If you have ever had or now have this thought but don't know where to start keep reading! I will save you a LOT of grief if you choose to listen to my words of wisdom.
You have a new child and he (or she) is getting to the point where you have a couple of minutes to breathe, he actually looks like a human being now, and you want to bestow your love on him (well, maybe more to show off how cute he is) and sew a little outfit. What do you sew? What should you make? The possibilities are endless! (Oh, and did I mention that you are a beginner?)
YOU HAVE A BABY GIRL:
(Photos courtesy of Flickr)
Dress: You will be tempted to sew a dress. They are sweet and relatively simple to construct in the grand scheme of things. I know I'm going to rock the boat a bit by saying this, but don't sew a dress! They look cute and all, but if your daughter is an infant, you have to hold her all the time and the dress gets all bunchy and unsightly and then you have diaper butt....I know, it's a thing I have. If she can sit up and crawl, it's even worse. She can and will "trip" on the skirt of the dress and it frustrates her to no end. Finally, let's talk about cozy. It seems to me that babies are most comfortable in stretch-knit fabrics (the bottom dress is made in a stretch-knit). You could attempt to sew stretch-knit, but it is a bit tricky to get the feel of working with it and from keeping your neckline and armscye from being completely stretched out permanently. Your other option is a woven cotton (like the top picture) and it just seems a bit stiff to me for such a little baby. My advice is....sew the dress when your daughter can walk! It will last a bit longer and will function in a much more practical fashion.
Bubble Suit: "What about a bubble suit?" you may ask. This will not cause the baby to trip when she crawls and is much more practical. It is-- I concede that fact. But I need to let you novice seamstresses know, that an infant needs to have snap tape along the crotch for easy changing. If you choose not to put this in because it is a bit tricky to set the tape in, you will be sorry. Who wants to take a jumper on and off a baby every time you need to change them? Not me. So, the snap tape must stay. I have been sewing for over 15 years and in many professional establishments and I think that snap tape is a bit tricky. I can do it of course, but you need to be very patient in order to make it look like it's supposed to be there. Here is a custom garment that I just completed for a baby girl sized 9 months. You would be surprised to find out that a little outfit like this one is much more time consuming than a dress.
A dress you can make sleeveless, but this has the yolk, set-in sleeves, buttons down the center back, elastic casings, and of course the snap tape.
Why do you think I make Megan design all the baby wear for 2T and under??? Because I'm SMART! Sigh. So what does this mean? Where does this leave us?
YOU HAVE A BABY BOY:
(Photo by Melissa Lee Photography)
Pretty much the same applies for a little boy. Look at my nephew here. He's smiling AND he's in cozy stretch cotton. He's just a baby. If you would like to venture down the road of stretch cottons, I think you should! Once you get the feel, they come together very quickly and it helps to have a serger to zip all those seams together. Otherwise, wait until your little boy is a bit older. You can make some really cool pants that just pull up and if you like the "old man look" you can find some pretty simple patterns for button-down shirts.
"Yeah yeah Rachel, you've done a lot of talking and not giving a lot of substantial advice. What on earth should I sew?"
This is what I'm going to tell you.
1. Sew some blankets - receiving blankets, cozy blanket, or a blanket to lay on the floor for play. Basically all you need is a yard of fabric, cut it into a 36" by 36" square, then bind it with a satin blanket ribbon. Done.
2. Sew a bonnet. (Simplicity 3840)
3. Sew a hat. (Simplicity 3555)
If that isn't your thing, purchase some stretch-knit plain onesies, one-piecers, or pants and tastefully embellish them. Find some really cool fabric and cut out a design, fuse it onto the onesie (or whatever) and set your machine to zig-zag and machine applique it. You will have something unique, you put some work into it, and yet it's still cozy and functional. Really important.
What could you do with your imagination with this and this?
In conclusion (now that I may have held your attention on this blog for the last time) wait to sew for your baby just a bit. It doesn't have to be super long. In fact, it's probable that by the time you really feel like sewing anything, you've already passed the super baby stage anyway. For girls, wait for dresses until they can walk. Then sew dresses like crazy! Try the machine applique technique with some cool fabrics you may find at fabric stores like Super Buzzy or my favorite, equilter.com.
If you HAVE waited and are still waiting to get some sort of return for your time on this long post try these tried and true simple, yet sweet children's patterns:
(Simplicity 3854) Toddler dress and bloomers.
(Simplicity 3511) Young girls dress and pant options.
(Simplicity 3512) Young girls slightly more stylized dress.
(Simplicity 5581) If you can ignore the awful fabric, you can see that the shirt has clean lines and the pants are cute cargo pants.
(Simplicity 5366) This was going to be a joke at first, but I actually think that with the right fabrics you could really make a KA boy's cowboy shirt.
(Simplicity 9958) Then you can make your husband and sons matching boxer shorts. Hee hee.
Alright, I've droned on long enough. My sister is going to give me hell for this one. Good night!
Love, Rachel