voile swaddlers

Did I ever show you the gorgeous Anna Maria Horner voile I got to make swaddling blankets and a maternity dress?

I never got around to making either during my pregnancy. However, I now have gorgeous fabric for a nursing dress or several summery blouses for next summer, and my mom made the swaddling blankets for me while she was here helping and waiting for our second little boy to be born.

(By the way, I really need to think of a great nickname for Baby #2. Baby #1 is Kidoodle, of course. We've been thinking of Kitt'n, but it really only works when Baby #3 comes along and we add Kaboodle to the list.)

This AMH voile comes in a wide 54 inches. I bought a yard of each of two prints, but if I'd gotten a yard and a half of each, I'd have had perfect squares. Oops! (Don't worry. This all works out in the end.) My mom sewed a rolled hem around the edges of the blankets, and they turned out lovely.

The voile doesn't stretch at all, which is tricky for a swaddling blanket, and it is smooth and rather slippery. However, this means I can slip the blanket out from under my baby without disturbing him, as when I am moving him from the nursing place to the napping place. This is where the rectangular shape saves the day. It turns out that the voile is working nicely for swaddling if I simply place Lamboodle in the middle of the rectangle (instead of folding the blanket into a triangle) and wrap each side tightly.

(Whaddaya think of Lamboodle? It's a minor modification of a friend's suggestion. It does go with Kidoodle nicely, eh?)

I love the light weight, the breathability, and the mama appeal of the blankets. They coordinate with my wardrobe, not Bamboozle's. (Bamboozle? Nah.) When all this baby wrapping is done, I'll certainly be reclaiming these as scarves for moi.