet

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To quote our toddler, “Wow! Wow! Wow!” My very dear friends Nicola and Victor just welcomed their first baby, and I was thrilled to meet her. I didn’t have a lot of time to pull together a gift, but I wanted something special, so I made this “bouquet ” out of onesies, bibs, and receiving blankets. I also brought some fruit and pastries from Whole Foods – goodness knows anyone eating hospital food will appreciate something fresh.

I know, I know, I had just sworn off appliqued onesies, but I had to give in just one more time, since I finally learned that the baby is a girl!  I had a few blank shirts left over from the DIY onesie party, so I quickly made some with a little girl in mind.  “Quickly” is the key word here, and our toddler was “helping,” so I apologize for the cupcake, which looks a tad squashed.  Hopefully, baby won’t mind.  Everyone will be too busy looking at her sweet face, anyway.

Sweet heart applique onesie. Jewels at Home.

Sweet heart applique onesie.

Simple flower applique onesie for a baby girl. Jewels at Home.

Simple flower applique onesie for a baby girl. The center is fleece from another project I’ll post soon!

Cupcake applique onesie. Jewels at Home.

Cupcake applique onesie. A bit lopsided, oops!

Looking for beautiful onesies for your own bouquet? I have seen the most beautiful prints with big discounts on Zulily:

Materials for the “bouquet”

  • onesies (above)
  • bibs
  • receiving blankets
  • popsicle sticks
  • elastic bands
  • ribbon

The technique for rolling the “flowers” is similar for the bibs, onesies, and blankets.

  • Start by folding the bib or onesie in half.  For the receiving blankets, fold into a small rectangle. (top picture below)
  • For the bibs and onesies, I placed a popsicle stick in the center to make a “stem,” so the flower could be held in a bouquet.  The blanket made a a big enough roll  on its own.  (middle picture below)
  • Make a tight roll, with the center sticking out slightly more than the edges.  For the bib, it’s easiest to start with the strap, and for the onesies, it’s easiest to start with the neck, so that the center is not too bulky. (bottom picture below)
  • Put an elastic band around each flower, to hold it tight.
Rolling bibs, onesies, and receiving blankets to make flowers for a bouquet. Jewels at Home.

Rolling bibs, onesies, and receiving blankets to make flowers for a bouquet.

To wrap the bouquet

  • Fold two receiving blankets into triangles, and laid them out with the edge of the top one slightly higher than the other.  (top picture below)
  • Make a pocket with the top blanket and lay the flowers inside.  (bottom picture below)
  • Roll the blankets around the flowers, and tie with a ribbon.
Wrapping bibs, onesies, and receiving blankets into a bouquet. Jewels at Home.

Wrapping bibs, onesies, and receiving blankets into a bouquet.

Here are some pictures of the finished bouquet.  I think I could have fussed with it to make it a little neater, but I’m pretty happy with the overall result.

Tutorial: DIY bouquet of onesies, bibs, and receiving blankets. Jewels at Home.

DIY bouquet of onesies, bibs, and receiving blankets.

Tutorial: DIY bouquet of onesies, bibs, and receiving blankets. Jewels at Home.

DIY bouquet of onesies, bibs, and receiving blankets. It looks good next to this random bush outside the hospital. I’ll add some leaves next time.

And most beautiful of all, here’s the tiny recipient of this big bouquet!

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Welcome, little one!  I look forward to watching you grow and sharing many “mommy moments” with Nicola.

“Jewels”

3-D Balloon Applique

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My craft projects tend to come in waves. I find a great idea and love creating variations on it. At the moment, this idea is fabric appliques for kids’ clothes. I made tie t-shirts for the boys, co-hosted a onesie decorating party for my friend Nicola, and most recently, I decorated this cute hoodie sweatshirt for our neighbor across the street, who is turning 3!

3-D balloon applique by Jewels at Home.

3-D balloon applique on a sweatshirt.

Here’s what you’ll need

  • sweatshirt or t-shirt
  • fabric
  • iron-on applique material, such as Heat ‘n Bond
  • batting
  • ribbon

Here’s how to make your own puffy applique:

Draw your shape in two sizes – one the size of the finished piece and one about 1/4″ smaller all around, as shown below.

3-D applique tutorial from Jewels at Home.

Following the instructions detailed for the  tie t-shirts and onesie decorating party, create a large shape with the fusible applique material on the back and cut the small shape out of batting.  The batting will flatten out when you iron it down, so use enough to make it a little thicker than you want your finished shape.

3-D applique tutorial from Jewels at Home.

Place your applique on the shirt, first the batting and then the fabric centered on top.  I also tucked some ribbon under the fabric, to make the string for the balloon.

3-D applique tutorial from Jewels at Home.

Place the batting on your shirt, and layer the fabric on top.

Iron and sew your applique in place according to the instructions for the  tie t-shirts and onesie decorating party.  I also sewed down the ribbons and tied a bow, which I also sewed in the center.   I left the loops of the bow and the bottom of the ribbons free.  My balloons didn’t turn out as puffy as I had envisioned, since they got flattened when they were ironed down, so I would use thicker batting next time.

3-D balloon applique by Jewels at Home

3-D balloon applique

3-D balloon applique by Jewels at Home

I’ve got a few more applique projects to finish up, and then I need to move on to something else!

“Jewels”