Are you expecting a newborn or would like to surprise your expectant family member or friend with neatly fitting clothes but want to go the DIY way?
There are many DIY baby clothing ideas in the market today and these can help you not only save money but also come up with something unique.
But how to make baby clothes for your cute newborn? Let’s go through some simple guidelines below to help you get started.
Should I DIY My Own Homemade Baby Clothing For My Child?
Sewing newborn baby clothes is quickly becoming a trend as more people opt to take this easy and inexpensive route for their own babies or baby shower gifts.
The truth of the matter is that such clothes are unique and special as they are not hard-to-fit. You can comfortably sew your desired homemade baby clothing with a little guidance as long as you have your own sewing machine and other essential materials.
Sewing baby clothes can help save you from the tedious task of buying new clothes especially with the imperfect fit and changing baby sizes, which happen within a matter of weeks. So if you don’t mind the work, time and effort involved, DIY baby clothing is actually rewarding.
How To Make baby clothes For My Newborn? Tools and Materials
Essentials for sewing newborn baby clothes
The first step towards sewing newborn baby clothes or any other clothes is to have a sewing machine. There are several sewing machines in the market that could help make your work easier and give you perfect results as they are easy to use for DIY projects.
While it’s possible to sew different cloth patterns by hand, the process could take longer and still not give you the perfect results.
As such, a sewing machine is an essential. Bernina sewing machine is one of the easiest to use for this purpose as it provides for simple stitching, overlock stitches and embroidery among others.
The second thing you’ll need is the material for use in making the baby clothes. When choosing the material, always consider the baby clothes colors and the newborn dress patterns.
This will help make your work easy and unique depending on the gender of the baby and any themes you may want to maintain. You can get the materials from your local stores or online. Other essentials you need include the thread/s, a pair of scissors, tape measure, seam rippers and parchment paper among others.
Choosing the best baby cloth patterns
With the sewing machine, fabric and other accessories in place, the next step is to choose the cloth patterns for the newborn.
There are thousands of free newborn baby cloth patterns online and you could make use of these. What you want should however dictate the patterns you choose. The patterns range from shirts to pants, dresses to onesies and hats among others. Pick the pattern that you need to help you get started.
How Long Would It Take To Sew Newborn Baby Clothes?
The amount of time you need to sew your baby clothes will largely depend on several factors. First, your experience will play an important role and if it’s your first time, completing one piece of cloth could take you longer compared to someone with a little bit of experience.
As a beginner, always start with the easier patterns and advance to the more complicated ones with time. Shirts, tops and sack dresses are easier to start with before going for the more complicated do-it-yourself baby onesies and pants.
Steps for perfect DIY baby clothing sewing results
It’s advisable to start by trimming your baby shirt pattern and design on parchment paper and sew a dummy in order to get everything right. Parchment papers are transparent which makes it a bit easy for you to trace and transfer your pattern markings onto the fabric.
It’s also good to note that any other papers can be used for this purpose based on your budget and availability. The paper allows you to make any necessary adjustments to your pattern before transferring the same measurements to the actual fabric. That way, you minimize the losses incurred in case you get it wrong at the initial stages.
Once you have designed your pattern and transferred it onto the fabric, cut precisely but make sure to establish the grain-line. This helps you establish the perfect fold line based on the correct fabric grain. Once you have the different pieces cut properly, the next step is to sew them together.
Always make sure to cut the fabric with the patterns in mind especially if they have a direction. You don’t want, for example, to have some flowers looking up while others are facing down or sideways.
Stitch the patterns together according to the directional designs
By now your sewing machine should be set up and ready to roar. Sew the different pieces together using the appropriate thread colors. Also make sure that your fabric pieces are aligned properly before you start with the stitching process. The ideal stitch width and length should also be selected depending on the material you’re using.
It’ll be good to test your stitches before you can start working on the actual fabric. This can be done on a scrap fabric and include the tensions you wish to see for the seams.
There are different types of stitches you can use including blind stitch or ladder stitch, back stitch and zigzag among others. Familiarizing yourself with these could help greatly.
Happy Making Your Homemade Baby Clothing!
While we may want to offer every single detail on how to sew your newborn baby clothes, space and time may fail us. However, with the above general guidelines, we hope you can get started and come up with a unique piece that’ll look lovely on the baby.
Always make sure to align the fabric pieces perfectly and remove any folds and wrinkles for a perfect finish.
Do you have experience making baby clothes? Share with us your thoughts and tips in the comments!
Also, check out these articles for further reading:
20 Must-Have Baby Clothes for Winter to Keep Your Baby Warm & Fuzzy
20 Simple Life Hacks on How to Organize Baby Clothes
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