Homemade Baby Blocks

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"....Well, at least there are flurries in the air, Christmas music on pandora and presents to be made piling up by the sewing machine.
This is an exciting Christmas with two babies in the family. Ezra will be six months old and Henry will be three months old by Christmas. Both of the boys are already grabbing toys and ready to play. I am making some soft baby blocks for Ezra and Henry complete with their initials.
I can't wait to see the boys open their first Christmas presents!

Baby Block Directions:

Supplies: sewing machine, 6 - 3.5 inch squares of fabric, ribbon for handles and added design, thread, iron and Heat and Bond (for attaching letters or numbers to the blocks), poly stuffing, a small rattle or bell (optional)

Step 1: Gather supplies and pick out some fabric or use up old scraps - remember these are for babies, so use bright colors, bold contrast, stimulating designs, and interesting textures (i.e. fleece, felt, nylon, corduroy)

Step 2:  Cut 3.5 inch squares of fabric. Six squares for each block.

Step 3:  Embellish squares with ribbon or add letters/numbers with Heat and Bond if desired. If you would like to add small ribbon handles, sew a small loop of ribbon into the seam. Like below:

Step 4:  Pin the four sides of your block together (right sides facing each other) and sew using 1/4 inch seam allowance. I reinforced my seams a few times, to make sue they are secure. After you have sewn the four sides together, it should look like this:

Step 5: Cut 1/4 inch square notches out of the corners of your block's top and bottom fabric pieces. Like below:

Step 6: Pin the top of the block and then sew it in place. Repeat with the bottom of the block, but leave a two inch opening along one of the side seams (This is important. If you forget this you will not be able to turn your block right-side-out.) Like below:

Step 7: Turn the block right-side-out using the small hole. You may need to use a pencil to poke the corners out in order to make the block square. Like below:

Step 8: Fill the block with poly stuffing and place a bell or rattle inside the stuffing so that the block will make noise when played with. 

Step 9: Then finally sew up the small opening using a blind stitch. You are finished!