A tartan baby shawl

[bonnie heather]

My niece gave birth to a sweet baby boy last week. I want to make a baby gift for her and thought a shawl in the Wallace green tartan would be nice to wrap the baby in. Later on she could use the shawl for herself.
So... the question is.... would a woolen shawl be irritating to a newborn's skin? And do you think I should line it with cotton flannel? And, do you think fringe would be good or would it be annoying to the baby?

[Geoff Withnell]

I am answering from the vast experience of 4 children and 14 grandchildren. Some babies are bothered by wool, some are not. I would give him a scrap piece ans see how he responds. (I'm sure you have a scrap or two around!). Line it if you wish, but once even a little past the newborn stage, he's going to be all over both sides anyway. Don't know if the fringe is a good idea. It's going to end up in his mouth, and look pretty ragged fairly quickly.

[Father Bill]

Congratulations great-auntie! No fringe. Other than that, what a marvellous gift! If it's a wee mite rough for the wee mite, I'm sure Mom will pre-wrap him in something soft and then wrap the shawl around that.

[Chas]

I would vote for a lining, but a removable lining. Babies tend to be messy people and a removable lining could be quickly cleaned. Whereas pure wool will take a lot more time and care that a harassed mother might not have.

All in all a good idea and hopefully a family heirloom in the making.

[Barb T]

Our daughter just had a baby as well, and there's a tremendous amount of pooping, peeing, and barfing that I'd suppressed from my memory of our daughter's first few months....so.....get tartan that's machine washable!! ;-)

[The Wizard of BC]

One thing we offer at FK is a baby receiving blanket.
There is an outer part made from the family Tartan. This is usually wool.

On the inside is a removable Cotton flannel liner that is held in place with small plastic snaps. The liner can be easily removed, thrown in the washer, and put back into the Tartan.

We use our computerized embroidery machine to add the baby's name, date and time of birth, length and weight, etc. onto the Liner.

Here is one of our Baby Receiving Blankets.



Size is 56"X56".

[McMurdo]

I have little to add save my congratulations to both you Bonnie and Barb on the additions to your families.

[TheOfficialBren]

Congratulations on the family additions, Bonnie and Barb!
Happy day!