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.

 Sewing fun girly things is one of my favourite things to do. The pretty fabrics and fun pattern ideas make my heart glad. Thankfully I have a large number of nieces to choose from whenever I feel like making something particularly girly. My brother and sister-in-law recently had a new baby boy and I felt that it would be nice to make a special gift for his big sister along with the gift for the new baby. Their daughter is about two and a half, so I decided to make a tutu skirt and a crown. What more could a little girl of that age want than a pretty dress up to play in! The crown was a simple matter. I had some lovely gold brocade fabric in my stash and simply made a band that would fit the head of my niece. The crown points were inserted into this headband along with some stiff elastic to hold the shape of the crown and to give it a slightly firmer fit. The jewels are made from decorative press studs and placed on the three front points. This part of the project was quick and eas...