The Plague

Has anyone else been hit by the back-to-school death sickness that comes about as a result of the frenzied activity of thousands of children all moving at once?

For anyone who doesn't remember, I'm not even a teacher.

So anyways, I'm just about back to normal after one week of absolutely miserable workdays and another week of still feeling run down. The weekend in between those two weeks I ventured into a sewing arena heretofore unexplored: baby clothes.

I don't have a baby. I don't know anyone with a baby [that I want to make handmade clothes for], and so I've never gotten to experience the sheer joy out of making an item of clothing out of an itsy bitsy scrap of fabric.

Are humans ever this small?!

So anyways, my supervisor at work just announced to my unit that she's having a baby next February. I wanted to give her a little something, because she had to keep it quiet at work so long, and it's her first baby. She doesn't know the sex yet, so I thought, great! What an opportunity to try out a boy and girl pattern.

I used the Made by Rae newborn Geranium pattern and the Made by Rae Basic Newborn Pant. Both free, both awesome.

The dress is made from a Riley Blake print that I got in a scrap pack long ago, and the bodice lining is just a basic white. There's two teeny pattern pieces for the bodice, and it's laughable how small they are. Like, I sat looking at it for a moment because I wasn't sure if something happened with my printer. The skirt is just a large rectangle that's gathered.

The pattern calls for 3 buttons on the back. But by the time I got to that part in the sewing, I was almost delirious from fever, and I couldn't mentally comprehend the addition of buttons. I didn't even think it was safe for me to be next to a sewing machine at that point, so I used pearl snaps instead. Not as cute as color-coordinated buttons, but hopefully this means it'll be faster to get on and off the baby.

The pants are made from a scrap of Robert Kaufman Pima cotton that I used for a skirt last year. I tried to match the stripes on the front, but the back got a little away from me, so it doesn't look perfect. It helps if you remember that stripes need to be matched before cutting your pattern pieces, not after you sew the seam once ;)

I French seamed everything for a clean finish, which the pattern doesn't call for. I think it's smart with baby clothes, considering how often they get washed. I also added a little ribbon in the back as a tag to identify which is the back side. Not necessary, but I thought it was cute.

I had fun making these! Baby clothes are tiny, satisfyingly quick projects. And the look on my supervisor's face was great [it isn't widely known yet in the office that I can sew].

Happy Friday!

*Linked to Finish it Up Friday