Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Sewing for Abbie

09:59, Wednesday, October 4, 2006 .. Posted in Sewing Room .. 4 comments .. Link

I have been slowly getting more sewing projects finished. Joe has been so wonderful and supportive of my sewing for the family. He even drives me to a fabric store and has helped pick out patterns for himself, Abbie and I. Right now, if I never bought another pattern, I have enough projects to keep me busy for the next year! I am gradually sewing clothing for all of us. My end goal is to be making all of our clothing with the exception of our socks, shoes, and Joe's work uniforms which the company provides. I have patterns right now for nearly everything else. Only patterns that I don't have are mainly the western clothing patterns that I want to get for making Joe's church clothing and some clothing for when we go out.

I've had people ask about the wardrobe that I am making for Abbie. Here is what I am making:

* I am using a regular baby romper pattern (McCalls 2053) to make undergarments to wear with her jumpers. The bodice of the romper pattern is being made to look like a little blouse. The bottom part is made from a cotton fabric such as lightweight linen for summer or flannel for winter. This will help with modesty, keep her legs protected and in the winter help keep her legs warm. I am making some of them without the elastic in the legs to make panteloons and some made with elastic for bloomers. The only real altering that I am having to do with the pattern is to shorten the pant length to about mid-calf or just below mid-calf. This same pattern made with long sleeves added and completely made from flannel makes a wonderfully warm undergarment to wear under a jumper in winter!

* Joe found 2 cute & simple jumper patterns by Simplicity. The first is pattern #4056. This pattern is the jumper, a long sleeved top and hat that form 6 different styles. The second pattern is #5317, which contains a jumper in 2 lengths, long and short sleeved tops, pants (capri & ankle length) and a hat. With these 2 patterns, I will be able to make Abbie's jumpers and tops. The pants in the capri length is perfect for making the panteloons! Also, for winter, I am making some of her jumpers from polar fleece for extra warmth.

* Abbie's summer dress pattern is Simplicity #4262: a mid-calf length sleeveless dress with a pair of long bloomers and a floppy hat. I made her this outfit over the summer and it was adorable! It is one of the Simplicity "It's So Easy" patterns and took very little time to put together. On hint I would say though is to measure the largest part of your child's leg and make the elastic abit longer than that measurement. The reason being that the legs ride up when a little baby is kicking and playing. So, you will pant ot go by the larger measurement to prevent the elastic from being too tight.

* Abbie's nightgown is another Simplicity "It's So Easy" pattern, #4035. I am making the long nightgown. For warm weather, I use a lightweight fabric and then make her a pair of matching shorts or bloomers to wear under it for modesty. In the winter, she will have a flannel long nightgown with a pair of the pajama pants or panteloons to keep her legs warm.

I hope that this explains what I am making Abbie. Also that maybe it will give ideas to you in things that you can make. One note: With the exception of the "It's So Easy" type of patterns that are always a cheaper price, I never pay full price for a pattern. I check the pattern companies catalogs online and make up a "wish list" of patterns that I want to make. Then, when the fabric store has their pattern sales, I buy the limit. For example, last week the store had the Simplicity patterns for $.99 cents each with a limited purchase of 5 patterns per customer. Joe and I each bought 5 patterns. Together, we were able to buy 10 patterns for less than the cost of 1 pattern at regular price!

Happy Sewing!

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very inspiring

09:30, Thursday, October 5, 2006 .. Posted by deedee06
Wow! You are a busy seamstress. How satisfying to make the majority of your family's clothing. I will look for men's Western patterns and let you know if I find anything you might be able to use. Bless you today..............Denise (prairiemom)

western patterns

10:08, Thursday, October 5, 2006 .. Posted by oklamouse
I am going to be getting the western style patterns through an online company called "Buckaroo Bobbins". They are located in Arizona and sell historically correct patterns.

My Beloved and I were actually able to find enough variety to make him an entire wardrobe if we chose to!

For the gals like me who only wear dresses, they also have a women's pattern in the ladies colllection that is called "Frillies". This pattern is for the underclothing. I plan on making these out of flannel to stay warm this winter!

with a little one

11:42, Thursday, October 5, 2006 .. Posted by meme21713
You are good to be able to sew while tending to an infant..I love to sew, but have not done it all this year. I am thinking for the winter months I will dig out the patterns that I have and ALL the material and start with a few spring things for grandbabies..Enjoy making your new family wardrobe...Debbie

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03:56, Tuesday, October 10, 2006 .. Posted by katenicholl
Wow! You're really busy! I have been thinking recently of making some of my own clothes again. It has been a long time and I'm really out of practice. In recent weeks i have been considering the type of clothing that myself and my daughter wear. We both dress what I would have considered to be modest but we both like trousers and spend most of our time in them. In fact, Amy, hates skirts! Last week though I did an experiment and wore skirts for the entire week. Revelation! I ENJOYED wearing a skirt and hubby said he preferred me in a skirt. Much more feminine. I visited a thrift shop and got a few more "everyday" skirts as the only ones I possessed were for church (even there trousers are the norm!). Now I want to make some as I can choose the styles more carefully. The next challenge is to change my daughter's attitude to skirts!!

Catherine :-)

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Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Sewing for Abbie

very inspiring

western patterns

with a little one

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