Babydoll Bedding DIY

July 22, 2017

My girls love their dolls. For Christmas I was lucky enough to pick up these cute little beds at a K-Mart store closing. I knew when I picked them off the shelf that I wanted to personalize them and I love how they turned out. The girls also love that they have their names on them. Little H's bed is a little crooked, but it was literally my very first project with my Silhouette, so I try and cut myself some slack.

During our trip to California we had a day when we visited the American Girl store. After we left, the girls were into their dolls even more. Since I had had a 3.5 week crafting hiatus I knew I needed to do something as soon as possible to get my crafting itch scratched. I finally, 7 months after Christmas, decided to make bedding for the girls' beds.

First I searched through my remnant pile to see if anything would do. There were lots of options, but then I had a light bulb! You know the diaper organizers that come with baby bedding sets? The kind that hang on the end of a changing table or in a closet. Well ours has been completely useless, so I decided to put it to use as a baby blanket. I loved that I actually found a purpose for this piece and most importantly that Little H will now have a baby blanket, she can keep, and that will match her own bedding. I love that this can now be a sentimental keepsake, if she turns out to be an old sap like her mom.

For the backing of the blanket I used an old changing pad cover. I used just plain white covers and they are all very soft material. Perfect for a sweet little baby doll blanket.

Here is how I put it together...

First I cut the elastic off the diaper pad cover. Flipping it inside out helped me stay close to the seam, salvaging as much of the material as possible.

Once it was a flat piece I was able to cut it to the dimensions I needed.

Then, I cut the top off the diaper organizer thingy. I also cut out the square bottom.

I loved that there was a cute detail along the opening and I wanted to use that for the blanket. I turned the fabric over and cut inside to get as much of the blue detail as possible.

Once the diaper thingy was all flat I then was able to cut it to size as well.

I then pinned the soft white fabric and the print, pretty sides touching, to each other. I used my handy-dandy sewing machine and got to work. I made sure to leave a small opening so that I could pull the blanket through to be pretty sides out. I then folded that opening together and just did a straight stitch to close it up.

Pinning both pieces of fabric together

Leave a small hole to pull the blanket through

Fold fabric in and sew together

I am NO seamstress, by any means. NOT AT ALL! I got my sewing machine about a year ago and I've only used it a handful of times. I grew up sewing with my grandmother and I love those memories, so I knew I wanted to someday start it again. I know people always say this, but practice really does make perfect!! After I completed this blanket I made another blanket, a "mattress", and 4 pillows. With each project I got better and better.

I love that I didn't have to buy a single thing. (I already had some polyfil in my garage to fill the pillows) I also love that the pieces are remnants of other things the girls have had. The hope, when making something like this, is that your children will love it forever and pass it down to their children. These certainly aren't heirloom quality, but for now they love them and that's all that really matters!