KCW: Day 1- Sugar Skull Onesie

It's Kids Clothes Week.  I am excited, but somehow feel like I am already behind.  My first project was a heat transfer onesie for my youngest.  

I broke down and bought a Silhouette Cameo for myself for Christmas.  I've been a bit intimidated by it, but really drawn to the heat transfer material.  So one of my first projects was a shirt for August.  I love Sugar Skulls, and fell in love with this particular image available through the Silhouette store.  

After downloading the image, it was as easy as adjusting the scale of the image to fit the bodysuit, and adding a bit of text to the bottom.

I love how it turned out, and Gus isn't complaining.

Tutorial: Bib Onesie

I love baby onesie.  They are so practical for little babies, and they can be awfully cute as well.  A plain white onesie on a baby is plenty cute, but add a little lace, and a few well attached buttons, and it's irresistible.

This little bib onesie was made to accompany a box pleat baby skirt.  and wasn't difficult to make.

You'll need:

Baby bodysuit
Scrap of fabric ( I used a knit)
Fusible sewable web (I used wonder under)
1 yard or so of trim
18 inches of matching piping
3 small buttons
Coordinating thread

3-6 Month Bib Template for Carter's Bodysuit

First, you'll want to make a template.  This can be done by placing a piece of paper over top of the onesie, and carefully transferring the shape of the neckline to the paper.  You'll also want to feel out where the shoulder seam, and envelope neckline are, so that you can shape the bib to fit nicely under the overlapped pieces.  Decide how far down you want the bib the extend, and how wide you want it to be.  Extend the upper tabs of the bib up, to extend up beyond the shoulder fold by about an inch.  These little tabs will slide in between the neckline, and fold to the other side.

 At this point I fold my paper in half, and cut out the shape of my bib, making it symmetrical. 

Apply a layer of fusible web to the wrong side of the main bib fabric.  Cut out the bib.

Turn the bib piece over, and position four lengths of lace trim on the bib front. I left about an inch and a  quarter in the middle of the bib for button placement.  Pin the trim in place, and stitch down to the bib.

Attach piping.  To do so, you can align the raw edges of the piping with the raw edges of the bib piece.  Stitch close to the piping stitching line.  If needed, you can use a zipper foot to work around the bulk of the piping. For a more detailed look at attaching piping, visit my piped pocket infant skirt tutorial.

Turn the raw edge of the bib/piping under so that it is hidden beneath the bib.  Position the bib on the onesie, and using a hot iron, adhere to the bodysuit.

You will tuck the tabs inside the envelope neckline, and press.  While you're at it, trim that obnoxious thread on the trim of the bib. Stitch along the piping/bib seam, the neck tabs, and around the neckline, to secure the bib to the shirt.  I recommend using a ballpoint needle to do this.

Once your bib is securely attached, position your three buttons, and using a needle and thread, or your sewing machine, attach the buttons to the onesie. You're done. (Learn how to attach buttons with your sewing machine).

Next, add an adorable box pleat baby skirt to go with it.  

Faux Peter Pan Collar Embellished Onesie

I had a few of you ask about the shirt that went along with my niece's birthday outfit.  I did make embellish the shirt, but didn't sew it from scratch.  Embellishing is my favorite approach to a top.  

First I started with a 24 month size onesie.  They can be hard to come by, but I've picked some up at Ross Dress for Less, and this particular one my mom found for me.

This onesie (which I love for girls in skirts), has a super simple sparkly faux peter pan collar.  You only need a few basic supplies:

1-Scrap piece of knit fabric, mine was a piece of dance knit that I use for super hero cape appliques.  

2-Heat and Bond fusible web, sewable bond

3-Press Cloth

4-Iron/sewing machine

5-Buttons

6-Scrap Piece of paper, and a pencil

First off, you'll want to make a template.  Start by placing your scrap piece of paper over top of the onesie.  Feel your way around the neckline, tracing the basic shape.  Follow the neckline all of the way up to the top, extending about an inch underneath the envelope closure.

Once you have your basic neckline shape, fold the paper in half, at the center point of the neckline.  Sketch out your basic peter pan collar on one side, add a mini placket if you'd like, and cut.  With your template folded in half, it should be cut symmetrically.

Once you have your template, transfer the shape to the paper side of your fusible web.

Iron your fusible web to the back side of your knit material.

Once your fusible web has cooled, cut out your collar. 

Position your collar on the outside of the onesie, matching up center marks (look for the tag). Use a press cloth to prevent any foiled knits from melting, and adhere to the onesie according to manufacturers directions.

Make sure that you are adhere the collar under the envelope sleeve as well.

 Once adhered and cooled, stitch 1/8" away from the outside of the collar.  If you are using knits, you should not have to worry about finishing off edges.  A straight stitch with a ball point needle will do the trick.  Add a couple of matching buttons to the faux placket, and you are done.

Here is a look at the tips of the collar that hides under the envelope sleeve.  I like the collar to extend right up to the top of the shoulder, that way it doesn't peek out when the shirt is being worn.

Obviously, you could use this technique with any shirt, it doesn't have to be a bodysuit.  You could either extend the collar up to the shoulder seam, or create a narrow band to extend around the back of a crew neck top.

There you have it.  A super quick embellishment.  It adds just a bit of sparkle, and is still wearable.

Baby Gifts

Some friends of ours are expecting their first son later this month.  I wanted to be sure and get something made up for them before the baby arrived. I love bow tie and vest onesies, so of course, I made one for their little guy.  I also happen to think that the "No Hablo" Bodysuits are hilarious, so I threw one in there as well.

A self-bound receiving blanket, and a serged edge swaddling blanket (36" square, with rounded corners), and the gifts were good to go.

I saved a few scraps of the flannel, serged the edges, and tied the blankets up in with a contrasting bow.   Clark and I worked on this project while Miles was down for his afternoon nap.  We had a good conversation about repetition with variation as elements of design.  I explained that the blue and white color scheme united the two fabrics, while the different patterns created visual interest, repetition with variation.  Who knows if his nearly four year old mind will file the information away for future use, but I love that he asks questions, and likes to help me out.

So I've been sewing up a storm lately, and crossing things off of my "To Sew" List, but unfortunately I don't have any tutorials.  It's been a while since I've written up a tutorial for you.  Any requests on particular projects?  I'll try to squeeze in a tutorial sometime next week.

Top-toberfest: Lil' Pumpkin Appliqued Onesie Template

I thought that I'd share a Harvest/Halloween applique with you today.  I call it the "There's a pumpkin on my bumkin applique".  There are very few times in life when it's okay to have pictures or words plastered on your bottom, but the baby stage is one (if not the only) acceptable stage. Having boys, I don't get to indulge in ruffled bottom tights and bloomers, so an appliqued onesie will have to work.

It's a simple little applique that I designed.  I'll share the file with you so long as you respect that it is for personal use only.  The template is designed to fit a pre-washed Carter's 0-3 month onesie.  You can feel free to adjust it to different sizes.

My applique is done with some scrap knit fabric that I have had stashed away, heat and bond fusible adhesive,  some embroidery thread, and lightweight fusible interfacing.

Begin by applying the heat and bond to the wrong side of the fabric.  

Next transfer the image to the front side of the fabric using pattern marking/transfer paper. Cut out your pieces.

Adhere the applique pieces to the onesie.  I had the small pumpkin in the front, and the large pumpkin on the behind.  It should fit right in line with the seams and snaps on the onesie.

 I used my embroidery thread to do some hand stitching.  I feel that it adds some visual interest to the applique.  You could do some machine stitching around the images if you prefer.  If you are using a fabric that frays (knits generally won't) you will want to ensure that you either satin stitch (tight zig zag) around the image, or apply some sort of fray check or fray block to the raw edges.

Once I was done with the applique and hand stitching I used some fusible interfacing to secure the embroidery threads, and prevent the thread from irritating babies chest.

That's it.

A fun little applique for the season.

You can find the template here.  Once again, the template is for personal use only. Please link up the tops that you've been working on this year in the Top-toberfest link party.