Baby dungarees with matching hat

My brother-in-law and his partner had a baby. I thought about the usual baby gifts, but decided against them, in favour of dungarees for baby, the first girl baby in the family for 3 generations. We'll nickname her GinnyW, cause my husbands family tends to produce boys they way the Weasley's do.

I used the same pattern as for my boys dungaress, the Okey Dokey Overalls from PeekabooPatterns. In consultation with GinnyW's Mum and Dad it was decided on full length summer weight dungarees, with popper openings on the legs.

As a fabric I used linen bought from Backstreet Bargains, leftover from making my favourite Leralynn dress. I had both main fabric, with whales, and the mint contrast fabric left. I used the contrast fabric for all the pockets and the linings. I would have likes to use it for the lining of the hat as well, but I ran out, so it was reversible whales for that, using the free Reversible Bucket Hat pattern from Oliver + S

Modifications were minimal. I used regular buttons, with whales on them, instead of dungaree buckles, and added a couple of little loops to fold the straps back through, just like on the ones for my boys. To accommodate the fold back I also lengthened the straps somewhat.

 

I packaged them up and sent them off to the UK in time for her first summer. I left the buttons on the straps unsewn so that Mum or Dad could check the placement first. 

Capes to the rescue - A superhero and a girly cape

Sprog was invited to yet another party. Should anyone be reading all of this blog they will have started to notice a theme. This time was for a girl turning 4, and her little brother turning 2. Widget came along too as he knows birthday boy.

I didn't know anything about either kid. Sprog says he doesn't play with birthday girl, but the teachers at preschool assured me she was a girly-girl so I went for my fallback of something pink and sparkly. I used the same pattern as the last time I made a cape, but this time the fabric was both pink and sparkly, rather than pink with a sparkly overlay. I finished the seams by flat felling them, then trimmed with inch-wide ribbon. The ribbon was laid around the edge of the cape first. I then used a separate piece around the hood, with about 30cm/12in excess on each end to use as the tie.

  

Birthday Girl opened it, put it on, said she loved it, then dashed away to play dragging Sprog with her. 

Little brother Birthday Boy is another kid I know very little of, but having two little boys I was at less of a loss. Superheroes are always popular, so another cape was planned. I left my options open and went fabric shopping. I ended up with some plain black cotton, and a red velour with spiderwebs all over it. With some yellow fabric I had already, I planned a reversible Spiderman/Batman cape.

I used the Superkid cape pattern from Peekaboo patterns as my base, first cutting out the cape, then using the scraps for the bat shape. Using a Bat Signal image I found using Google,  I traced the bat onto double sided interfacing and ironed it on, then cut, ironing the shape onto yellow before stitching round the edges with a black zig-zag. 

If you look closely you can see a yellow bat shape.

I backed the yellow with single sided interfacing to strengthen it,  cut the oval about 15mm from the edge of the bat, pinned it in place, then used yellow thread to zigzag the outer curve. You could use double sided interfacing again, but I was running low, and it was an easy shape to sew in place anyway. 

Before assembling the two sides I put a little interfacing in the ends of the straps to stabilise where the popper was going to go. 

Then it was just a matter of sew it all together, turn, topstich the edges and attach the popper. Sprog modelled it for me and it was ready to go.

I bought way too much fabric, so I think Sprog's Batman mad bestie might be getting something similar for his birthday next month.

Towel after Towel

I'd seen these towels and these ones too, when looking for something I can't remember now, but I liked the look of them and just needed the opportunity. We had a bought version given to us for our widget and had found them really useful. I found some brilliant waffle towels to use and stashed them in my sewing pile.

We were invited to the birthday party for the two children of friends we don't catch up very often, in fact it had been about a year since we had seen each other. Present-wise we were a bit at a loss. For Master 4 we went for a double whammy of Pirate Lego, either Pirates or Lego is usually a hit with Master 4's, but for Miss 2 it was the perfect time to give the towel a whirl. I whipped it up in the morning before the party and tied it up with a ribbon. I'd made the bias tape myself on an earlier night so it was all ready to go.

It was a big hit with Miss 2, apparently she guards it jealously from big brother Master 4.

It was the beginning of a trend with towels for many others following. 

One for the Sprog's friends birthday, this time with a name on the hood.

Then one for a friends newborn, a little baby version instead, and matching flannels.

Then a matching set for another friends children, One for her Miss 4, who is also Sprog's friend, and one for Miss Newborn, again with a matching flannel for each.

I've one more in the works, for yet another friend's newborn, but now I've run out of towel's and the shop I bought them from has stopped selling them. 

Little Pink Riding Hood

Sprog was invited to a birthday party for one of the girls at preschool. I don't know her so I asked their teachers and was told that she is a girly girl. I decided to make something for her, a pink cape, and because I could, with a hood. I did a bit of googling and came across the Red Riding Hood cape from Fleecefun.com. I like working with fleece and fleece from the local emporium is cheap. Double win!

I also bought a length of pink sparkly gauze and some wide write ribbon. The basic cape is an easy sew. I made it more difficult by adding the gauze layer. The gauze moved a lot as I sewed. If I was to do it again, and I've had a request, I would cut the gauze a bit larger and baste the fleece edges in place before sewing seams to ensure  it didn't bunch during assembly. I finished all the edges with the white ribbon, and also used it over the join between hood and cape to make a clean seam, then extended it into a tying ribbon around the neck.

Sprog wouldn't model this one for me, (who knew he was so entrenched in gender traditions) so I made do.


The birthday girl liked it, the mother thought it was brilliant, and another mother has requested one!

Pink and Sparkly for the win!