Stamped Gauze/Muslin Snuggle Blankets

When the clever girl was born, I received a couple sets of "muslin baby blankets" that have since become treasured objects in our home.  We call them "snuggle blankets" and we always have at least 2 in her bed, one at school for naps, and one in the car.  Thus, there was no question that "Button" would need his own set of snuggle blankets.  No baby can be without!

Instead of purchasing them (they can be fairly expensive) I decided to make my own.  That's just how I roll, as you have probably figured out by now!  I read a tutorial that Dana of Made created, and got inspired.  I knew I wanted to make 8 blankets (that is the number the clever girl has), and I wanted to dye half of them.  The next consideration was decorating them.  Should I applique something onto them?  Hmmm...  Then I thought of using stamps and fabric paint.  Decision made.  That is what I would do.  I wouldn't say that stamping them is faster than applique - they both take some steps to complete, but I like how my stamped blankets turned out!



To make your own gauze/muslin blankets, you need about 1 1/4 yards of fabric per blanket.  I purchased my gauze material at Joanns.  I had read that this gauze was not as soft as some others, but I didn't feel like taking the chance of ordering online and thus not being able to feel it at all before purchase.  To be honest, it isn't as soft as the clever girl's blankets, but then her blankets have also been washed about a zillion times, so that could be a factor.

Anyway, with that gauze fabric, cut it into a square that is approximately 45-inches by 45-inches.  You need to finish the ends somehow.  This could mean that you carefully fold under 1/4 inch, press, fold under another 1/4 inch, press, and sew.  Or it could mean that you eyeball it and just turn the hem under two times and sew.  I realized that Ruby (my sewing machine) came with a rolled-hem foot, so I thought I'd give that a try.  Seriously, this foot is incredible.  You put the foot on the machine, roll the hem yourself a tiny bit at the beginning, and then the foot just picks up the material itself, rolls it into a tiny hem, and stitches it!  It is amazing.  Regardless, finish your blanket edges however you like (though I highly suggest using a rolled-hem foot!!)

Decision time - do you want to dye your fabric?  I did, so that is what I did next.  I had purchased a bunch of different colors of Rit Dye for this project, so I went a little dye crazy.  I did an internet search to determine the best way to achieve good color with Rit Dye, and did the following:

• Double the amount of dye per pound of dry fabric.  The suggested ratio is 1 lb of fabric (approx. 3 yds) per 1 package of Rit powder or 1/2 bottle of liquid, and 3 gallons of water.  I used 1 package of the powder or 1/2 bottle of liquid with around 1 1/2 to 2 gallons of water and more like 1/2 pound of fabric (or less).
• Use super hot water, at least 140F.  I heated water in my tea-kettle and in the microwave so it was as hot as I could get it.
• First dissolve the powder or liquid in 2 cups of hot water, then pour that mixture into the rest of the hot water. By the way, you want to dye the fabric in something that you will never again use for food.  I used a big bucket. 
• Get the fabric totally wet before putting it into the dye bath.
• Let the fabric sit in the dye bath for about 5 minutes, then add 1 cup of salt to the bath and mix well.  
• Stir frequently until desired color is achieved.  Again, use a big wooden spoon that you will never again use with food.  You'll also want some rubber gloves to wear.
• Set the dye with heat - I ironed each item while damp on med-high heat (with a towel between the item and the ironing board so you don't accidentally dye the ironing board).
• Rinse fabric with cold water.
• Wash about a zillion times with white fabric you don't care about until you notice that no more dye is coming out.  I used old washrags with my wash.

I dyed the baby blankets and some baby onesies and t-shirts at the same time.  If you are going to go through the process of dying fabric, you might as well throw in anything you want dyed at the same time and make the most use of it!

As you can see from the top photo, I dyed my fabric yellow, green, orange and blue.  

Next:  stamping.  I didn't have any actual stamps I wanted to use, and a quick look at Joanns and Michaels were not fruitful, so I made my own stamps.  Again, that is just how I do things.  If you want to make your own stamps, here is what you need:

• drawings or pictures of the design you want
• a sharp razor blade or Exacto type knife
• scissors
• craft glue
• craft foam - I tried the extra thick kind and found I preferred the thin kind better.  These are maybe $1.00 at a craft store and come in a 9x12-inch sheet or so.
• Some sort of firm block to mount the stamp.  I used 1/2 inch thick foam core board, which I purchased at Hobby Lobby.
• a firm ruler
• "fabric medium" paint
• acrylic paint
• foam brushes
• paint palette or lids from random plastic containers (like a cottage cheese or yogurt or margarine tub lid or something)

There are lots of ways to find a picture or design you want.  You can find a lot if you go into Google Images and search for whatever image you want in "coloring book" form.  For example - Giraffe Coloring Book.  This way you avoid the actual photographs and mostly end up with 1 dimensional, fairly simple looking objects.  The simpler the better, as you need to cut the shape out with a knife or sharp scissors.   Plus, you'll be painting them, so if there are too many tiny grooves it will be hard to keep the paint crisp.

Find the picture you want and size it however big you want.  Print it out and trace around it onto your craft foam.  Carefully cut it out of the craft foam using scissors or a knife, whichever works better for your details.  Determine the appropriate size of your backing block and cut that out using the firm ruler and the knife.  Now glue the design onto your block such that the design will stamp in the direction you want.  For example, if you are making a letter, make sure that the letter will stamp the right way.  Let the glue dry.

The fewer colors you use per stamp, the easier it is.  However as I went along, I got more and more ambitious!  This sailboat is one of the very last stamps I did.   However, this picture shows the home-made stamp, paint, palette, unused plastic lids, and foam brushes!  I found the foam brushes to be highly superior to the actual paint brushes, so if I did this project again I would purchase lots of the foam brushes and not use the paint brushes at all.  The paint brushes sometimes lose hairs in the paint (yuck) and create streaks.  No good.

You can use actual fabric paint, or use acrylic paint mixed 2:1 with fabric medium (or whatever ratio your fabric medium suggests).  If you are going to be mixing a color, just make sure you mix enough for your entire project!

Apply the paint to the stamp with the foam brush.  Try not to get it all over the stamp backing, just on the actual stamp part.

Press the stamp onto the blanket/fabric in whatever design you like.

When you are finished, carefully hang the fabric somewhere where it can dry.  The paint dries quickly, but you want it somewhere where it won't accidentally rub into something else!  I hung mine on a shower curtain.   I was able to hang 2 blankets at a time on the shower curtain, clipping the second one to the curtain at the bottom of the first.

Once it is dry, set the fabric paint by ironing it on the wrong side with a hot, dry iron for about 30 seconds per area.  Slowly move the iron so you don't scorch!  Again, check the fabric medium you used for their setting instructions.  I then put the blankets in the drier on high heat for two cycles of an hour each, just for extra assurance that it was set.  The last thing we want is for the baby to be chewing on the paint and it comes off!!  Yikes!

After the drier, I let it sit for a few days, then washed them all again in the washing machine on cold, and dried them in a hot dryer.  Up until this point, the painted areas were crispy, but after washing, they became soft just like the blanket.  Yippee!

 And there you have your own custom gauze/muslin snuggle blankets!

From left to right, I made:

• white with trees
• yellow with orange giraffes
• white with red, green, yellow and blue sailboats
• green with blue and orange fish
• white with red, yellow and blue A, B, C's
• orange with white, blue, yellow, red and green dots
• white with blue elephants
• blue with yellow stars and white moons

Now that these blankets have been washed many, many times, they are nice and soft and ready for the little Button!