I will weigh in on this, too. My second DD came four weeks early, weighed 4 pounds 8 ounces. She stayed in the hospital for several days after I went home, so my DMIL and I got very busy sewing *18" doll* clothes (gowns, bunting with bonnet, jammies, and we tore several diapers in half and hemmed them) for DD to wear when she came home. She would have been *lost* in newborn size, let alone 3 or 6 month size baby clothing. And, older DD inherited the "doll" clothes when younger DD outgrew them. If no older girl is in the home, save them for later, she would likely love knowing she could dress her dolls in her *own* baby clothes. ;-)
I never use snap tape. Paulo Ruffino and I experimented with best methods and equipment for attaching snaps ourselves, it's really very easy if done carefully.
Yeah, that's what Paulo uses too, and I have something very similar.
I hadn't really considered snaps as a primary closure for this project though. I was going to use either a zipper or Velcro, probably a zipper. I can bind the edges of a zipper if necessary to ensure there's nothing scratchy to irritate Baby's skin, but Velcro inherently has that scratchy side. Even if I make sure the scratchy side is facing away from Baby, there's always the chance that a little hand or something will find it and be scratched, and I don't want that to happen.
Yeah, I thought that seemed like a nice feature for babies...
With attached feet, you could also put a little elastic just above the foot so it'd stay in place better. I'm not going to worry about toddler sizes too much yet. :) The friend who is having twins lives all the way across the country from me so I won't be able to tell what size her kids will be to make them anything after birth, and the one who lives locally is learning to sew, so I may just give her a pattern if she loves the PJs and wants more in larger sizes.
It's a real pain in the neck to get to without a car. Drydock Ave is at Design Center Place, more or less. It's along the waterfront, out past the Boston World Trade Center I believe.
They're not a store front, they're a distributor. You can however just show up during business hours, they've always been friendly to me for walkins. I'm just careful to always spend at least $20 or more and preferably bring a friend who wants some stuff too, so they never feel like I'm totally wasting their time. And I did check with them, they will take smallish orders by phone.
weight, > however, at nearly 1 year, she is still wearing 6-9month clothing
Hi Larisa,
She may stay small, too. My younger DD (the preemie) maxed out at 5'
1", much shorter than either her father, older sister, or I. Fortunately, after a slow start, she caught up nicely academically and socially. She was a November baby, so we had her take two years of kindergarten, resulting in her being one of the older children among her peers all through school. Turns out that served her very well.
DH and I are thinking that she will take after her greatgrandmother who topped out at 5'2" yet gave birth to a 6' tall guy and a 6'2" guy (my father). DH and I are both fairly close in height...I'm 5'7" and he is
5'8". We are just hoping that DS won't be shorter than us because it seems that girls are just getting taller these days and that would make him even more self conscious.
L
I know this is a sewing group but I would be inclined to use a knitting machine to make the PJ's. The foot part could be worked like a sock on four or five needles or made as a SWAN (sock without a name) sock on the machine. Since I don't really like using a knitting machine very much I'm not sure they'd ever get done.
Heh. Well, if I hadn't accidentally broken my knitting machine beyond repair, I could consider the possibility. However. I did, so life goes on. (I'll get another one sometime when I'm employed. No big deal.) In truth though, I think the reason the adults I'm planning to make the PJs for want them is because when they were kids they had them and they're nostalgic, and they probably all had the same blue or yellow PJs from Sears with an applique of Pooh on the chest. (I may embroider Pooh onto them as a gag.) In the case of the babies, I'm guessing the mothers will love seeing them with footie pajamas because they'll think "that's just like what I had when I was a kid!" So, I should either use terrycloth (because it was often used for the purpose in the early 70's when these adults were kids) or something fleece-like. It'll depend on budget, but I'd like to use Polartec. (Perhaps a lighter weight of it, like maybe the 100. I haven't decided.) I feel that Polartec is truly a superior quality fabric, and I'd like my friends to have the best, but it is a little more expensive than some other options.
All of that said, using a knitting machine is a very interesting idea really. When I was using my knitting machine, I didn't make a lot of garments. I didn't care for shaping the collars of sweaters, and I hated hand-sewing pieces together. Now that I know I was being foolish and I can just stick them in the sewing machine and stitch them together with thread, I think when I get the replacement machine I will make more garments.
I loved making large swaths of cloth with the machine, but any time I had to take a piece off and then hang it back on was a pain, which made shaping front shoulders of a pullover sweater (you have to take one side off, knit the other shoulder, then put the first side back on and knit that shoulder) a real pain, and the collar (you're supposed to sew one shoulder seam, then pull the neckline straight and hang it back on the machine to knit on a collar) was even worse.
And ribbing. I hate making ribbing. I'd rather make a hem, or stitch on purchased ribbing with the sewing machine, or hand-knit some ribbing and stitch *that* on with the sewing machine. I can hand-knit ribbing faster than I can make it with the machine.
Hm, that's a whole area of experimentation, mixing fabrics I make on the knitting machine with purchased fabrics. I'll have to try that out sometime... maybe I should make some design sketches...
Tom, you could also make boiled wool fabric from long pieces of knit, and then cut and sew it as you would any other fabric. Makes great vests, jackets, etc., especially since you live where it gets pretty cold in the winter.
Karen in Ohio
Tom Farrell wrote: <long whiny rant about knitting machine snipped>
I have this problem with all my daugther's footed pajamas. We have switched to 2 piece only and if it is a chilly night I put booties on her feet. I usually find her happily chewing on them when she wakes up in the morning though! :)
I know that I wouldn't like one piece pajamas, but that is my personal choice. I like having bare feet at night and would find the one piece just too confining I think.
Tom I haven't re-read all the postins but I can't find any mention of using the Kwik-Sew Infants and toddler pattern book. It has a master pattern and lots of variations for babies up to 18 month size. I used one of the patterns to make a DGS some bottoms with feet last winter. His mom prefers
2 piece for little ones because it's easier to change diapers without strip the child down so much. I know I also made a teenage GD a couple of pairs of footies in the past. I think I used a Kwik-Sew then too. That I'l have to check though. I'll get back to you on that one. It went up to about size 18. I think McCalls has one in adult sizes I was considering that for a DD when she decided she wanted flannels instead. Juno
Plus, I was advised by by chiropodist brother not to put DD in footed all-in-ones, because unless the feet are bid enough AND they stay in the right place, they make the baby's toes curl up and that's a Bad Thing.
Sadly, I can't wear wool. I have hyperhydrosis, which means I sweat all the time (regardless of weather, year round), so if I wear wool I rapidly start to smell like a wet sheep. (Not to mention that it also then feels prickly and unpleasant.) Everything I wear has to be either absorbant and dry quickly (like cotton or silk) or has to wick away and evaporate moisture (like polartec).
I was recently given a shopping bag of beautiful wool fabrics, but had to give it away because I'd never be able to wear it.
And, I never make anything for anyone else with wool, because too many people I know are allergic to it.
Sounds like you had bad patterns to work from. When I make a sweater on my km, I put one side in hold while I shape the other, then reverse. There are a number of ways to do a neckline, and I have some favorites, like the one you make on the machine, then hang the sweater so that the collar encloses the top of the neckline. I often tend to use easier patterns, like drop shoulder sweaters, although I really make a killer cabled sweater with a saddle shoulder. The pattern was in WKMG and I have made about four of them, and they attract attention every time my husband or son wear one.
That said, you can knit yardage, block it, cut and sew. I think the book The Prolific Knitting Machine deals with techniques for that and some other time-savers.
I've only just caught this thread and I have to thank you for starting it. My sister is desperately in need of 1-piece pyjamas for her disabled 11-year old in both summer light-weight and winter heavy-weight. I thought I was going to have to design my own pattern but everyone here has given suggestions which I will definitely be following up on.
McCall's has a unisex union suit onesie (3860) and a two-piece ladies' pajamas with feet (4671). Both are kind of cute, but the footie pajama pants might be just the thing for the 11yo. I bought it to make pants liners for when I go up to the mountains.
I think there's also one in one of the Polarfleece Pizzaz books. A friend and I made one for his mother a few years ago, we thought it's a great idea. She calls it her "teletubby outfit". :)
The Simplicity one was discontinued when I looked yesterday, but managed to get some marked down popper tape at Fabricland instead. Then I went to the sewing store to get bobbins for my Bernina (and went back today when I realised they sold me the wrong ones) and looked through Kwik-Sew with no luck. Then lucked upon what I wanted in the discontinued bin! Absolutely perfect though its for girls so just need to modify slightly. This is without the feet for him. Oh and found an advert in the sewing store for someone wanting a home sewer for a few hours a week and have an interview lined up. So this thread set me in the right direction for a number of things!!!! Funny how these things happen!
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