Growth tucks as originally intended

Back when she was tiny, I made the kidlet (now 2!) Chery Williams' Baby Square Yoke dress in a 6 month size.  My first dress on my mother's Bernina that she kindly gave me, with sweet decorative stitches on the collar and lots of exciting work with the edgestitch and rolled hem feet.  My first attempt at heirloom sewing.

(Photo from last July - ignore the mess!)

It was quite big (though she wore it much of her second spring and summer, just after turning 1), and very long (especially for a crawler), so I put in a big tuck that made the dress look even cuter.

Going through clothes to put away as too small, I found this one still fits, so out came the seam ripper, out comes three inches of growth tuck, and my kidlet's wearing a size 6 month dress comfortably into her second year!

(Now where'd I put that iron?)

Simple skirt tutorial

Greetings!  Recently I was rushing to make some skirts for the kidlet and her "twin cousin" (born eight hours later), during the last naptime before going to visit them.  It struck me that I could make a skirt the same way a pillowcase can be made, so I took a few photos to share the process:

Step 1 (not pictured) - get some fabric (remnants work for a toddler skirt - width of fabric x the length you want the skirt); get some knit for the waistband (about six inches wide x the circumference of the baby's belly when not really stretched (this leaves room for a seam as well as some growing)).

Step 2: take up a few pleats in the skirt to make it as wide as the waistband fabric when the waistband is stretched out.  Pin them and then tack across the top on your regular sewing machine.



Step 3: oddly, no clear picture of the pinning - likely because it was a bear to do - but it's the same method shown for the basic sausage pillowcase here - roll up the skirt, pinning the waistband around the skirt-sausage; to be safe, I recommend pinning the skirt down away from the edge of the waistband, as shown here.  Then serge along the seam:

 

 Step 4: remove pins and tug the skirt out of the waistband, turning it right-side out.

Step 5: ta-da!  A very wrinkled skirt!  Serge up the back seam and finish the hem.

Step 6: I used a rolled hem, added rick-rack, and added lace.  (On one of the two I serged the seam first, on the other I added the trim first.  Personal preference.)

Hooray, a very very fast (except for nasty pinning) stretch-waisted skirt!

(Sorry, no ironing - had to get it into the suitcase!

Wooden sorting toys

Made these toys yesterday, following the idea at Verdant Bents here.

Drying out

Six little men, six little cups, a six-color non-toxic paint pot set.

Of course accompanied by my (now rather beat up) canteen.

The kidlet immediately knew what to do with them, sorted them by color nicely.  She's not big enough to play with them unaccompanied (small men and toddler mouths...), but this was easy and fun!

A note on heirloom dress sizes

Baby clothes sizes are unpredictable.  Simplicity patterns for babies are sized by weight, which seems pretty accurate.  My monkey's at the smaller end of things, so in the "month" sizes of basic storebought clothes (Gap, Carter's, etc.) she's generally one size back (seventeen months now, and mostly wearing 12mo sizes, though she's starting to be too tall for the footed ones).

In Indian clothes, she's right on the mark.  Our lovely pediatrician, of Vietnamese heritage, understands genetic differences and didn't say a thing when the baby showed up at the 5th percentile for weight - when her "twin cousin" (eight hours younger, also "windy") was called underweight at over a pound heavier by a doctor unfamiliar with the concept of naturally-skinny Asian babies.  And the beautifully-fitted off-the-rack clothes we get from India bear that out (in beautiful silks and soft cottons I can't buy here... and so poorly sewn!).

The clothes from Creations by Michié must also run skinny (and looking at how nicely they fit on her non-chubby granddaughter, that may well be the case).  Because I made the Sailor Dress #106 in the 18 months size and it's a perfect fit:

Sailor Dress upside-down

Sailor Dress backwards and flipped up

Sailor Dress in motion

Well, you can't really tell, because she's reached the stage of constant motion.  

The fagoting on the collar was a challenge (never done embroidery or much free handwork), but it really makes the dress.  

I have another cut out, same size, in a lovely blue plaid.  I like her patterns - easy to make (for heirloom), very clear instructions, and an excellent finished product.  Of the three I've tried (Chery Williams, Creations by Michié, and Ginger Snaps), I like these the best.

This dress, however, Chery Williams' baby square yoke, in the six month size, still fits just fine at seventeen months.  Heirloom patterns in general run large, I've heard (perhaps so slow seamstresses don't find the kid's outgrown it before it's finished, or so it can be worn longer - I do like the four inch hems - the extra tuck I added in this dress still hasn't been taken out), so Michie may be the exception.

(And it's also a lovely pattern that I'll use several times - and already have used three times - but it's perhaps *too* well made - a fabulous lined bodice isn't necessary in Houston's heat!  I'll just finish my seams and call it a day with only one layer of thin cotton!)

Chew guard

The baby turned into a badger and started chewing on her crib when she got teeth. It's a mini crib, and the rail in question is thick and round, so the plastic protector things wouldn't work.  On a friend's suggestion, I simply took a length of fleece, about eight inches wide (from my mother's sewing room trash can, actually - left over from making a sleep sack for my upcoming Boston nephew), snipped it all along, and tied it around the rail. Cute!

(And yes, that is a sleeping baby in the photo - took a big risk snapping that picture!)

Young Gadabout Baby Set

I finally took some better pictures of the Young Gadabout Baby Set. 

I made the hat as well, which I didn't see in other people's project photos.  It's hilarious, pointy, and the baby doesn't try to take it off (she normally hates hats, but this one doesn't bother her).

Doesn't keep her from exploring, though.

Or posing.

On Ravelry here.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day - pacifier/toy holder

It's time for the giveaway day!

In addition to the knitting books, I'm also giving away a pacifier/toy clip like the ones in my store:

It can be used to hold various kinds of pacifiers, including the Soothie type, and toys with a thin area to put the elastic loop around.

I've been disturbed to see people selling ones they describe as having a 24" strap - that's not safe.  There's a reason you'll never see a commercially-produced one like that.  Mine have roughly 6-8" straps, that cannot wrap around a child's neck!

The one I didn't get to photograph with the rest is pink and white polka dots with a pink clip and a white loop:

(colors brighter in real life - camera's out of commission, so have to rely on telephone!)

Giveaway open through Friday, I'll do a random drawing Saturday morning, and I'll ship anywhere (shipping time may take longer overseas, as I can't use the automated machine).

If you're interested, leave a comment telling me who it would be for!

When I'm not making pacifier clips, I make monkey hats:

Sweet baby dresses (and a sweet baby):

Traditional quilts:

Historical costumes (worn at Dickens on the Strand last week):

And all sorts of other things - I have a making compulsion :)

Happy giveaway week :)

Anyone need to hold something?

For a while, the only pacifier clips I saw were designed only for the pacifiers with handles, and the baby likes the Soothie ones.  I've since found out that they make ones that are Soothie compatible, but first I made these:

(Nearly) Universal Pacifier/toy Clips

(Nearly because we've found one pacifier with no holes or any other way to attach it, but that's the exception.)

Mine have a stronger clip, I've found, than your typical store-bought variety.  I used Goody hair elastics for the loop and clips from this Etsy supplier, as they're cuter than the old-man suspender clips!

And you're not limited to pacifiers, either:

Pink with a teething ring attached

Apples with a Soothie attached

Black and white with a standard pacifier

Gears with a German triangle toy attached

Yellow plaid with a Go Ball

Apples with a standard pacifier

They've been remarkably useful (not pictured: two quite grubby ones we've used non-stop), often with a pacifier on one and a toy on the other, clipped to her sleeves or the baby carrier.

(All of the above available in my shop)

Itty Bitty Baby Dresses

I made the baby several of the Itty Bitty Baby Dress from Made By Rae.  It takes two fat quarters to make a dress in the small-baby size.  They're all now too small, so I took some photos before putting them away. 

This one was my favorite - my father-in-law actually suggested the tiny pocket.  (He missed his calling in life, as a party planner and fashion designer.)  The first time she wore this, instead of just a little white shirt, and I swaddled her for sleeping...when I unwrapped her when she woke up, I was overcome by how adorable she was.  What a cute little baby!

I added extra bias binding from an old project - had exactly enough (it's actually red, not orange).  The top is quilting cotton; the skirt is a bit of black linen; and the button is a little cherry.


I like it when mothers and babies dress alike, but I haven't got the drive to make clothes for myself now that I have someone small and cute to sew for.  So, I went to my closet and found dresses I'd made myself in the past, and I'm making her ones to match.  This one actually is roughly the same style as the one I made myself, down to the shoulder ties (because the Monique dress was a bit short in the shoulders, so I had to add a bit on contrast, and made ties while I was at it).  I made the piping myself, as well.  We got so many cute comments when we wore our dresses!

This was the husband's favorite.  It was a bit larger than the others, so she wore it over a long-sleeved baby shirt at first, and it lasted the longest.  Two fat quarters and pre-made piping and bias tape.  I found it most successful if I sewed the piping to the top before doing the side seams in the skirt (unlike the instructions), for then it would be caught in the seam and stay flat.  If I wanted (I sometimes did), I could catch the lining of the bodice by hand, keeping the skirt gathers hidden on the inside.

I made two others that I don't seem to have photographed - one in blue (top) and red (skirt) bandana fabric, and one in purple stripe (top) and solid (skirt) quilting cotton.

Might have to make them again next spring a bit larger, although it'll take more than a fat quarter now.

Pajamas

Older pattern - man, am I glad the government came to their senses and changed that rule! I like making clothes for the baby, but it's nice that I can legally purchase all-cotton pajamas now!

What's holding me back, or pacification

Why haven't I finished that stars quilt top yet? Because I have a sweet baby who fell in love with her Wubbanub and needed the pacifier replaced.  Very simple job - pull back the edge of the join, seam ripper on the stitches, discard pacifier, insert new Soothie (or just sew it up, if getting off pacifiers, or add a loop for attaching another type), then sew through the fabric and the holder on the Soothie and return it to your baby! (if you haven't washed the animal lately, you can baste the hole closed and send it through the washing machine before reattaching the pacifier; I rinse it off by hand, so I skipped that step.)

Aristocats!

I can do many things, but they all fit in one general idea, in keeping with my engineer-brain: they're all structured.  Knitting, crochet, sewing from a pattern, cross-stitch, needlepoint? You know exactly where to put your needle or hook.  (I can make up the pattern myself, but then I work from it.)  Cooking from a recipe or especially baking?  You know exactly what to do, and there's sometimes spectacular failure (in baking) if you try to make it up.  Linguistically, I go towards Sanskrit, Latin, German - nice extremely-structured languages, not like French or Hindi.

That's not the case for everyone in my family.  My grandfather was a well-regarded watercolor painter; my mother and aunt can draw; and my sister's taken up a new craft, which benefits the baby greatly:

 

embroidery!  This is one of her onesies (a Gerber trademark, did you know?).  She also has a Houston Texans jersey onesie and a sweet one with a little dove on it.

 

Isn't her work impressive?

The baby also has a nice assortment of socks, with flowers, butterflies, and even elephants on them.

If I can't do embroidery (I can't keep it even, because I'm not told exactly where to put the needle), at least there's someone in the family who can!