Sweet baby things

Recently, Smitty’s brother became a grandpa.  Which then gave me the perfect “excuse” (like I need one!) to sew.  I love making boy baby things.  Girl baby things are great too, but since I raised a son, sewing for boy babies always takes me back to when my son was growing up and I sewed for him.

The variety for boys is no where even near to what’s out there for girls, so when I find something unique but still “boyish” to sew, I’m way more excited about it than is necessary.  This pattern called Sweet William by Wendy Schoen, actually serves well for both sexes.  I have also made it in girly colors and made the embroidered part of it feminine.  It’s one of those “keepers” – a pattern that is my “go to” pattern for a newborn.  Now, that said – it’s best to get these things made up ahead of time, because as we know babies grow fast.

I always mean to do that – make up a bunch of baby things and keep them stored for gifting as the occasion arises.  And, of course, I haven’t done that yet – except for the hat and socks that I added to the gift.  But this tendency of mine also makes this pattern even more special – because while it’s meant for a newborn it’s big enough for a little bit older baby – and it “grows” – at least in length.  I remember seeing my grands running around as toddlers in their little sleepers now serving a night-shirts.  So, nice that this one has a tuck basted in to it – which lets out if you take out the embroidered chain and the inside basting. 

I chose the chain stitch for the embroidery (pattern calls for a feather stitch) this time,  since you can just snip the knot and pull and the whole thing will just unravel.  I also thought it seemed kind of a boyish stitch.

For the drawstring in the bottom of the hem, I used some twill tape that I stitched to each end of a piece of elastic and then threaded that thru the hem/casing at the bottom.  That makes it a stretchy gather – which makes getting to a diaper change quicker when necessary.

The other thing I like about this pattern is the back opening is big.  At first I thought – wow, that’s way huge – but it facilitates just dropping the baby in and snapping the back up.  Ohhhhh – I get it!

I hope the new parents are pleased.  Most of the pleasure for me is just making and giving a unique gift, but it’s always a plus when the recipient likes it.  You know what I mean?