I’ve been doing some baby sewing lately….for my new niece! I am NOT pregnant. Just have to make that clear. Ha! Sewing anything baby is risky rumor business, amirite?
When I found out that my brother and his new wife are having a girl, I immediately started celebrating by doing some sewing. Even though we were in the middle of packing and moving and buying our first house…I was baby sewing. Totally normal response, right?
Maybe for a sewer. ;) My fellow seamstresses…you feel me?
Natalie just recently had a growth spurt making pretty much all of her dresses into tops and tunics. I figured I would get in some sewing in for her as well and get a dress assembly line going.
And when you give a sewer a batch of dresses to sew…those dresses end up getting cut from the same cloth…
…and you get matching cousin dresses!
And little matching Natty Janes too! Of course.
I actually remixed my Natty Janes pattern to make Nat’s shoes. She wears a size 6/7 now, so I sized the pattern up and played around with new shapes. I’m thinking of a new pattern down the road? Possibly? I still have some kinks to work out with this design. You can see it’s still a little rough around the edges.
For the dresses, I used the Geranium Dress pattern by Made By Rae. I love love the built in cap sleeve bodice option with this dress, and it came in both the new baby’s size and Nat’s size. Perfect!
Nat hasn’t grown much around the chest/wasit, but she keeps shooting up in height like crazy. So I sewed the 18-24 bodice and added a 3T+ length with a wide hem. Hopefully that will hold her over until Fall.
I love dresses with a modern vibe, so I made these in my over-used ;) favorite mustard yellow linen look fabric from Jo-Ann and this cute black and pink floral I found in the fat quarter section. I use this yellow fabric a lot. I just can’t help myself. It washes well, sews well, wears well, and the color is perfect.
It also holds up well to a lot of play…and tromping in our yard of weeds. :)
Our new house has no landscaping at the moment, or as my husband jokes, “native landscaping.” Ha. Fortunately, some of those weeds include these pretty wild daisies.
Nat’s second dress is a little less matchy matchy with her cousin. It’s made from the same gray slub linen, but it has a seer sucker bodice and single, rectangular pocket.
This slub linen (also from Jo-Ann) is a little lighter and frays more easily than the linen look. I recommend getting a little more than you think you’ll need to make up for the extra pre-washing fraying. It’s such a pretty gray though.
These dresses have me so excited for summer…
…and for my new niece to arrive! We can’t wait!
Nat’s the youngest grandchild on both sides right now, so it’s been a while since we’ve had a new baby in the family. That sweet baby is already so incredibly loved, that’s for sure. August can’t come soon enough!
I know the feeling! My cousin’s baby is due in early June, and, I, being the crafter in the family, can not wait. At this point, my biggest worry is not finishing the various projects in time. Our family has so few young children to sew for it’s not even funny!
I know that feeling! So many projects….never enough time! :) It sounds like your cousin’s baby will be well loved with lots of handmade goods though.
Yep, hearing you loud and clear!!
I am sewing geranium 4 and 5 this week: doing a 3 moths, a 2 y, a 8 y, 10 y and a 10 long 12…. Just love the pattern, it is so versatile…
You are busy! I bow to your efficiency!
I LOVE baby sewing. And those dresses are beautiful!
I actually picked up that same slub linen for me, but then put it back again because it wrinkles, but now that I see it on your adorable girl, I am rethinking it. It is such a gorgeous color!
Thank you! Baby sewing is the best huh!? Itty bitty everything…. The slub linen does wrinkle, but irons out really easily. The linen look hardly needs any ironing, if you don’t mind it not looking super crisp all the time. Wish it came in this gray though!
Haha, yes, that’s most folks first guess when baby stuff is mentioned. ;-)
Natalie is getting tall! The dresses are cute, and I like the shoe design idea. I’d love to lend a hand smoothing out the rough edges if you’d like. =)
My yard is full of weeds right now… but not pretty daisies! Nasty plants with burrs and prickles, but my kids love it!
I know! She is all height really. eep. :) I would love suggestions and if you want to be a tester? That would be awesome. That’s far down the road though. We have to get our yard and house in order first. So many projects and not enough time! ack! :)
Those look great! Matching cousins is so much fun. :) I love the linen look fabric at JoAnn’s too. I have used it for shorts for my daughters in the turquoise and purple color ways too. It is great for holding up but not wrinkling too much.
Exactly! It is really kid friendly that way. I just bought some of the olive green, and purple too. Such rich, pretty colors.
aw so cute – i love the seersucker/linen combo especially. and cute shoes!! i wonder as natalie gets bigger if you have any ideas to make the natty janes outdoor friendly? sewing with rubber…??
Thanks Kristin! Yes. I have thought about that. If I can find sources and experiment with it? Who knows!? It would be fun to try. I get a lot of requests for specifically the flexible leather sole version in bigger sizes though, so there is a still a market for that.
These are so precious, Delia! I love both versions of the dress, and the shoes too! Your new backyard looks so dreamy.
Thanks Abby! You mean the weeds? ;) ha. At least the weeds are pretty here in the PNW.
My daughter is also in 6/7 so I’m sad I can’t use the natty janes pattern anymore :( You should totally size up!
I’m working on it. I hope to get to it soon, but home projects are currently taking priority. Case in point…the weeds. haaaaaa. :)
I love the single rectangle pocket on Natalie’s grey Geranium. It gives the dress a whole new look! Very cool idea.
Thanks Leslie!
I love the dresses and matching shoes. I will have to try out that linen like fabric for sure! Thanks for sharing.
Holy cow, these are the most beautiful and adorable baby clothes. I’ve followed your blog for awhile now and I think your sewing abilities have absolutely skyrocketed and your taste is absolutely impeccable. Fabric choice is a tough thing to nail down perfectly but you seem to have the good stuff.
I can’t wait to have a baby to sew up some pieces inspired by yours! You help me to aspire but also stay grounded. Keep on keeping on, lady. :-)
Katherine,
You are so kind! Thank you for taking the time to leave me such a thoughtful, sweet comment. Wish I could hug you!
Delia
The dresses are so cute!!! I wish my girls were still little and I could make them cute dresses. My cousin’s wife is expecting so maybe there’ll be a little girl in the family this fall and I can make them for her.
Thanks Debbi! What a lucky cousin!
Love her new dresses and Nat is looking so grown up! What beautiful pictures. I love your new environment and you seem to love it too–so many pretty places!
Thanks Anneliese!
I’m in the middle of sewing my first Geranium dress (4T). I bought the pattern because you make it look amazing on your little girl. The going is slow for me, but I was wondering since these are your nth Geraniums, how long does it take you to whip one up now?
Aw, thanks Megan! I am so excited for you to sew your first! The first Geranium definitely takes the longest. I think one thing about this dress, is that it’s simple lines can be a little deceiving. It looks like a super fast sew, but Rae doesn’t really let you cut corners, and that’s good! You get a very nicely finished dress, that looks good inside out. It just takes some time.
I usually sew them in batches, so it’s hard to say how long just one dress takes me. I would say, from start to finish… Maybe an hour and a half. If I hand sew the skirt to the bodice…well that is for sure a solid two plus (plus) hours.;) I am not really a great hand sewer though. The baby size dresses are a little quicker, and if I sew in batches I shave off some time too.
That’s why I like to do bulk sewing if I can, whether it’s all Geraniums or a few different projects at a time. It allows me to break up the tasks and be more efficient… I’ll do bulk cutting one night, then sew all the bodices another night, attach skirts and sew hems when I have a half hour here or there, then sew buttons and button holes and so on. That way I can have an assembly line going and fit it in where I can. I’m not sure you wanted to know ALL that. ha ;). But if you end up liking the pattern, Geraniums are a such a great play dress and totally worth sewing a bunch!
Happy sewing!
This is so cute. Love all the linens
Thank you Audrielle!