Pleated Playsuit

Heidi from Elegance and Elephants (of Ruffle Top and Bubble Pocket Shorts fame) offered this Pleated Playsuit pattern for free on her blog... who am I to turn down something free, especially something this cute?

I made it with some flowered quilting cotton fabric I bought at Joann's a few years ago, and used some green-on-green striped Lisette fabric that the Real Martha bought me as the accent on the straps, cuffs and pockets. 

I cut the shorter version so maybe Zoe can wear it this summer, but the long version is pretty awesome, too.   I cut both parts of the pocket out of the accent color so the contrast color would show at the hips, but otherwise I didn't make any changes to the pattern.  I found the pattern extremely easy to follow, except for maybe the cutting, but that's only because a few of the pieced were printed in layers on top of each other.  It just meant I had to pay a little bit of extra attention when cutting the fabric, not too taxing.  All-in-all a cute, easy to put together pattern that looks more complicated than it actually is!

Flowered Baby Romper

I can't get enough baby rompers.

This one is from an old school pattern (Simplicity 8812) than Martha gave me... it dates back to 1970 and it looked like someone had used it before, so perhaps Jennifer or Michael had a matching romper back in the day.  This one is for Mr. Ben and Erin... Tim is heading to Bangkok next week, hence the spate of baby sewing for those two.  Tim will act as our handmade baby clothes mule.

The legs were supposed to be elasticized at the bottom, but I ran out of narrow elastic and was too lazy to make the trip to Toko Maju for more.  Instead I took a cue from the Bubble Pocket Shorts I just made and sewed on a cuff, gathering the leg holes to fit.  I used flowered fabric leftover from this dress I made a few months ago.

Batik Basics

Some more batik stuff I made pre-Christmas:

A paneled elastic waist skirt for Jamie (figuring she could take wear it while pregnant and take it in post-baby)... made with the same batik and plaid combo as the outfit I made for Zoe a few months ago.

Some green batik Big Butt Baby Pants to pair with a monkey t-shirt I bought in Bangkok, for Miss Monkey herself, Zoe:

Another Butterick 5625 baby romper, this one with the batik scraps from the skirt above and Zoe's outfit:

And finally, some batik boxer shorts, made using a pattern from the book "Fabric-by-Fabric One-Yard Wonders," which Colleen generously gave me.  They came out pretty well, but I will say that the fly part of the pattern and instructions totally blew my mind.  And not just mine, but the Real Martha's, too, so you know it was difficult/confusing, as she is a pro.  I'm working on another pattern from the book right now and the instructions are fool-proof, so perhaps this one was a fluke.

Romperoo

Another day, another baby romper.  This one made from some awesome yellow and multicolored striped seersucker from the Real Martha, made from the same pattern as the blue striped one I made a few months ago, Butterick B5625.  

I made it in this gender-neutral fabric for Baby Dos, because until I checked Facebook this morning, it wasn't clear that Baby Dos was a girl.  She'll probably get all of Zoe's hand-me-downs, but here's a start for her own personal wardrobe.

Shirt Striped Baby Romper

Before heading to Australia, Amy generously offered to bring me some stuff from the U.S., which she did, in spades.  Cheetos, soap... you name it.  I had also asked Martha if she had any extra baby clothes patterns or fabric that she hadn't gotten around to using/wasn't planning on using at she could send with Amy.  Never one to skimp on crafting materials, Martha sent 15 patterns, some of them circa 1970, as well as approximately 500 yards of fabric, some of which also dates back to that era.  Amy and Adam were good sports and dragged this all across the world for me:

That's a lot of patterns:

Fabric addiction much?

 In repayment for their porter services (and because Alex is cuper cute), I made Baby Alex a little blue romper using some of the fabric and a pattern (Butterick B5625, view A) that Martha sent.  Love it!  Hopefully he'll be able to wear it next summer!

Making this romper forced me to learn and use some new skillz, including applying facings, understitching, double stitching, and making buttonholes with my machine.  Thank god for the internets for guiding me through these things.  I did have to make about 25 buttonholes on scrap fabric before getting it right, but ultimately it worked out and now I'm a pro:

Baby Romper

Tim and I just bought tickets to head to Sydney, Australia at the end of August to meet up with Amy, Adam and baby Alex (yay!).

I had to come bearing gifts, and since baby Alex probably can't drink Indonesian coffee or appreciate a nice batik yet, I decided to knit him something comfy (in addition to the cute grandpa sweater I made him a few weeks ago)...  

 

Pretty cute!  I like how big the bottom looks to accommodate diaper butt.  

I used this free pattern, which was quite easy (although I had to wing it a bit on the legs due to my continuing fear of double-pointed needles).  I made the bib a bit wider (about 4 stitches on each side), but otherwise stuck with the pattern.  Used Berroco Comfort yarn.