Baby shower gifts

My dear friend Heather's baby shower was Saturday afternoon, and I had been trying to figure out what to make for her. I knew it would be *something* handmade, but hadn't decided on what - a blanket? Bibs? Burpcloths? Too many decisions! Finally, it dawned on me - a nursing cover-up!! (And some matching burp cloths...you can NEVER have too many burp cloths, right?!)

I found a great tutorial here, which I mostly followed. I do recommend making the boning a bit longer...I made mine 14" rather than 12", but that's just personal preference. I also recommend using 1.25" D-rings, rather than the 1-inch - I used the 1-inch, because that's what I had on hand, and that's what was called for, but I think they were just a little bit too small.

I used some Amy Butler fabric I'd been holding in my stash - I *love* pink and orange together - they are just so bright and cheery - such happy colors together! A great feature to this cover-up is that both bottom corners have a triangle pocket made of flannel. The flannel can be used to wipe baby's mouth when she's finished nursing, and the pocket can be used to stash nursing pads, pacifiers...whatever!

For the burp cloths, I just turned under the edges of a strip of fabric, and stitched it down the center of a pre-folded cloth diaper. (I do pre-wash and dry the cloth diapers before doing this, because they do shrink up quite a bit on their first wash, and otherwise they would end up quite puckered.) This is an easy way to transform a plain cloth diaper into a stylish burp cloth!

I added some nursing pads, Lansinoh cream, milk bags, and Mother's Milk tea, for a complete breastfeeding-themed gift. (Heather's quite the lactivist like me!) I hope she enjoys the gifts, and I can't wait to meet sweet baby girl Macy in a couple months!!