Organic Baby Rompers

Finally, I’m nearing the end of my baby sewing list, and not a bit too soon with my due date being in nine days! Here’s the latest sewing project for the June boy; five organic knit rompers.

I used this romper pattern from Etsy and I really liked it; it’s easy to follow and made an incredibly cute romper! I made all five in size 0-3 months. These will be just perfect for our crazy hot summer days.

Detail shot of bottom snap opening. The snaps were all size 15 metal snaps from Snapsource.

The fabrics are the same from my other previous baby layette post; a mix of organic knit prints and solids from birch plus a couple solid organic knits from my stash. I just love these fabrics and am so glad to have gotten so many layette pieces out of the small amount of yardage I had bought!

I seriously can’t pick a favorite color combo. Mineral with elk?

Taupe with feathers?

Teal with darling gold bugs?

Or how about cream with mint bugs?

Ok, ok, I can pick a favorite. I love the midblue with coral feathers. Swoon!

I think that’s it for baby clothes, well, in the newborn – 3 month size at least. Any bets on whether or not I can get a baby blanket done for this kid before he appears? 😉

Baby accessories

Accessories tend to make the outfit, don’t they? Even if you’re just a little baby 😉  So I decided to spend some time making a few beautiful and useful accessories to go with my baby’s layette. First up is a pair of leather shoes.

I made the shoes in size 0-6 months from some beautiful leather scrap I bought off of eBay. The laces are 3/8″ cream twill tape. The pattern was this free shoe pattern which I modified by scaling it up (printed at 110%), did two lacing holes rather than three, omitted the heart cutouts, added some topstitching, and also changed the shape of the heal piece to create the look I was after on the shoe front.

I love these little shoes!

Next up are some reversible bandana-style drool bibs.

I sewed them using this free tutorial in size 6-12 month and included the optional size adjustment snap to make them fit at a smaller size as well.

The fabrics are various ones from my stash (a lot of them are Kaufman railroad chambray’s) and the snaps are size 15 metal snaps from Snapsource.

Lastly I made a little reversible bucket hat from the free Oliver + s pattern available here. I made it in size XS out of Robert Kaufman Railroad Poplin and Cotton & Steel Tokyo Train Ride Harajuku in color aqua. I did modify the pattern by widening the brim a little and I added a little chin strap with velcro closure.

Reverse side. I just love those cute animals!

Only a few weeks left until I welcome this little baby! I wonder how much more sewing I can get done for him before he arrives.

Does anyone else enjoy the nesting energy before baby comes or do you prefer to do nothing and take it easy?

Baby essentials

With only about thirty days left with this pregnancy (say what?!) it was time to get some much needed basics completed. First up was a wool mattress for the bedside cosleeper.

Wool is pretty amazing. It’s breathable, flame-resistant, and so wonderfully soft! For this mattress I used about five pounds of wool which was layered inside of a shell sewn from some squishy soft organic cotton flax stretch knit. Both the wool and knit were bought from here. I hand tufted the mattress to keep the wool from shifting and to make it as firm as possible.

To protect the mattress I made a wool puddle pad from exquisitely soft merino wool knit which was bought from here. To make it waterproof first it was felted in the washing machine/dryer and then treated with lanolin several times. So much more comfy that a plastic mattress protector!

The bassinet mattress also required a fitted sheet, which was sewn from organic cotton sateen leftover in my stash from previous bedding made for my daughter.

For this go around I’ll be using cloth wipes to along with my cloth diapering. I cloth diapered my other two, but for some reason never did cloth wipes. And so three dozen single-ply wipes were made from some lovely organic cotton sherpa which was bought from here. This sherpa is so thick and soft! This kids bum is going to be seriously spoiled (I’m a tad jealous)!

I already have a bunch of organic bamboo velour/fleece nursing pads which I had made for my previous pregnancies but decided to try a few wool ones as well! I used the same merino wool as the puddle pad which was also felted in the wash/dry but not treated with lanolin. In theory they should be absorbent and have a stay-dry quality to them as well. I can’t wait to try them out!

Whew, so glad to have gotten a bunch of essentials out of the way! I think some cute baby stuff is needed next.. perhaps some little shoes? 😉

Does anyone else enjoy saving $$$ on making their own baby essentials? Seriously, I think I saved several hundred dollars on that mattress alone!

June bug layette

Can you believe it’s May already? I sure can’t! Time is really just flying by and I still have so much left I want to get sewn for my June boy. Thankfully I managed to knock out a bunch of clothing for him these past couple weeks.

First up is a set of seven wrap shirts in size 0-3 months sewn from several different knits using a self drafted pattern. The fabrics are Birch solids in mineral, midblue and teal, Birch bugs print in gold and mint, plus a dark taupe organic knit and a mint knit from my stash. I used an organic cream knit as the binding for all of the tees.

Here’s a look at how the shirt wraps on. The closures are size 15 metal snaps from Snapsource. I love tiny metal snaps! They add such a professional look to the finished garment. The tabs are .5″ cream twill tape from Jo-Ann’s .

Next up are three sleep-gowns plus three adorable knot hats.

The gowns were sewn using this free and totally awesome newborn gown pattern. For the fabrics I used Birch knits elk grove in color shroom, and feathers in colors coral and mineral. For the binding I used the same cream organic knit as the wrap tees.

Elastic bottoms for easy diaper changes!

The knot hats were sewn using this free pattern here. I love this hat pattern! It’s so insanely quick, easy, and satisfying to sew up! For the fabrics I went with the three that would provide the most matching between all the pieces I made, so I chose to use Birch bugs in gold, feathers in coral, and the organic cream knit from my stash. They really do match everything!

Each shirt matches at least two of the hats. This one matches all three! Things like this make me happy :). Does anyone else get a thrill out of creating a bunch of pieces that all match each other or is it just me?

Yay for getting this kid some clothing sewn! On to the next baby project!

Lullaby layette

What do you do when you are down to your final 10 weeks of pregnancy? Sew baby things like mad, of course! In fact until the baby is born I’ll be pretty much just sewing baby related things, and I’m very excited about it 🙂

My first baby project is the Lullaby Layette set by Oliver + s in size 0-3 months and the free Sweetpea pilot cap by Sew Liberated in size XS.

The jacket was sewn from Cotton & Steel Tokyo Train Ride Harajuku in color aqua for the outer and Cotton & Steen Basics Dottie in color goldilocks for the inside with Robert Kaufman Railroad Poplin as the binding.

I modified the pattern a little by adding elbow patches plus quilting the entire jacket.

Here’s a close up of the quilting and the awesome print. I love this jacket!

The bodysuit is sewn from some luxurious organic cotton blend knit fabrics in colors cream and taupe from lowpricefabric.com. I  made a few modifications by color blocking the sleeves and snap facing, plus adding a little pocket sewn from the same Robert Kaufman railroad poplin.

The pants I sewed from more of the lovely Robert Kaufman railroad poplin (I kinda love this fabric..can you tell?) and modified the pattern a bit by adding little knee patches.All the seams were flat-felled to make the pants more durable.

The contrast back pockets were sewn from the same cream organic knit as the bodysuit.

The completed ensemble! I can’t wait to put a little baby body into this 🙂

Does anyone else get crazy nesting at the end of pregnancy?