Pattern Review: Boy Jumpsuit - Jungle

So I know it's been absolutely forever since I've posted anything.  I hope to be back to posting soon, but I have had a lot of personal things going on all at once.  So much to do, so little time, and so little energy, so of course blogging falls by the wayside since for now it's not making me any money and it really is just a hobby.
 
Since I haven't had a lot of time, I thought I'd do just a short post and review a pattern I did recently.   Well, maybe not so so recently now, since the baby is already 2 months old.

When my friend told me she was having a boy, I had a pattern all ready to go, and went shopping for some boy fabric.   I picked this blue jungle fabric out but had a hard time finding the right color for the pockets.  I eventually settled on this green.

The pattern was McCalls M6494. As far as the pattern went, it was a fairly easy pattern overall.  Though when I had the pieces cut out, I was somewhat baffled how they were going to fit together.  They just didn't seem to go.   But I followed the directions, and magically it turned out to be a cute little jumpsuit.

I had never used snaps before (the previous pattern I had done called for snap tape) and didn't know what would be best for a baby outfit - the kind you sew on, or the kind you hammer on.  I finally settled on the kind you hammer.... anyone have any opinions on which is the safer option?

The other issue I had was sizing. The last McCalls pattern I did was extra big so instead of doing medium, I did small.  Still the outfit looked like it won't fit the kid until next year, but oh well.  I guess it's better too big than too small.

McCalls Pattern M6494: from  McCalls

This pattern was not my favorite.  I imagined it to be way cuter then it turned out to be.  I think that might be my choice of fabric though.  Had I picked stripes or plaid like the picture, I think I would have liked it better.    I have discovered that for small children's outfits, large patterns just don't look right.  Since the outfit is so small, when you have a large pattern it gets lost... so from now on I have to choose a smaller pattern.  I still think the fabric is cute, just better for a blanket, curtains, or a crib skirt.

In the end I really liked the pockets in the green and the bibs that went with it.   I still think the outfit is cute, just not what I was hoping for.  

Ever have a project come out well, but different then you pictured?

Boy Romper: Elephants and Giraffes

So last year, I did Boy Romper: Cars and Trucks from the McCalls Pattern M6309.  I loved it so much that I did a second one for another one of my friends.

My favorite part about this version was the Dungaree buttons. I found them in my stash and I have no idea where they came from, but I thought they were perfect for the little outfit.

And as usual, I made some bibs to go with it.  No matter what I make, I always make coordinating bibs... it's kind of my thing.

The one trick to this was that they didn't know the sex of the baby and so I had to make an outfit that was unisex.  I tried to find some neutral fabric, which I thought I did a good job at but afterward doubted myself. No matter how hard I try, I always see either boy or girl  when I look at a fabric not both.  Technically also, the pattern was a boy pattern but I thought overalls where fairly gender neutral.  

As cute as it turned out, in the end, all I could see was "boy", which is kind of lucky because they had a boy!

Anyone else have trouble finding gender neutral baby gifts?  What colors do you think are unisex?

Baby Drawstring Pants

Finally getting up the tutorial for these baby drawstring pants. There are two options of these pants - with or without a different colored waistband. To see a version without the different colored waistband check out my Baby Boy Gift Set: Cars and Trucks.

First step is to make your pattern. Take a pair of pants that you already own and that are the size you want to use as your guide. Fold in half toward the front and trace around. This will be your back piece. Be sure to stretch out the elastic waistband to make sure to take in account for the extra material. Also don't forget to add seam allowances. Also add a bit extra on top so you have enough to fold under the waistband. (Better to have too much and trim it later then to have to little) Then fold in half toward the back and repeat. This will be your front pattern piece. Notice in the below picture how the back piece is slightly sloped out more then the front piece... this helps the pants have room for the baby's little booty. :)

Cut out your pattern pieces.

If you don't want a separate waistband piece skip the next couple of steps and just do the following:
Take your fabric and fold it in half. Pin and cut out so that you get 2 of each piece.

Sorry that I don't have any pictures of this step.
If you want a separate waistband then do this step:
Make your waistband pattern pieces by using the pattern you have just made as a guide and trace around the top. Draw down the sides about 2 to 3 inches (depending on how big you want your waistband. Keep in mind that you will be folding this piece in half so your waistband will be half as big as you make it minus seam allowances.
After you have traced around the pattern pieces, remove the outside seam allowance. You aren't going to need the extra seam allowance because this piece will be cut on the fold.

Cut out your pattern pieces and then cut out 1 of each waistband piece on the fold.
For your pants pieces..fold down your pattern to a bit above where you drew your waistband line. ( remember the seam allowance). Fold your fabric in half then pin and cut so you get 2 of each piece.
Hopefully that didn't completely confuse you. That was the hardest part.

Put the sloped edges of the front leg pieces right sides together. Sew and then finish your edge how you like - zig zag, overcast, or surge.
Repeat with the back leg pieces. (use a fabric pencil to mark which one is the front and which is the back because they start to look the same.)
You will now have two pieces that are starting to look like pants.
Take the waistband pieces and put together right sides together with the top edges of the pants. See the picture below.

Find a button that is about the width of your bias tape to use as your guide. Before sewing your button holes, do a practice button hole to make sure the hole is big enough for your drawstring to go through.
Now you want to mark with a fabric pencil two button holes equally spaced from the middle. ( I did them each about 3/4 inch from the center). You want them close to your waistband seam, but with enough room for topstitching the waistband down later.
Sew your button holes.

Take your two pants pieces and put right sides together. Make sure the waistband pieces are lined up ( I forgot to check and so they aren't the same front and back).
Sew down the sides and finish your edges how you like.

Pin together and sew inside legs. Finish edges.

Measure your elastic to be the width of the pants you used to make your pattern off of. Or in my case, I measured it to the width of the onesie I was pairing it with. Add an extra inch to your measurement and cut your elastic. Take two pieces of double fold bias tape, each approximately the same length and sew one piece to each end. See picture for example. I edge stitched the bias tape to keep the sides together and to give it a cleaner look, but you don't have to do that if you don't want to.

Fold down your waistband 1/4 inch and then fold in half. Pin and topstitch the waistband down. Make sure that you pin it so that when you topstitch it that you'll catch the edge that you folded under. Don't worry about leaving a hole to get the elastic through because you can just feed it through the drawstring holes.

Next you want to feel where the edge of the elastic is and pin it to the edge of one side seam. Find the other end and pull to pin to the other edge of the other side seam. Sew the elastic in place on each side. The picture below shows what it will end up looking like. You will have the back gathered and the front straight.This gives you more flexibility in fit because you can pull your strings as loose or as tight as you want it.

Hem the bottom of your pants and you're done!

Applique on a design on a onesie to make it an outfit.

If you make your own baby drawstring pants, I would love to see them. Post to the   Creations from Alisha Rose and Friends flickr group.

Baby Boy Gift Set: Trains

So I took a week off from blogging, but I'm back. We were taking a little family time. It's good to make sure the busyness of the days don't crowd out what's really important. I've also been having some computer/Internet issues. Hopefully they will be resolved soon.

Anyways, on to other things.

Here is another boy set I made. Since the shower was for two moms, I wanted to give them each something similar but still unique.
 
I decided to cut out each of the different colored trains and appliqued them onto a larger rectangle. It was a bit of a challenge to get them exactly measured and centered just right, but I think it was so worth it.

For the matching drawstring pants, I added a colored waistband which I ended up loving. I used bias tape as the drawstring.

Look out for a tutorial for these pants in the very near future. :)

Here is the matching onesie and pants together

Add a coordinating bib and the set is complete. :)

Thanks for checking out all the baby gifts, hopefully I'll get some more variety up soon.  Though bear with me,  I do have a few more to share with you in the next month or so.   I'm excited to show you the tutorial on the drawstring pants, so watch out for that soon.  :) 

Baby Boy Gift Set: Cars and Trucks

So it kind of seems like all the sewing I've been doing lately has been for baby gifts.   If you are sick of it, I'm sorry  but you'll have to bear with me a little longer because there are a few more in the works.  If you are like me and have lots of friends having babies, then I hope you are able to get some good ideas.

Sewing for babies is also a little less intimidating then sewing for an adult because you don't have to worry as much about fit... no curves and such.   Also I think babies and kids just look so darn cute in handmade clothes.

Recently we had a mini shower for two friends of mine who were both having boys, so I had to come up with something that was cute but not too difficult since I was going to have to do it times two.  I had bought extra of the cars and trucks fabric that I had used for the boy romper.  I was very excited to use it again, and thought it would be so cute to use one of the cars as a center piece on a onesie.

I also made some matching pants to go with it.  I used a pair of pants from my baby girl as a guide for size.  I wanted to do something a little more creative so I made them into drawstring pants. I liked the fact that this made the pants size a little more adjustable.

I used the leftover vintage bias tape from my Orange Sherbet Tee as the drawstring, and I think it coordinates just perfectly.

I sewed up a coordinating bib to go with it, and I had a cute little outfit.

Stay tuned for the second boy gift set, and a tutorial to follow. :)

Boy Romper: Cars and Trucks

One of my best friends was expecting a boy and I knew I wanted to make her baby something extra special.  I recently had picked up a bunch of patterns on sale, and totally fell in love with this one.  The romper looked just adorable.  I picked out some absolutely cute fabric.... there actually were very few boy choices, so I got lucky finding something so awesome. 

McCall's  M6309

The pattern was pretty simple to follow.  Though there was a part here and there that the picture showed something different from what the actual instruction said.  It kind of seemed like maybe it was translated from another language and just wasn't translated quite right.  Some of the sentences just didn't seem to make sense.  The pictures seemed really clear though and helped me figure out what to do. Overall,  I would recommend this pattern.

I was going to just do it all in the  main fabric, but then my friend who was sewing with me suggested I do the straps and the pocket in a solid color so it would stand out. I searched in my stash and found this denim.  With red thread and buttons, the denim with the truck fabric made a great combination!

I choose the medium size which turned out a little bigger then I thought.  It actually fit my 12 month old little girl.  So it'll fit him next summer, which is actually perfect because he'll be able to wear it when it's hot out and he'll hopefully be able to wear it for a while.

I made a few bibs to go with it, wrapped it up and sent it in the mail.  My friend got it this Friday, just in time, because she had her little boy just a little after midnight on Sunday.  So excited to welcome to the world their new little one! I can't wait to meet him!