Sew your own merino winter wrap for baby

We cosied up to The Fabric Store and they showed us how to make this beautiful merino baby wrap for winter.

Merino is the winter fabric of choice for mums in Aotearoa, for good reason: it’s warm, breathable, hypoallergenic, flame resistant, moisture-wicking – and extremely soft! This merino wrap makes the perfect gift for a baby shower or to keep on hand for a snuggly throw in the pram or the bassinet. The Fabric Store’s premium ZQ merino comes in a palette of 20 on-trend colours, and is ethically sourced and sustainably made from 100% merino wool.

You will need

• Pins
• Fabric scissors
• Ballpoint machine needles
• A spool of thread to match your merino
• A sewing machine capable of a zigzag stitch
• 1 metre of premium merino jersey from The Fabric Store

Method

1. Pre-wash your fabric. Merino is machine washable (hooray!), just make sure you use a delicate cycle with a gentle wool detergent and dry the fabric flat and out of direct sunlight. (You can read more helpful tips on caring for your merino at wearethefabricstore.com/nz/blog/merino-wool-jersey).

2. After it has dried, cut your fabric to size. For newborn baby wraps, we suggest a 1m x 1m square. For cot blankets and other general-purpose blankets, just pick dimensions to suit your needs. Luckily our ZQ Premium Merino is 150cm wide, so there’s plenty of room to play with! We recommend using any offcuts for a test run on your machine – to check the tension and stitch before moving on to making your actual blanket.

3. Double fold two opposite sides of your blanket to 1.5cm. Press flat with a cool/warm iron and pin in place.

4. Zigzag down the inside edge of your folded edges with a 3mm-wide stitch, back tacking at the beginning and end. Depending on your machine, you may have to hand-wind on the corners to get a clean finish. (This is where your test run comes in handy!)

5. Double fold the remaining two sides, once again press flat with a cool/warm iron and pin in place. Zigzag down the inside edge of your folded edges, back tacking at the beginning and end.

Voilà! You are done!

• Feeling confident and want to sew more for baby? Check out other merino baby essentials you can make with just 1m of premium merino at ohbaby.co.nz/thefabricstore.
• Share your merino creations with us by tagging both @ohbabymagazine and @wearethefabricstore or using #thefabricstore.

PHOTOGRAPHER: The  fabric store