Baby Gifts for First Time Mommies

Pretty but practical! It will probably need to be washed again and again and again!
Been a while since I had babies but out there in blogland are some lovely matching sets of nappy (diaper!!) bags and portable changing mats with burp cloths and receiving blankets. Oh and bibs. Personalised onesies? The list is endless but I would stick with the more practical, babies grow SO quickly it's such a shame when they grow out of something gorgeous.
You're limited with fabric options until you know the gender or go with something stylish for the mum! (she's the one who is going to have to lug it all around for the foreseeable future!!)

I ran out of time to make items for my friends baby shower and ended up buying all my gifts. I was intending on making these though:

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/cute-baby-wipe-container

They would work well in your gift baskets and you could make them match other items like Julie suggested.

Cot blankets are generally a good thing to make and easy to make unisex. If you know the colours/theme that the parents are using for the nursery you can always tie it in and match it match. You can also choose how you would like to make it too- crochet, patchwork etc.

@Libby Yeah I was kinda thinking about starting on a patchwork crochet blanket. I figured if I did 2 colors in a blanket I could start making the neutral patches now. Like I saw one that was made with only like 12 large squares and two colors, so one could be like cream/tan and then the other color could be pink/blue when I find out the gender in a few months.

Or I could just wait all together, and sew a quilt when I know what they are having. lol

@Julie- practical, good idea I've kinda been thinking about that, so I was kinda leaning towards making blanket as a main item, and making them throw sizes. so they could be used for quite awhile. Oh and burp cloths and matching bibs are a great idea I just wish I didn't have to wait all the way until April to find out the genders!

baby bootees? there are some on here that ive added to my faves for if/when i have kids.

If you're worried about baby gender, I think that purple and green are really good gender-neutral colors. Diaper bags are definitely useful. If you like sewing and you know what size the crib mattresses are, you could make 100% cotton crib sheets.

apparently yellow is also neutral. you could make plushie building blocks with letters or animals on them?

http://thinkliz.com/free-sewing-patterns/#baby

How about crocheting a little cocoon pod thing? i wish i'd seen these when i was pregnant as they're so cute!! there's patterns on ravelry:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#craft=crochet&page=1&view=captioned_thumbs&query=baby%20pod&sort=best

and they keep new borns all snug and warm!

You could sew little building block toys with different textures and things or make a quilt and bumper set for the cot (i know that'd be easy with your sewing skills!) or a cute little stacking toy like this:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pond-friends-stacking-toy

or a taggie blanket:
http://www.theribbonretreat.com/blog/how-to-make-a-tag-blanket.html

haha, i've gona a bit mad on ideas!

A girl i work with is having a baby soon so i should really get started on making something for her too!! think i may go for the taggie blanket

I'm making my friend, who is the last of us to have a baby (save for the gay ones!), a knit blanket because I noticed how much little ones love textured blankets and especially ones with holes for the little fingers.

When she finally gets a name figured out for sure I was thinking about making rings for each of us that have our babies names and birthdays, maybe a little birthstone set into them. It'll take a bit but I think it's totally worth it. And definitely cheaper than the first child's name tattoo that its seems like everyone gets after their babies are born.