Today I want to share one of my favorite patterns with you and explain how to use it. It’s a newer concept that I came up with & sometimes quilters have troubles knowing what to do with it. I’m talking about my Grow With Me sewing pattern, of course! If you’re not familiar with this pattern, let me explain, I bet you’ll love it once you understand it:
This fitted sheet is pretty terrific—
it’s got two lives and here’s the specifics:
It starts out as a “crib sheet,” fitted and snug!
But what’s this? Baby’s grown, and needs a blankie to hug.
For blankie’s second round,
all this quilt needs is to be trimmed and then bound.
Now you’ve got it—two lives in one:
from sweet baby’s bed sheet to a quilt—oh what fun!
Young mothers from my generation love handmade things like quilts, blankets, and baby toys. Handmade gifts are getting to be really popular at baby showers, because, who wants to shop off the registry?! The problem is that we get pretty things, but not functional things. We then find ourselves with piles of clothes and blankets sitting in the closet never to be used. Doctors strictly warn against having loose blankets and quilts in the crib with baby. So unless your quilt is a good size for laying on the floor (all of my baby quilt patterns are the perfect size for tummy time, by the way!) for tummy time they likely won’t be used. And, as my Mom always said, “Quilts are made to be used!”
From Crib to Quilt
So…I came up with the Grow With Me fitted crib quilt pattern! You can read all about how I came up with this idea on the pattern release page here. Long story short; I couldn’t bear the thought of my baby not having a quilt to snuggle with safely, so I came up with a safe solution for her to have in her crib. It’s a quilt, but my pattern shows you how to make it into a fitted quilt so that there are no lose corners. The great thing about Grow With Me is that once baby outgrows her crib, it can easily be cut down into a quilt for her to snuggle with, drag around, and love! All of these instructions are included in the pattern, but I want to show you how easy it is to from fitted quilt to a baby quilt.
First, Lay your crib quilt on a flat surface on top of a cutting mat (the bigger the mat, the better). Sometimes it’s easier to do this on the corner of a table (as shown below) or to snip your elastic and pull it out before starting!
Draw a line using a long ruler from from corner to corner. Repeat this on all sides.
Using a rotary cutter carefully cut on the line that you’ve drawn, be careful to make sure that your lines say straight!
Since it’s already quilted, once your rectangle is cut out it’s time to bind!
If you’re familiar with binding a regular quilt then you will just do as you usually would! If you need help or need to learn how to bind, I’ve got some really helpful tutorials below—you’ll be on your way in no time!
How to use the Fons and Porter Binding Tool
I LOVE this pattern!! The idea is just genius! As a mom of two little ones there is just nothing like receiving a thoughtful, handmade, unique & USEFUL gift! So so great.
Thanks so much Sara! I’m glad you love it as much as I do 🙂
Happy sewing!