Bluebird Original

Over last couple years I've made so many cute baby and kids clothes. I didn't post about them at the time and I can't remember all the details for each item. But here are some pictures and any details I can remember.  This little pinafore was made for a new-born niece as a size 000. The pink fabric was quite heavy so I made it with minimal gathers to keep the bulk to a minimum. The back fastens with pearly press studs and the tiny white lace adds such a sweet detail. I was pretty happy with how it turned out! These cute mustard rompers were made for a friend's baby. The pattern I used (Kwik Sew K214) has some issues as I've mentioned in a previous post, but overall gives a good result. If I were to make this little romper again, I would insert elastic into the legs to gather them in. They are rather too full as they are. These twin dresses were made for two of my nieces for Christmas. They were sisters aged 2.5 and 6 months. The little dresses have sweet inverted bo...

There is something special about a little boy in overalls. Overalls are so cute and sturdy-looking and make a little boy seem ready for any adventure. A couple weeks ago I was in the mood to sew overalls so I pulled out a beautiful piece of maroon corduroy fabric that I've had stored up for a couple years. I love the texture of corduroy and I love this rich colour. I'd been waiting for my toddler to get big enough to wear such a heavy fabric without it overwhelming him. As winter is approaching fast, I knew this was the time to use it! I loosely based the overalls off of New Look 6970. This pattern has rather full legs due to some gathering around the waist. So I removed the fullness from the waist and slimmed the legs down. I also extended the legs so they reach down to the ankle. The shoulder straps were lengthened too to make the front bib section sit a bit lower and give a more traditional overall look. I removed the snaps that give nappy access in the pattern. This change ...

At the end of last year I was feeling in need of some fresh sewing projects, so I decided to sew dresses for all of my nieces for Christmas! A friend at church had given me several large pieces of fabric some time earlier and though the colours were ones that I loved, I wasn't sure how to use them. This was the perfect opportunity! I decided to design up a simple pinafore with a waistband that was elastic at the back. To prevent the shoulder straps from slipping off the sides, I included a tie in the back of each pinafore to hold them together. The skirts were A-line in shape with little pockets on the front. A couple of the girls were similar in size, so I ended up drawing 3 separate patterns. For the blond girls, I decided not to use the black fabric, but put in a white print with little pink flowers instead. The 5 dresses all turned out quite nicely, but I was very tired of sewing the same dress by the time I finished them! Sadly I don't have any photos of them on the girls.

I love when my family and close friends have new babies! It's a marvelous excuse to find some lovely fabric and a sweet little pattern and make something special. New baby clothes are so little and cute! This romper was made for my brother's new baby boy. I already had this lovely linen blend fabric and the pattern in my collection. I used Kwik Sew K214 as my base pattern and removed the sleeves and collar. I also used snaps to close the back instead of the zipper recommended by the pattern. In my opinion, back closing zips are not comfortable for small babies as they spend so much time laying flat on their backs. This was an easy pattern to sew, but I did find that the front yoke was not sized correctly for the rest of the romper to attach to, so some adjustments were necessary to get the right fit. I also enlarged the neckline slightly to be less close fitting. I love a good romper pattern and this would be one of the nicer ones I've used in recent years. I made the same ...

Several years ago my sister and two of my sister's-in-law were all expecting babies within a few months of each other. Surprisingly enough all of them were girls, so I had an excellent opportunity to sew three tiny little baby dresses. I drew the very simple pattern using my 3 month old sized bodice pattern block. See image on the right. The back and front were identical for ease of cutting out and sewing. The sleeve was simply a long, skinny oval shaped piece of fabric folded in half long ways to create a self lining. I then inserted the elastic in the folded edge and stitched a casing to hold it in place. Using the bodice block I measured the amount of elastic needed based off of the measurement from the top of the shoulder to the top of my drawn on pattern. The sleeves are inserted into the shoulder and then the bodice of the dress is fully lined. No scratchy little exposed seams to annoy the tiny baby. The skirt is simply a gathered length of fabric attached to the waist with t...