A Summer Blessing Outfit

My sweet nephew was blessed this month.  I have yet to meet him, as he lives far away, but I can't wait to kiss his sweet little cheeks.

His good mom asked me if I'd make him a blessing outfit, and I couldn't say no.  Sewing/crafting is one of my love languages, so to be able to make something special for him on his special day, was a great way to show him and his parents my love and support.

I ended up sewing a simple white satin vest with a pocket square, and a matching bow tie.  The satin shorts are so sweet.  If a baby has thigh rolls, I whole heartedly believe that they should be shown off.

The little newsboy cap didn't turn out as perfect as I'd liked, but was still a sweet touch for the little gentleman, and a bonnet alternative for such a grown up blessing outfit.

White Satin Blessing Onesie

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Those of you that have been following my blog, may remember reading about the guilt I was feeling about not having time to make a blessing outfit for August.  Well my guilt got the best of me, and the day before the blessing I managed to whip up a semi handmade blessing vest. I actually had a blessing outfit hanging in the closet to use, but my massive 7 week old didn't quite fit into the tuxedo jacket.  So, I decided to keep the pants, and make a vest and bow tie onesie to accompany them.  I've made plenty of these, so it whipped up pretty quickly, and fortunately August slept.  

It makes for a fairly simple blessing outfit, but he looked handsome none the less.  He had been a bit grumpy the night before the blessing, so I feared he was going to scream through the entire thing, but he did awesome.

Photographing a busy baby isn't the easiest thing.  I'm sharing these blurry smiles because I just can't get over how it looks like he is taking a selfie.  Makes me laugh every time.

This week we started with infant probiotics.  At $30 for .17 ounces, I hope they work.  It's been three days, and it seems to take about a week from the reviews I've read to see improvement.  I'm hoping for the best for this little guy. I'll keep you posted.

I've also cut out eggs, which has seemed to help a bit.  Now I am on a Gluten free, egg free, peanut butter, chocolate, tomato, and bean free diet.  Meal ideas anyone?  I'm running out.

Blessing Day

Miles was blessed on Christmas day.  It was such a special day for all of us.  Miles has been such a joy and a blessing in our family.  Seeing a little baby dressed in white was a good reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

He looked awful handsome and cozy in his blessing outfit.  The size of the bow tie ended up being a bit overwhelming. Next time I'd move it down a bit and scale it down a little as well.


Don't you love his sweet blanket.  Miles' grandmother knit it for him.

Christmas day was beautiful.  We had nice sunny weather, which made it really nice and comfortable for taking pictures outside, unfortunately the clear skies and noon day sun wasn't ideal for taking photos.

I hope that you all had a very merry Christmas.  I can't wait to share a few of the projects I've been working on lately.  I'm also trying to figure out a few series that I'd like to try out in the coming year.  Hopefully all goes well and I can post a bit more regularly in 2012.

On an unrelated note, if you're doing any after Christmas shopping be sure to check out Shabby Apple-you can get an extra 20% off their sale section-Wahoo!  Just enter WINTERSALE at checkout for 20% off, and free shipping.  The sale runs through the end of the week.
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Miles Blessing Outfit

Aside from one small detail, I have Miles' blessing outfit finished. For the most part it is a refashioned outfit.  I went to my local thrift store and picked up two white sweaters.  The cable knit sweater I picked up for one dollar, and the ribbed knit  I had to pay three dollars for.  So four dollars of material for the sweater, cap, pants, and booties-Not too bad.

I used an existing outfit that we have to create a pattern for the little cardigan and the knit pants.  The booties are Sweet Pea Patterns Little London Bootie.  The cap was my own design...I almost added a little brim to it, and I'm kind of regretting that I didn't, but he'll look cute in it just the same.

I mentioned in a previous post that Miles was going to have a bow tie of his own.  He's going to be matchy matchy with his dad and brother on his blessing day.  I know that traditionally blessing outfits are solid white, but I really like the silver, and do you have any idea how difficult it is to find matching shades of white?  So call me a rebel, but he's going to sport a silver bow tie.

I'm kind of in love with the little onesie.  I picked up a plain long sleeve onesie at Wal-mart, and added a faux placket.  I simply cut a piece of white knit material that was the length of the onesie and three inches wide.  I made 1/16" pintucks in half inch increments from the center of the placket.  I then applied some fusible adhesive, adhered it to the shirt, and stitched along the edges.  I also added four buttons down the front.

I still plan on embroidering his blessing date on the onesie....any suggestions on the placement?  I've been thinking on the hip, but I suppose the back of the neck, or the hem of the sleeve could work as well.  What are your thoughts?

I know that the outfit isn't as formal as some blessing outfits, but I like that I'm dressing him as a baby boy, and not a full grown man. Here's a picture of Clark's blessing outfit.

I'll be sure to post some pictures of Miles in his blessing outfit.

Baby Blessing Romper: Simplicity 5813

My sister and her husband blessed their newborn son this past weekend.  It was wonderful to see them, and to meet my adorable new nephew.

This is their first son, and my mom and I decided to make him his own blessing outfit.  I picked up the material at Joann's.  It was originally $14.99/yard, but I was lucky enough to pick it  up in the remnant section for 90% off.  I only paid a little over a dollar for the piece of fabric.

The pattern we used was Simplicity 5813. There is an optional jacket and bonnet, but unfortunately we didn't have enough fabric to make all three pieces.

I used this same pattern to make Clark's blessing outfit two and a half years ago.  I really like how it turned out.  It was nice to be able to use a serger to clean up the inside seams this time around.

The pattern calls for Middy braid to be used as the trim, unfortunately I wasn't able to find any at our local Joann's store, and the trim I used was both thicker, and narrower than middy braid.  It made it quite difficult to get it to line up straight.