easy baby clothes

hi-- what about sewing some springtime dresses with diaper covers...those, you can sew in some gorgeous cotton prints. betsey "we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

Two more things I forgot to mention: The baby is a boy; and we're in Australia, so I guess the clothes need to be summer clothes, or else winter clothes he can grow into in a few more months.

Congrats on the new baby.. Sewing knits is not that difficult,and as a bonus they don't ravel so raw edges need not have a finish. Knits makes getting clothes on and off a baby easier because of the stretch factor. Just remember to use a needle special for knits and a stretch stitch ,most machines have one. Kwik Sew has a book...Sewing for Babies...with master patterns included that is great,lots of instruction. As for the embroidery stitches (I'm assuming you mean the kind built into the machine for topstiching the hems and such and not the type you hoop and use a computer type embroidery machine) ,they should be ok,but test first on a scrap to make sure it doesn't stretch the hem out while stitching. You may have to stabilize first. Elaine

Thanks for the encouragement re knits. Yes, the machine has a stretch stitch. And yes, I do mean the embroidery stitches built into the machine, fairly straightforward things like rows of tiny flowers. I was more concerned that they would prevent the fabric from stretching, but I guess I can test that pretty easily too. Liz

.........and remember babies grow fast, like puppies ;) so go up a size or two with whatever you are sewing so they still fit when you get done!

Val

I couldn't agree more. My children went through sizes like lightning until they hit about a size 2, then it slowed down a bit.

Bibs are very easy--and you can play with the embroidery stitches all you want. Also, no baby ever has too many. Get either big washcloths, or the little towels called tea towels. Make yourself a pattern that is about a

6" diameter circle (or half of one, and fold fabric. Fold over about 1/3 of your towel or washcloth. THe fold line will be in the center of your pattern circle. The circle is the cut-out for a head hole, so, of course it should be centered, with equal amounts of fabric horizontally to either side. Using the pattern, cut out a circle. Using ribbing, or even a scrap of T-shirt fabric, make a collar for the circular hole and sew it on, just like you would on a T-shirt. That's your bib. Decorate to taste. If you want to make something more complex, and play with your embroidery stitches, polarfleece is generally ver forgiving. If baby is still small enough to need one, maybe one of those covers that goes over the car seat/infant carrier? (Kind of a big quilted shower cap with a window for baby's face. Patterns should be easy to find)

Liz,

Mostly I think they suggest knits because they stretch, making dressing baby easier. But, if you've not worked with knits a lot, I would not suggest you dive into them on this project. Small garments can be a little tricky in and of themselves, plus this is a gift so you want it to be perfect. Let's go with something lower in stress. ;) Keep this a fun project for you and your husband.

Since the baby is a boy, how about some bib overalls? Those are really cute on baby boys! And you could certainly do some embroidery on the bib. I know there are several patterns out for just such a thing. :) Several of them have patterns for ball caps too. That would be cute. You could embroider on the cap to match what you put on the overalls. You could do the whole thing out of lightweight denim, or medium weight chambray, or even a quilting cotton with boy stuff on it. (frogs, bears, cars, etc.) Elastic waist pull on pants were great when my boy was a baby too. You could maybe purchase a t-shirt for the baby and embroider something on it to match pants you could make for him.

I like to find outfits in catalogs and retail stores to use as inspiration. I know you want to make something useful too. But as a parent, I didn't mind a bit spending money on necessary clothes for the babies. And I was thrilled to pieces when someone would give them something really cute to wear. ;) So you might look at websites for Baby Gap, or Old Navy. (both are retailers here in the States that do really cute baby boy clothes.) Also look for Osh Kosh B'Gosh online. Osh Kosh has some of the ***Best*** baby boy clothes.

HTH Sharon

liz.. for boys, burda makes a REALLY EASY overalls/romper pattern. again, you dont need to use knits. ive made it a bunch of times for my little guy (now almost two) in everything from cotton for the summer, to flannel and polar fleece for the winter months...

betsey betsey "we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

As someone else has suggested Kirsten Martenssons Kwik Sew books are great. They are designed for stretch knits, but the patterns are multi-sized so the initial out lay of around $25 (maybe) they are really good value. Buy some cheap non woven interfacing and use this to trace the patterns off ( this sticks well enough that you can get away with not pinning if you use stretch material). Using material from the remnant table is a cheap way to 'practice' too

'TopKids' Magazine is another magazine that will come in handy later too. I made nearly all my kids clothes when they were younger as it is so much cheaper.

HTH

Dee in Oz

"Liz" wrote

Liz,

What about burp cloths? Like a bib but for Mum or Dad's shoulder. They look like an oval squashed in the middle or an eye mask outline. The contour in the middle is there to help the cloth sit flat on the shoulder.

I made a few of these when my daughter was young. Each had a bias binding edge of varying colours on terry towelling material (I found towels could be found cheaply at places like Kmart or an op shop and tranformed into three or four burp cloths). Your DH could put his own finishing touches on what might be an otherwise blank bib. Iron on appliques or embrodiered images and names look great.

Another idea is a long sleeved bib for when baby begins solid foods. If the baby boy likes to feed himself, the high chair, the floor and anything else that stays still long enough, these bibs are fantastic. Again made from towelling or any easy wash fabric, these bibs look like a funky hospital gown or art smock.

My bib had raglan style long sleeves attached to a standard t-shirt or jumper front and open back with ties. It meant that after my daughter played in her food, the clothes (and sleeves) underneath should be clean and any chunky food pieces can be taken away without pulling the bib over a head or through hair.

If any of this doesn't make sense please let me know and I'll try again or provide sketches.

HTH,

Catherine in Melbourne, Australia

Love the bib idea. Does anyone make patterns for them? another Sharon

TopKids was discontinued, but I've fallen head-over-heels for Ottobre

)! It's a Finnish magazine (just released inEnglish this year), similar to TopKids, but the clothes are simpler, moreversatile, and a little less flashy trendy. One of the things that buggedme about TopKids was that the clothes were SO trendy. I prefer to dress mykiddos in things that make them look like kids, and less like littlegrownups;o) (but, I *do* have a nice stash of TK mags, and I DO like them,for certain things:o).

I think a very useful gift would be a shirt/pants/shorts set. And easy!! Get a cute woven cotton, and make a pair of elastic-waist pants and shorts. Then, cut a piece of that cute fabric, and use it to make an appliqué to put on a solid coloured store-bought tshirt. You could cut the appliqué into a star shape, or something that follows the theme of the fabric you are using, and satin stitch it to the shirt.

Knits really aren't that hard to sew, but like someone else said, this is for a gift, and you want it to be perfect;o) A couple of useful tips I had learned when I started was to watch my presser foot tension (a big factor in stretched-out hems), and that it's always ok to baste (or stay-stitch) in the seam allowances, to cut down on the stretching. If you are planning on doing more kid sewing in the future, a good way to ease yourself into sewing knits would be to start with something that has little stretch, like cotton fleece, and then move onto something with a bit more stretch, like cotton jersey. Soon, you will be sewing ribknits and slinky with ease! :o)

HTH!!

Shows how long since I was buying them then doesn't it. I got them for a few years until I decided I had enough variety in styles and sizes. Also I kept my fabrics simple, using all the varieties that they did would make my kids stick out like sore thumbs in this country town.

Dee in Oz

I don't know if anyone makes a pattern for the bibs but I'm still looking.

In the mean time I've found a website that sells a variety of art smock with the same styling.

HTH.

Catherine in Australia

Sewbaby

sells a pattern for a "sleeve saver bib", which is much like the one described, except that it is pulled over the head. It wouldn't be difficult to adapt the pattern to a back-opening bib, though. Just cut a slit up the back, finish the edges, and sew on ties. I like a lot of Sewbaby things. It's a fun catalog to browse through.

D>> >Another idea is a long sleeved bib for when baby begins solid foods.

Don't know about a pattern, but there are good pix and instructions in either the Kwi-Sew book mentioned, or the Singer book: Sewing for Children (Elaine Perry executive editor, Creative Publishing, 1999 - ISBN: 1 80032

8389 5). I can't remember which, off the top of my head, but I know I used one of these two books to make some for a friend's sprog - and very useful they were too.

:) Trish