Often I get asked which fabrics I like to use for baby clothes.  Since I seem to have a lot of experience with babies and making baby clothes, this is one area where I have some definite experience and recommendations.  

I love to use knit fabrics for baby clothes and gifts.  It’s soft, stretchy and there are no hard edges to poke or scratch that delicate skin.  Since there are so many different types of knit fabrics, there are some that I highly recommend.

First of all, I love to choose organic knit fabric whenever possible.  The more gentle treatment of the base material is definitely ideal for newborn baby skin that can be sensitive to even the tiniest traces of chemicals.

CaliFabrics usually has some selection of organic knit fabric, and for the baby items you see in this post, I used the Grey on Ivory Horizontal stripe Organic Cotton/Bamboo Jersey knit fabric.

It is everything you could hope for in a knit fabric for a baby!  I sewed up a swaddle blanket, two gowns, and a hat all from 2 yards of this fabric.  It is lightweight which is ideal for swaddling a baby as the weather grows warmer, but they still benefit from being swaddled.

This fabric has good stretch and recovery, so with a quick washing and drying, the original garment is in like new condition once again.  Plus, oh is is soft!!!  I think it’s the addition of bamboo in this fabric that makes is so super soft.

I like to make a small capsule wardrobe for my newborns (you can see all the items I sewed in my blog post on Skirt Fixation) and that means each item gets worn and laundered frequently.  In order to have this work, the fabric has to be really good quality, and resist piling and tearing or other mishaps.  With all the washing and drying these garments have been getting, I’m happy to say they have NOT pilled, torn, gotten holes, or anything else!

I’m including this picture because the grey fabric for this gown was leftover from the 1st baby capsule wardrobe I sewed 2 years ago!!!  This fabric is not an organic jersey, but a really nice thick double knit…another great fabric for babies.

And this is the big sister I was sewing for 2 years ago…she’s thrilled beyond measure about her new baby brother and loves to help get him dressed in his soft, organic, safe and comfortable baby clothes!

Finally, here is baby himself, modeling some of that organic fabric in his pants.  The sweater is also from CaliFabrics, a very soft French Terry.  This fabric is very cozy and good quality and, you guessed it, great for babies!

Leave me your thoughts, what fabrics do you like to use for baby clothes?