OhSewCrafty Blog

This past month, I completed two major goals… finished my son’s birth announcement and also sewed his Christening outfit, a little suit and matching bonnet.  In addition, I worked on my Xmas By the Letter WIP.

The birth announcement from last time:

Now, finished!  His named is blurred for privacy.  You can read all the details here. 

Xmas by the Letter last time (color more true):

Now, it is half done!  Sorry, this pic is a little blurry

So, for the Christening outfit, I used McCalls’s 6221, hybrid of Views E & F.  (Essentially the top of F and bottom of E).  I made the Small size, his measurements are within the range specified (13-15 lbs, 25-26″), but he doesn’t have a lot of spare room in it.  He is 4 months old now.  For fabric, I used a nice stretch sateen and a lighter weight sateen for lining.  The pattern calls for 1/2″ wide ribbon which I could not find, so I bought 5/8″ which was a mistake as it doesn’t fit in between the pintucks on the front.  I had to use 3/8″ width instead.  

Frankly the project was more work than I expected.  I completed it in less than 7 days, but I wish I’d given myself more time.  For such a small garment, it has a lot of little details and certain aspects, like setting in the sleeves took forever because they are so small… they won’t fit around the free arm of my sewing machine.  It was next to impossible to set them in perfectly and after one long evening, I decided it was “good enough”.  The pattern has functional back buttons and snaps open at the crotch for diaper changes.  I might invest in one of those snap setting tools for the future.

I think the pattern is a reissue of a McCalls 3063 and parts of the directions are rather vague- this would not be a good project for a beginner.  There is also a fair amount of hand sewing.   I made the bonnet the night before his Baptism, figuring the odds were only 50/50 that he would actually wear it.  Much to my surprise, he actually liked it!  The only bit of fussing during the ceremony occurred when I removed his bonnet before we went up to the font.  The patterns calls for 3 front buttons, but I substituted something special for the top button- it’s like a miniature tie clip with a suspended angel charm.  My mom found it and it was the perfect touch for his outfit.

All the work was completely worth it.  He looked so handsome and angelic in the outfit I made just for him, and he was comfortable, since it was all cotton.  He was the only baby who didn’t fuss during the ceremony and I wonder if it was because he was the only one in soft, breathable clothes!  I would like to make more clothes for him, especially as he grows from babyhood into a little kid.  A lot of the boy clothes available in the stores are not to my taste.