Appease yourself with basic sewing + mitered corners

When you haven't been able to take part in the jacket sew-along you desperately wanted to be part of, have put your summer sewing off until next summer because you are now facing Autumn and Winter, you just need to do something simple that will let your machine know you still love it and give you a sense of satisfaction with a finished product.

The last time my machine was used I wasn't kind to it. It rebelled and now is in a broken state waiting for some tlc. I was...I'm gagging on the word...mending...more dry retching...my husband's shorts...a little bit of vomit in my mouth...in the crotch area. I need to make friends with my machine again.

When you need some simple sewing, baby sewing is your answer. Charlotte's teacher is going on maternity leave and Charlotte asked if *we* could make her baby a 'mozzy'. Mozzy is Charlotte's baby wrap that she now uses as her blankie (still five years later). Her cousin had a muslin wrap and called it Muzzy and Charlotte misheard it. Her wrap is actually made of cotton flannel and we'll be using 100% cotton flannel to make her teacher a baby wrap.

The reason I sew them is because it is really hard to buy a wrap big enough to actually wrap with as opposed to using it as a burp cloth or light pram blankie. The ones in the shops are usually 75cm x 75cm (28 in x 28 in) and you need at least 1m x 1m (approx. 1.1 yds x 1.1 yds). 100% cotton flannel is usually 110cm wide so I buy 110cm in length then hem it using mitered corners. The mitered corners give it a really neat finish. If you have fancy stitches on your machine (which I don't) you could do a decorative border in a contrasting colour. You could also get fancy and border it with satin, which I don't do either. Mine are usually just hemmed with straight stitch in a matching colour and I like to use a plain, bold fabric in something you don't usually see for babies, especially baby girls. Charlotte's is purple and Freya's is an orange/red. I have others but this is the one I *assume* will become Freya's Mozzy -- it is currently still a cosy wrap and handy as a light blanket for her crib.

If you want to learn how to miter corners this tutorial from Threads Magazine is very clear.