Adorable Baby Duds

So it turns out my son and his girlfriend are about to provide me with the grandchild I've been craving ever since the day I became a mother. I've been holding off on the baby sewing blitz until they made the news public, which they did this last weekend. As a bonus, they've also announced the sex of the little nipper.

Masculine outfit #1

Yes, it's a boy! The baby is due in May, which gives me a lot of time to anticipate the fun to come. And also to sew and knit like the wind.

I remember from my own baby-making days that you don't need to stock up on newborn items. Most babies will outgrow them in 15 minutes. But they're so darned cute, I couldn't resist making a few things. The three garments in this lineup are all from free patterns culled from the internet. The web is just wonderful for instant gratification.

From top to bottom:

Tiny skater beanie. Looking for a tiny Santa Cruz patch to decorate it, but no  luck so far.

This is a Jersey Baby Hat that I found on Craftsy. There's a free pattern (one pattern piece, can't beat that for quick and easy!) and a nice tutorial on sewing the thing up.

The color is really a deep teal blue. 

Next up, an envelope (or lap neck) tee. I remember these being great for a newborn because their heads are so unexpectedly enormous. With a regular tee, if the neck fits over their head it also slips over their shoulders and gets hung up on their diapers. I found this free pattern on The Busy Bug Life blog. Again, it comes along with a great construction tutorial. The tee was easy to put together and only took about half an hour. The tutorial shows you how to cannibalize an adult tee to make this top. How cute would that be! My son does Brazilian Ju-Jitsu; I'm already imagining father/son tees advertising his gym.

First pair of jeans

Lastly, a pair of Basic Baby Pants from Made By Rae. This is another fabulous free pattern that comes along with a great set of instructions. I was happy to find a pattern that's designed for woven fabric. I have a closet full of cute scraps from my years of garment sewing. These pants are perfect to show off an adorable print. For this pair I used some light denim remnants from this pair of shorts. I'm already picturing another pair with little pockets on the back, and maybe some topstitching to highlight an imaginary fly.

My review of this pattern is on PatternReview.com here.

I have no clue whether this wardrobe will actually fit a real newborn. There was a day when I could reliably guess a kid's age and nail it within a three week range, but the passage of time has wiped that slate clean.

Now I'm a sewist who has moved from only wanting to sew for me to a sewist who yearns to sew all the baby things. I'm sure they've invented a whole bunch of cool stuff since I travelled this road 34 years ago. If you have any suggestions for the best kid patterns, please send them my way?

Flashdance Redux

This is Raglan Pullover Top #114 from the October, 2016 issue of Burdastyle.

Full frontal, with sleeves unfurled

I was after a loose-fitting, sweatshirt kind of top, but with a bit more style. A bit more panache. I'm kind of worried that I ended up over Flashdance territory.

OK, here's the line drawing. Looks like your garden-variety raglan sleeve sweatshirt, right? One of the photos in the magazine notes that the "oval neckline ... drapes flatteringly around the neck and shoulders."

Makes it sound a bit more like a boat neck, huh? I was OK with that idea. It ended up a bit larger than I'd thought it would, but I'm still liking that feature pretty well.

It's the body I'm wondering about. It's a pretty darn generous cut. Like, you could fit two of me in here.

Side view

That arm scythe is hanging pretty low. Especially when seen from the rear. Hmm. Now I'm wondering if I got confused and put the danged thing on backwards.

Back view, with low-hanging sleeves 

I used a thin, droopy sweater knit from the back of the stash shelf, which probably contributes to the baggy look. If I'd used a heavier knit, more like a sweatshirt weight, I bet I'd have ended up with something closer to what the Burdastyle photoshoot led me to expect.

On balance, I think the top will end up being OK. I don't love it, but I'll probably wear it. It will fill the bill for lounging around the house on crisp fall days. If I hike the sleeves up, it doesn't look quite so enormous, right?

Front with sleeves hiked up.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.