Here’s a whopping list of free patterns and tutorials for your favorite little one, perfect to give as gifts to welcome a newborn or if you’re a soon-to-be new mom–you’ll find lots of goodies here to fill the nursery. You’ll find nursing covers, slings and accessories. I’ll be adding to this list over time so you may want to bookmark this page for reference. Don’t miss the new section here on Tipnut, it’s loaded with more goodies (such as diaper bags, blankets, burp cloths & more): you’ll find it here.
Diaper Pocket: Gift-worthy design made with linen and cotton prints (lined with fleece) and features a fold-over cotton webbing tab with velcro closure.
Super Soft Playmat: Pretty cotton print for the top, backed with soft chenille. Rolls up and ties with straps for easy toting.
Simple Changing Pad: Rolls up and ties closed with ribbon straps, features pockets to hold supplies. Ideal for toting along on errands!
Binky Leash & Bag: Great little shower gift, here’s a drawstring pouch and matching leash to carry the soother.
DIY Car Seat Cover: Uses four different fabrics and can double as a blanket.
Clutch: A handy (and stylish!) little pouch to store a spare diaper or two and package of wipes.
Bathing Apron: Uses a towel and some ribbon, this makes a bath apron with a pocket to hold shampoo, a bath toy or whatever you like.
Crib Sheet: Step-by-step instructions for sewing a custom sheet for the crib.
Fabric Case: Features a foldover top flap with velcro closure. Free pattern pieces available to download (gif files).
Zipped Clutch: Repurpose a suit coat or use similar weight fabric for this boxy pouch.
No-Sew Binky Leash: Keep binky close by with this easy project made with ribbon, snaps and suspender clips.
Snuggly Bottle Warmer: Cute softie lion knit with DPNs, bottle is held inside the lion’s “mouth”.
Crib Skirt: Learn how to make a pleated skirt to perfectly fit a crib, sewn onto a piece of fabric to fit underneath mattress.
Washcloths: Quick & easy! Make luxurious homemade cloths with squares of flannel and chenille.
With Inner Pocket: Features an inner pocket at the corner, made with a yard of fabric, 16″ of boning, small piece of terry cloth (for other corner) and a set of d-rings.
Car Seat & Nursing Cover: Simple design that doubles as a car seat cover and a nursing cover, edges finished with bias binding.
Sling: Photo tutorial showing how to make a custom fit sling in about an hour.
Modern Shawl: Has a cute boat neck, covers your back and is made with a yard of knit fabric.
Here’s a nifty way to keep diapers organized while adding a pretty touch to the nursery, they make lovely homemade gifts too. Some know these as nappy stackers. They hang near the crib, change table or on a door knob to keep items tidy and within easy reach. They feature a front open pocket so they’re easy to get into and can hang with a clothes hanger (that’s tucked up inside), ribbons or attached ties.
Crocheted: Instructions are for the main bag body but there are reference links included if you’d like to embellish with the green trailing leaves and bright, cheery crocheted flowers.
Simple Design (pdf): Very detailed instructions, a piece of heavy cardboard is covered with a fabric sleeve and then placed inside at the bottom to help shape and stiffen it.
*First published April 13, 2007 and moved to this page for better organization
This recipe for homemade wipes comes from an old frugal email list. Makes two batches.
4 cups boiling water
4 TBS Johnson’s baby bath soap
4 TBS Johnson’s baby lotion
1 roll Bounty Paper Towels (cut in half)
2 airtight containers to fit paper towels
Directions:
- Mix together the liquids then pour half (approximately 2 cups) into each container. Place paper towel rolls in the liquid and seal containers. Wait 5 minutes then flip the containers over to evenly distribute the solution on the paper towels. Make sure to use containers that are airtight and can hold boiling hot water.
- Remove the cardboard tubes from the center of the rolls, then use the wipes by pulling the towel from the center.
Soap and lotion can be changed to whichever brand you prefer.
In the sunburn remedies post I mentioned a tip about boiling lettuce and using that water as treatment for relief. This same recipe (boiled lettuce water) is a home treatment for diaper rash that was passed on to me, but requires just a few lettuce leaves:
- Boil a few washed & cleaned dark green lettuce leaves in water (amount to cover leaves) and boil for about 5 minutes.
- Strain the leaves and pour the water into a sterilized container. Allow to cool then apply to the rash after each change.
- The skin should show signs of healing the next day.
I know some poor burning bottoms don’t seem to respond to various creams and lotions, try this to see if it helps.
This is such an awesome list!! I will be sewing for weeks now. Thank you , as always your blog is full of great usable info and I love it.
Holy moly!! What an amazing list. The cloth diaper patterns is something I have been searching for. Thank you!
Autumn Beck
Wow – thanks for this. It’s going to take a while to get through it all – I’ll get going!
This is the best site EVER!!!!!! Thank you!
I made these baby wipes today and they not only smell great but are super soft and moist. Thank you so much for posting this. I used an old wipes container that is cylinder shaped purchased extremely cheaply from HEB. It is the “HillCountry” brand wipes. The paper towels were soaked in a large mixing bowl then transferred to the wipes container and they fit beautifully! I can now even use the dispenser at the top of the wipes container to dispense the wipes as easily as the store bought versions. Thanks again for a great tip.
oh i wish you included bibs, i have been going through all my old clothes and have so much i can make from which also includes old blankets and so on…
but the homemade wipes.. AWESOME!
[bookmarked]
Don’t worry, I got you covered 😉 You’ll find lots of bibs on this page (click here). Have fun!
I so enjoy your website. I receive many newsletters from various sites, and yours is my favorite. I am looking for a recipe to cure diaper rash that uses flour. My Mother-in-law used to make it for all the babies when they were born. It worked better then any store bought ointment that I ever saw! I think that she browned the flour in an iron skillet, but I cannot remember. I thought that if anyone had this information, it would certainly be you!
Thanks so much. . . I look forward to Wednesdays, when I receive your newsletter!
Hi, how long can I keep the homemade wipes?
Hi, this is such a resourceful site! Though I wish you had a tutorial for making cot tidies. 🙁