Baby clothes for a new arrival
by
She Who Sews
- 14:52
Back at the start of the summer my sister came to visit us, looking decidedly unwell. It turns out, she was three months pregnant and suffering tremendously with sickness, the poor girl. But it was the greatest news, there would be a new baby in the family, and it meant my children would become cousins and I would be an Aunty!
Of course, my mind was buzzing with the potential for cute clothes and then a realisation that baby clothes, although cute, have to be functional and soft, and those two things mean poppers/snaps and knit fabrics. These are not my strong point.
So I went online fabric shopping, not knowing the gender of the baby meant that my pink cat or pink fox jersey would potentially not be suitable! It just so happens that around the same time as the happy announcement from my sister, Fabworks took a delivery of super soft organic cotton interlock jersey in some really super gender neutral prints. Perfect! I couldn't believe how soft and thick this jersey was when it arrived. Layla has already claimed some of the cat fabric for pyjamas for herself... now if only I could find the time for all these projects...
I could have gone crazy with the ordering, well, I did a little, but chose to limit myself to just 3 prints/colours. A green elephants marching print, with coordinating plain green. A badgers in cravats with coordinating mustard yellow stripes. And finally, a purple cats with coordinating plain purple. And the best of all, a super soft, super snuggly cotton sherpa. (I must admit to have been searching for a long time for cotton sherpa. I am aiming to cut down on manmade fibres, so have not bought any of the poly sherpa. I was lucky enough last year to get gifted some cotton sherpa to make Trailblazer vests, (read here) but ordering this in from America is ridiculously costly.) I personally would have dressed my baby (whatever the gender) in any of these prints, but after ordering them I had real doubts about my decision and started second guessing what my sister would or wouldn't like.
Then I needed to go baby pattern shopping too. I didn't sew for my own two children when they were babies. A mixture of exhaustion, zero time and not really having taken it up again at that time. Most of my patterns go down to age 18 months or two years, not suitable for a newborn babe! I asked around some of the pattern groups, and UK sewing groups for suggestions for beginner baby patterns, or patterns that were fool proof for someone with limited skills with knits. I was directed to Made by Jack's Mum (MBJM) by many people, so decided to bite the bullet and buy a baby bundle that would give me many different variations of clothing to make. My fallback was also Twig + Tale, many of their patterns are available in baby sizes too.
I printed out a few newborn patterns, and marvelled at their tiny size. Sewing for big kids is beginning to require a lot of paper for the patterns, and a lot of material for the clothes that are made. Sewing for a teeny baby was going to be a novelty. The whole romper pattern was smaller than the bodice for a dress for Layla! I have to admit, I then left everything for a good few weeks, maybe even months. For whatever reason, the thought of making a mess of these tiny clothes just put me off entirely. And snap crotches scared me :O
I eventually pulled my finger out, and got on with it. I cut out the badgers in the cravats first. A MBJM harem romper, a Twig & Tale hooded Pathfinder vest and Barefoot romper. The first pattern I made was the harem footed romper by MBJM, and it was the cutest thing ever. Quickly followed by the Pathfinder, lined in the snuggliest cotton sherpa. And then the Barefoot romper. This pattern is daunting, there are a gazillion options, but if you read the instructions carefully, every single step is laid out neatly to produce the romper you want.
Boosted by the success of this first batch of clothes, I then cut out the purple cat fabric. A pair of MBJM harem pants, envelope neck sleep shirt, and coordinating envelope neck long sleeved bodysuit in plain purple. This whole set is just too cute and made me get on with the last set.
The last set is in the marching elephants. As I'd made the other sets in newborn/preemie size, I figured this one should be in 0-3 months, then I'd covered all bases. I made up another pair of harem pants, this time with the faux pocket, a plain green envelope neck bodysuit, and to top the set off, a Pixie hat that I scaled down to 0-3 month size, lined in snuggly cotton sherpa.
Honestly, I don't know why I was worried to hand over these sets of clothes, everyone around me that I had shown them to fell in love with them. So as handover arrived, I nervously presented them to the parents to be, and was met with the same ahh's and instant love for them. Phew!
I can't wait (and nor can the parents to be) for the new arrival. I will gladly wait for pictures of it modelling my little clothes, and no doubt produce my own ahh's and how sweet's. For the time being, the doll I made my son has modelled a couple of the items, and I think he looks pretty damn cute in them ;)
Did you know you can follow me on Instagram and I'd love for you to give me a like on Facebook.
*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*
Of course, my mind was buzzing with the potential for cute clothes and then a realisation that baby clothes, although cute, have to be functional and soft, and those two things mean poppers/snaps and knit fabrics. These are not my strong point.
So I went online fabric shopping, not knowing the gender of the baby meant that my pink cat or pink fox jersey would potentially not be suitable! It just so happens that around the same time as the happy announcement from my sister, Fabworks took a delivery of super soft organic cotton interlock jersey in some really super gender neutral prints. Perfect! I couldn't believe how soft and thick this jersey was when it arrived. Layla has already claimed some of the cat fabric for pyjamas for herself... now if only I could find the time for all these projects...
I could have gone crazy with the ordering, well, I did a little, but chose to limit myself to just 3 prints/colours. A green elephants marching print, with coordinating plain green. A badgers in cravats with coordinating mustard yellow stripes. And finally, a purple cats with coordinating plain purple. And the best of all, a super soft, super snuggly cotton sherpa. (I must admit to have been searching for a long time for cotton sherpa. I am aiming to cut down on manmade fibres, so have not bought any of the poly sherpa. I was lucky enough last year to get gifted some cotton sherpa to make Trailblazer vests, (read here) but ordering this in from America is ridiculously costly.) I personally would have dressed my baby (whatever the gender) in any of these prints, but after ordering them I had real doubts about my decision and started second guessing what my sister would or wouldn't like.
Then I needed to go baby pattern shopping too. I didn't sew for my own two children when they were babies. A mixture of exhaustion, zero time and not really having taken it up again at that time. Most of my patterns go down to age 18 months or two years, not suitable for a newborn babe! I asked around some of the pattern groups, and UK sewing groups for suggestions for beginner baby patterns, or patterns that were fool proof for someone with limited skills with knits. I was directed to Made by Jack's Mum (MBJM) by many people, so decided to bite the bullet and buy a baby bundle that would give me many different variations of clothing to make. My fallback was also Twig + Tale, many of their patterns are available in baby sizes too.
I printed out a few newborn patterns, and marvelled at their tiny size. Sewing for big kids is beginning to require a lot of paper for the patterns, and a lot of material for the clothes that are made. Sewing for a teeny baby was going to be a novelty. The whole romper pattern was smaller than the bodice for a dress for Layla! I have to admit, I then left everything for a good few weeks, maybe even months. For whatever reason, the thought of making a mess of these tiny clothes just put me off entirely. And snap crotches scared me :O
I eventually pulled my finger out, and got on with it. I cut out the badgers in the cravats first. A MBJM harem romper, a Twig & Tale hooded Pathfinder vest and Barefoot romper. The first pattern I made was the harem footed romper by MBJM, and it was the cutest thing ever. Quickly followed by the Pathfinder, lined in the snuggliest cotton sherpa. And then the Barefoot romper. This pattern is daunting, there are a gazillion options, but if you read the instructions carefully, every single step is laid out neatly to produce the romper you want.
Boosted by the success of this first batch of clothes, I then cut out the purple cat fabric. A pair of MBJM harem pants, envelope neck sleep shirt, and coordinating envelope neck long sleeved bodysuit in plain purple. This whole set is just too cute and made me get on with the last set.
The last set is in the marching elephants. As I'd made the other sets in newborn/preemie size, I figured this one should be in 0-3 months, then I'd covered all bases. I made up another pair of harem pants, this time with the faux pocket, a plain green envelope neck bodysuit, and to top the set off, a Pixie hat that I scaled down to 0-3 month size, lined in snuggly cotton sherpa.
Honestly, I don't know why I was worried to hand over these sets of clothes, everyone around me that I had shown them to fell in love with them. So as handover arrived, I nervously presented them to the parents to be, and was met with the same ahh's and instant love for them. Phew!
I can't wait (and nor can the parents to be) for the new arrival. I will gladly wait for pictures of it modelling my little clothes, and no doubt produce my own ahh's and how sweet's. For the time being, the doll I made my son has modelled a couple of the items, and I think he looks pretty damn cute in them ;)
Did you know you can follow me on Instagram and I'd love for you to give me a like on Facebook.
*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*