New project--receiving blankets!

Okay, we have a problem.  Apparently, commercial receiving blankets are too small to wrap an eight-pound baby in.  My brother and SIL failed with Gracie and are having no joy with Nikki.  Only by now, both know to ask me!  The thing is, Nikki is a spring and summer baby.  So was Gracie.  Which means that minky and fleece are too heavy for use until it gets cold sometime in October or November.  (We have Indian Summer most years here in Georgia.  And most flannel is out, too, because it's single-sided.  While I can double up, it takes more fabric than necessary and can bunch funny after washing.  Regular cottons are out, too.  They aren't soft enough or warm enough.  Knit, well, some of the same problems apply.  So for a receiving blanket, I needed a fabric that was soft and warm, but not too warm.  My mother suggested what she calls "diaper flannel" but all that got me was PUL.  You know, the plastic backed flannel that they're using for cloth diapers and reusable menstrual pads these days.




I thought about it, and came up with double napped flannel.  It's been brushed on both sides, so both are soft, it was fairly easy to find, and it was under $5 a yard.  So, next, I turn it into blankets.  I bought 2 yards each of 4 colors from Fabric.com.  Maybe it was a little overkill, but given the choice between $7 shipping, and $7 fabric, I take the fabric every time!  Now one large receiving blanket takes one yard.  (We measured the hospital's blankets.)  So the first thing I did was cut the yardage in half.  Then I cut off the selvage edges and rounded off the corners for ease.  Tomorrow, I'm calling a friend of mine who has a serger.  Then I'll serge the edges and voila!  Quick and easy blankets.

Honestly, you could overcast the edges.  But my sewing machine said "you want me to do WHAT?" when I tried, so since I'm not patient at the moment, I'll just call Rae and borrow her serger for an hour.  I figure that $40 for eight large baby blankets isn't half bad!  By this time tomorrow, Nikki will be the owner of two yellow blankets, two pink blankets, two purple blankets, and two turquoise blankets.  All warm, all soft, and all easy to make.