Kitty Romper

I've been very busy this last few weeks, I really do have my sewing mojo on and for the most part I have been loving it. I say for the most part, I just tried a project today and its gone horribly wrong so I am hoping that writing this post will help me refocus that negative energy back into something positive.

This is also a nice little bumper post as its not just 1 make but 2 combined into this adorable little vest and romper combo.

The patterns are from Ottobre magazine and they both come from issue 1/2016 (I believe you can order back issues). I do subscribe to this magazine as I just adore all the kiddy clothes. I have already made Master Fox a couple of outfits from this magazine and have a list as long as my arm of others I want to have a go it. The magazine is from Finland but I get an English version so there are no issues whatsoever. I love getting my quarterly bit of sewing in the mail, its so exciting :)

I have been putting off quiet a few projects from this magazine though because a lot of them call for a ribbed binding edge, which is something I have never attempted and to be honest was pretty daunting. There are some instructions of how to do this in the magazine but they are not the most descriptive. I really wanted to make Miss Fox a romper outfit though, and Mr Fox hates it when I make dungarees that don't have a popper fastening for east nappy access so I thought it might be time to give it a go. 

I am actually really pleased with how the binding came out. Its not perfect by anyone's standards, its a but wavy, but as a first (and second) attempt I don't think its too shabby. Its not a particularly fast thing to do but it was nice to take my time and try out something new and Mr Fox can be happy that he will be able to get babys little legs out to change a nappy without having to take the whole romper off! 

I also had a go with some metal poppers this time instead of the plastic ones I have been using. They turned out really nicely as well and feel a bit sturdier. Hopefully they stand up to a good few washes. 

The fabric as all come from Stoff & Stil which is a Danish company (I have sung my praises about Danish fabric shops before and my regret of not buying more fabric from Denmark!). They now a brilliant English website and a London address so buying from them is really simple. The quality of this Jersey is just amazing, and to be honest I think I can credit a lot of the successes of this project to just how good the fabric is. So much so that I have just put in another large order with them in a hope to rekindle that failed project I mentioned earlier (oops!). 

How adorable is the cat fabric too? Im so pleased this project was so small, there is plenty left for me to hopefully make a tshirt or vest out of post baby :)

I hope you love this adorable outfit as much as I do. I got a lot of satisfaction from this project and that should be just what sewing is all about. Look at the neck on that vest, its almost perfect. Do you have any projects you are especially proud of, and what made you so proud of them? 

I can't wait to see Miss Fox finally wearing this one. Its definitely the most practical of the outfits I have made her so far so hopefully we can get some good wear from it. 

Floral Teddy Romper

Well spring has finally sprung and despite being pretty cold this week its nice to see the return of the sunshine today. All this lovely sun and finally seeing the flowers spring up has inspired me to make this gorgeous little cotton floral romper in a hope that my little summer baby will get a chance to wear it before the autumn finally sets in.

Isn't it just adorable <3

The fabric is some very thin swiss dot cotton lawn which I bought from ebay. Its a lovely lightweight fabric and will be perfect if we get any really hot and sweaty days this summer where we want to keep baby covered, but wearing something light and breathable.

Something odd has happened to me though since finding out I am having a girl, and that is a new like for floral fabric. Historically the mere hint of a flower on fabric had me looking in another direction but instead now I am looking a them with new eyes. I think it will still be a while before you see me in anything with flowers on, but it has certainly opened up a whole new world of opportunities for me!

The pattern is another Puperita, the Teddy Romper and as per usual the pattern is utter perfection. I was drawn to this pattern because of two things, the flutter sleeves and the popper fastenings. Mr Fox hates it when I make any kind of romper/dungarees as it makes the whole nappy changing thing an absolute mare. So this pattern keeps him happy and will allow for a nice easy nappy change. 

Everything about this pattern is just adorable, the sleeves, the cross neck, the gathered leg holes, I absolutely love it. It also has a version for boys. It can also be worn over a vest and tights for those slightly cooler days. 

Again, I wouldn't say this was a particularly fast sew as I took my time with it, and there are a lot of bound edge seams, but the time and attention to details really are what make handmade look really special.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and enjoy mothers day.

Lightning bolt baby romper

Oh look, another romper! I made this romper ages ago as a present for one of my friends in Denmark who recently had a little girl. I love hearing people having girls it makes a nice change to sewing boy clothes (and I love an excuse for sewing with a bit of pink). I guess this is something I will get to do more and more of now hazaa!! As you can imagine I already have the fabric for one of these for Little Miss Fox.

There's not much more I can say about this pattern, I have done it to death, but for quick reference it is the Puperita Jumpy Romper and this beautiful lightning print fabric is from Mauds Fabric Finds. Sadly there is non of this left which is such a shame, I could do with making myself an outfit from it I love it so much. You can see all the other iterations of this romper on my made by me: children's clothing page.

Annoyingly what has just happened is I have opened both the Puperita and Mauds pages to add the links and I think a new sewing project is going to get purchased in the next 10 minutes. I'm so weak!

Its really hard to take photos of white clothes, especially in the dull winter months.

Anyway I hope you didn't mind the quick whistle stop tour around this little make. I have actually made quiet a bit of stuff over the last few months, just that I either haven't had time to blog it or haven't had sufficient daylight to take a picture. Its a real shame I will try and get a few more quick blog posts up to show them off in the next few weeks.

Puperita showcase: Pirate dungarees for little pugwash

How bloody cute is this kid, I could eat him! I know I'm biased, but hey he is pretty handsome you know you can't deny it.

Anyway, on with what we are here for; firstly, I know it's a bit odd that I'm coming to you on a Thursday this week but bear with me, there is good reason for it which I will explain in a minute, but in the meantime why don't you scroll through another adorable picture of Master Fox...

I was very pleased to be invited to join in on a showcase blog event to sing the praises of Annalisa Puperita who designs the most amazing children's sewing patterns which can be downloaded in PDF from her Etsy shop. If you have seen my previous baby makes you will know that I have sung her praises a couple of times before so was more than happy to take part in this event. There is a list of all the other bloggers taking part at the end of this post so make sure you go and have a look at some of the other amazing makes to get some inspiration and see some of the other patterns which are on offer. 

I chose to use the little birds dungarees pattern again as I loved his Christmas dungarees and they are really nice to sew in fashion or quilting cottons. I think of all the bloggers I might have been the only one to make something for a little boy so I'm pleased to be able to show off how nice handmade boys clothes can be too. Master Fox has been in his current size for a couple of months now so I have made them in the next size up so he gets more wear out of them. So excuse the fact they are looking a bit baggy in these pictures, they are not meant to be fitting well yet and the cuffs have been double rolled up! The other nice thing about this pattern is that it's not too difficult to get on and off for a nappy change. I definite must for little ones who wriggle enough as it is! 

I used some lovely blue Makower skull print cotton for the outer and some plain cheap black cotton on the inside. I love a pirate theme on little boys, it's so cute! The fabric was from Ebay of course but I think there are still a number of online retailers selling it. The pattern features three pockets, a lovely big roomy one on the front and two which are nicely placed on the bottom area. There are four buttons which fasten at the sides and on the shoulder straps and the thing I really like to do for this pattern is make my own fabric covered buttons to match the rest of the dungarees. I think they fit really well rather than having to match a store bought button. These dungarees are newborn -2 but she also designs patterns for older kids, and some of the patterns cover newborn - 6 years! That's a bargain of a pattern purchase right there.

One of he best things about these patterns though is the commitment to support that you get from Annalisa the designer. When you buy one of her patterns you get invited to her support Facebook group where herself and other makers have built an amazing group that not only offers help with patterns but also showcases other peoples makes which is a great source of inspiration. There are all sorts of people in this group  from seasoned sewers, private children's clothes sellers to people that have never sewn in their lives and just want to make something nice for themselves. This makes it a great little community. 

But not only this Annalisa is happy to answer questions from you either via Facebook or through Etsy messenger. She is always quick to respond and really helpful. You honestly could not ask for more from her.

So whether you are seasoned at sewing and fancy making kids clothes, or have never done it before but want to make something from scratch with confidence I seriously recommend you take a look at her patterns. The instructions are so clear with pictures and clear directions that anyone should be able to follow them. Take a look around the other bloggers posts below and you will no doubt find some serious inspiration and testemant to the fact that these patterns always have amazing results:

Emi ~ Just Add Fabric     Jaime ~ Made By Jaime     Janice ~ So-Cal Sewing Mom     

Soso ~Moineau & Petit Pois     Ula ~ Lulu & Celeste     Nuala ~ clootie dumplings

Pam ~ Threading My Way     Maria ~ Fairies, Bubbles & Co.     Shelly ~ Sew Shelly Sew

Chari ~ Take time to smell the rose     Helen ~ The DIY Fox     Karly ~ Paisley Roots

Sanae ~ Sanae Ishida     Candice ~ Candice Ayala     Melissa ~ Rebel & Malice

Janet ~ 7 Pine Design     Jenya ~ While she was sleeping

Calavera skull print baby romper

 I made another gorgeous version of the Jumpy baby romper again this week. I really do love this pattern so much. It's such a speedy sew and so easy to follow.

I used some gorgeous Calavera skull print cotton jersey which I bought from DaWanda, which is kind of like a German version of folksy/etsy. You can get so much lovely jersey in the EU, much more than in the UK and you don't need to pay any silly taxes to import it. Yay :) I use a plain grey jersey for the lining and cuffs. I can't quiet decide what sex this is for. The colours are very boyish but the skulls have a definite femine feel. I guess that makes it unisex! 

So you thinking 'oh another romper, wow' well the exciting thing about this romper is it marks the start of my new vision to make alternative and quirky children's clothing to sell. I do want to work on some more original ideas/pattern alterations but to start getting the shop up and running I need to get a few items made up to stick in it and make it visible in the real world! Exciting stuff right! 

I am being realistic about this project though and I'm not going to go bull in a china shop to get it open, I want to make sure the things I do sell are well made and thought out. So for the meantime this little baby outfit will get shut away until I have a few more items to launch. 

I've always loved the bright colours and characters in children's textiles, which is why I used to make the plush monsters . Hopefully this will give me satisfying new way to both utilise all those fun fabrics designed with kids in mind, and to come up with a few fun creations of my own! 

Hopefully I can make this work now I've said it out loud!! I hope you all wish me luck, I'll let you know as soon as I get a bit further with it, but in the meantime, back to some selfish sewing!! 

Jumpy romper

How awesome is this little romper! I love it, Can I have the pattern in adult please? I'm actually quiet serious about that, this little girls romper suit is the business. Its so soft and comfy, can you imagine it as a type of onesie to slouch about at home in, it would be great. Its quiet simply lovely and one of the nicest things I have sewn up recently.

The fabric I'm sure some of you will recognise is some mint Elk Grove knit jersey by Birch fabrics. It wasn't exactly the cheapest of knits but the quality of it is truly sublime. I bought this fabric in my early pregnancy when I was secretly hoping for a girl and thinking of all the cute dresses I could make. I tried to persuade myself it could be classed as unisex, but lets face it its not very masculine is it. Now before you jump down my throat I have no problem with son playing with dollies or tea sets or whatever the hell he chooses but; I decided that making it into an outfit for a little lady would do the fabric much more justice and it would get much more love and wear. I had contemplated making it into some sort of summer PJ's for myself, but I know I'm just never going to get round to that and I only bought one meter so it wasn't a lot to play with.

The pattern is the reversible Jumpy Romper which is another pattern from the wonderful Puperita. This pattern was no different to the other ones I have made up in that it was an absolute dream to follow and so easy to make. I made it up in 12-18m for a friends little girl and the proportions look great. I used the overlocker for this one because I wanted a really quick satisfying project after all the fitting I had to do with Margot dress and this certainly delivered. I managed to whip this up in about 2 days. I absolutely love the pink jersey with the mint of the elk grove knit. Its such a beautiful colour combination for a girl, and I think one of my favourite. As I mentioned the pattern is reversible but why would you want to hide those handsome deer?

I would offer a word of caution about sewing this whole pattern on the overlocker though. Whilst it is possible, as you can see here, sewing around the top popper sections is very difficult and the finish is a little clumsy. Next time I will do the sides and the ankle cuffs on the overlocker then the top section on a regular machine. All the seams are hidden inside so they don't need to be perfectly neatened off. It is a bit of a shame as the one issue with trying to sew will baby sleeps/with a baby is the constant changing from sewing machine to overlocker to iron and back again. I am yet to find my perfect nap time project. If you have any ideas about this I am desperate to hear them.

So I would definitely recommend the fabric and the pattern. The fabric also comes in a lovely multicolourway and the pattern is newborn - 6 years! How many versions am I going to be able to make before these babies grow out of these patterns! I have some lovely skull print jersey which is screaming to be made into a pair of these but again I bought it for Master Fox and having received it I think its just a little bit on the feminine side so I'm not sure what to do about that yet. Watch this space (though not too closely its probably going to stay in my fabric stash for ages while i find the perfect project!). 

Christmas dungarees

Its time to one up the Christmas Jumper with these incredibly festive baby Santa dungarees! We all know the joy of having a kid is so that you can dress them up and Christmas is going to be no exception to that. Little girls get all the love though with pretty festive dresses and tutu's where as boys only really seem to get the jumper. I therefore couldn't resist the temptation of making him a pair of festive dungarees to help him celebrate the season. Especially as his social calendar was far busier than mine this year!

The pattern was again from Puperita and is the Little Birds Romper pattern. The fabric was Riley Blake Santa Claus Express cotton and the lining is just some red cotton both from Ebay. I love the Santa fabric so much, those little smiling Santa's are so cute. I also tried for ages to find some buttons the size the pattern recommended, finally settled for some which didn't really go, then found out they were too big for my button holes anyway and ended up searching the house and finally finding some self cover buttons (which reminds me I need to get some more). I think these work loads better though, those buttons are adorable with the little smiley Santa face on.

This was another exceptionally good pattern from Puperita. It was really simple to follow and being a cotton it was a dream to sew and the finish is top quality. The fit is really nice on them as well, they sit really nicely on his shoulders but also have a good amount of room in the waist to allow him to move about in. I did have the benefit of being able to measure these in the leg exactly so that the leg cuffs sit perfectly. I will definitely be making more of these as he grows up because they fit and wear so well. I can imagine all sorts of versions: cute cotton prints, corduroy, denim, it lends itself so well to so many woven fabrics.

I would be lying if I tried to tell you that I didn't try to pattern match these, but as you can see it went a horribly wrong (how am I so bad at this?) It's not the end of the world and I'm not going to cry about it but I don't understand how I always fail at this. I'm sure I will get there in the end.

The only disappointing thing about these dungarees is that Christmas is now over and he will soon grow out of them :( Having said that though because you don't need much fabric for baby clothes I certainly didn't spend more on these than I would have buying him a Christmas outfit from the shops. However Master Fox had something totally unique that made him look so damn cute.

Have you ever made your kids festive outfits, or yourselves for that matter? I would LOVE to see them.

Baby Makes: The first of many (Starry Romper)

I have been doing so much baby sewing lately and am LOVING it! Honestly I'm completely obsessed by it. If any of you out there are parents yourselves you will know that once you have a little one in your life all your attentions and money go straight into them and you care so much less about your own needs and appearance. Your little ones will be dressed in the cutest little outfits whilst you are still trying to rock a pair of leggings and oversized tshirt which you have owned for 4 years!! It's therefore no surprise that my sewing has taken the same turn and I'm now happily turning out gorgeous little outfits for Master Fox. Not to mention the fact I need to make the most of the fact I'm currently allowed to choose what he wears which won't last forever.

After seeng one of my friends babies in an adorable little handmade cotton romper I did some internetting and discovered Puperita patterns on Etsy and I love them. I bought the starry romper pattern as I wanted to make a pair of jersey dungarees and this looked like the perfect fit for this type of fabric. I specifically wanted to make them from jersey as it's such a comfortable and giving fabric for a baby. These little things are still developing, and at the time of making these in particular he was just trying to find his hands and feet and start crawling and so I didn't want to make something too restrictive for him. Not to mention jersey is soft on the skin, warm and most importantly washes well, perfect for little babies. I bought this particular jersey on eBay from a seller in Germany (how come wider Europe has much better fabric than we do here in the uk!). 

 

The pattern was so simple to follow and really quick to sew up using both the sewing machine and overlocker and it turned out simply amazing I am really proud of it. I did try and do some pattern matching but didn't realise there were 2 monkey repeats and lined the fabric up to the wrong ones!! Oh well we need to make these mistakes to learn don't we! I should also say you don't need to use an overlocker to make these and the pattern works just as well with cottons as it does jersey but you will need some stretch fabric for the cuffs. 

 

I hope you love this little romper as much as I do, I think the pocket is one of my favourite bits of the pattern, I keep putting things in there for him ;). I also decided to make a matching dribble bib using one of his existing bibs as a template. I think it's an excellent use of some of the left over fabric and now he can be coordinated!!

Right well that's it for this post but don't worry I have so many more to show so watch this space for more rompers, some joggers and most importantly his amazing handmade Halloween outfit which I am particularly proud of!! X