Baby Shower Crafternoons

I want to show you a couple of baby shower ideas this week.

Last year when I was pregnant with Thrifty Baby, I didn’t have a baby shower. They aren’t really my bag; in fact, the baby shower is one of the American imports I like least. We had a baby cake reveal party for close family instead: no presents, but a lot of fun.

If only I had met Emily sooner!

Emily and her business partner Sam are a craft powerhouse called Love Me Sew, with an online shop selling beautiful fabrics. Love Me Sew also holds crafternoons and craft workshops in and around Leeds – and recently, baby shower crafternoons have been taking off.

I would have loved a baby shower crafternoon. It’s very simple: you get together with your friends and family one afternoon and, with the help of the Love Me Sew ladies, create a quilt for the new baby.

Everyone stitches a square, with all levels of experience catered to. People come up with their own designs beforehand, and these are sketched out by Love Me Sew in advance. The fabric, sewing machines and all the crafty bits and pieces are provided on the day.

I understand that tea and scones are obligatory also. This crafternoon was a surprise for the mum-to-be. She ended up stitching the tree (above): with its felt trunk and different-coloured leaves, it symbolised the start of her own family tree.

Afterwards, all the squares are taken away and stitched together into a beautiful quilt like this one.

The names of the quilters are also featured, on a white square sewn onto the back of the quilt. After the baby is born, his or her name, weight and date of birth are also embroidered there.

Here is the very cute baby on her finished quilt. What a lovely gift!

Love Me Sew’s baby shower crafternoons start from £35 per person, for a minimum of six people, with materials included. It’s probably more than you would spend on a baby shower gift, but what a treat to be part of something so special and so lasting. Visit the Love Me Sew website for further information.

Thanks to Emily for permission to use these pictures. If you are as taken with baby shower crafternoons as I am, but live nowhere near Leeds, perhaps you could enlist the help of your craftiest friend or relative, and plan something similar?

[Love Me Sew]