A few weeks ago, when I took these pictures of Sawyer, I became absolutely obsessed with the idea of one-piece baby rompers for summer. I NEVER put these little sleeveless rompers on the other boys, in part because I was afraid they would get totally sunburned and I am phobic of the crazy ingredients in sunscreens. (Side note, if you are also weird about sunscreens, I am LOVING this sunscreen by Ava Anderson NonToxic.)
Anywho, I spent hours trying to find a pattern for one of these that was exactly what I wanted, with no success. I ended up going with this pattern from the Scientific Seamstress. Even though the design wasn't exactly what I wanted, it was close, and I love her patterns and knew it would be easy to adjust to make it what I wanted.
I made several changes to the pattern. First, I didn't make it reversible. I didn't even make it fully lined. Essentially I just made a facing (I'm sure my friend Shasta is horrified right now - she hates facings) for the top half of the romper. I also use velcro instead of snaps or buttons at the shoulders and inseam. I was a little worried that the velcro wouldn't hold the openings shut during all the baby wiggling, but they the velcro has worked just fine, and is MUCH MUCH easier to close up after a diaper change.
I also moved and redrafted the shoulder openings. I really wanted the romper to look as much like this one as possible, so I used it as a template to make the straps more square shaped, and moved the closure to the top of the shoulder rather than in the front.
I also added a pocket to the front, but not on purpose. Nope. That pocket exists for one reason.
Because my serger ate part of the fabric. I always serge the raw edges of my fabric before I sew, rather than serging the seam allowance after I sew, and this is exactly why. Because I can't manage to get a seam allowance through my serger without it eating part of my garment.
This romper took less than a yard of fabric. I used the 18 month size here. In the next one I made, I used the 2T and liked the sizing much better.
Hey, look, I can walk!!
Up next, I'll be trying to adjust this pattern to get rid of the center seam and instead have side seams. My first attempt was a massive fail. I'll let you know how attempt #2 goes.
p.s. When did I make the helicopter romper? During KCWC. Weeks ago. The end of the quarter kicked my butt, and then grandma broke her hip, and then my grandpa passed away, and thus I am SUPER behind on posting my projects. Things are getting back to normal around here, so hopefully that means more sewing and blogging. And writing my dissertation. That too. ;)
