Okay….so maybe couture is going a bit far, but I have been sewing up a storm of outfits for my little girl. She is a fantastic muse and I find myself wishing I could spend all day, every day sewing up magnificent clothes for her to sport.
You can never have too much ruffle butt!
The current craze started while at Fabric Depot picking up some chocolate brown satin to make the sash for my flower girl project. I walked past a ruffled butt romper pattern that I had been drooling over for months. I decided that I better get it since they were not going to carry it soon. I went home and got to work. What I came up with was a Rainbow Brite inspired romper that any child of the 80s would have died for!
First romper attempt (with a yellow onesie underneath)
first romper attempt (with a yellow onesie underneath)
first romper attempt (with a yellow onesie underneath)
Revisions, revisions, revisions!
Although the outfit came out adorable, I realized that the pattern could use some revisions to make it just the way I’d like it to be. For one, the bib seemed waaaay too long for a baby under a year old (I had made the 6-12 month size) I tried it on Penelope and it went halfway up her face! Secondly, some of the bias tape seemed a bit unnecessary, so I decided to cut that out. Thirdly, I wasn’t fond of how the ruffles stuck out when viewed from the front, so I decided to sew them down into the side seam for a cleaner look. Lastly, the biggest “flaw” in the pattern as I saw it was the crotch was not one which could open, making diaper changing a nightmare. I went ahead and modified it to have a snap open (or velcro) crotch for convenient changing. I was also interested in making the straps so that it would easily fit a younger baby but could also fit a toddler as well. Pair some elastic filled stretchy straps with a matching extender for the crotch area and BAM! A romper that could fit your child for a year or more! I got out my trusty roll of freezer paper and got to work making my own version of the adorable romper.
adding ruffles to the revised backside
putting the pieces together
The fruit of my labor
Once the new pattern was drafted, I picked out some fabric I had gotten on sale that I had been itching to use for a long time and I got to work. I am incredibly pleased with what came of my revisions. A super cute, ruffle butt romper that has the ability to fit a 6 month old, 12 month old and even quite possibly a 24 month old! (of course I just had to make a matching head bow!)
The improved romper- front
the improved romper- back
Penelope models her romper and bow
Penelope models her romper and bow
One step further
Although i was incredibly proud of my revised romper I realized that sadly, summer is almost over and little rompers just aren’t appropriate winter wear. I had to figure out a way to make these ruffle butt beauties wearable all year long! With this realization came my second revision…or rather version #2 I should say. This version cuts out the closed leg portion of the romper, instead turning it into a dress! This dress can then be worn with tights or leggings, or in this case I also constructed a pair of matching pull on pants to go underneath. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, although I think a few tweaks still need to be made. It’s a little big on Penelope but she should grow into it quickly!
The dress with bow and matching pants
The dresses back side...ruffle heaven!
Penelope modeling her new outfit
More to come
I’m sure that over the next few weeks I will not only perfect the above patterns, but be inspired to create some new ones! I already have some ideas milling around in my mind about some detail work I can do on both the rompers and the dress to make them extra special! I plan on making some to put up for sale in my etsy store as well…or perhaps I will make them custom for people. Either way it would be neat to see a baby besides Penelope sporting my creations! I decided to make Penelope a mix ‘n’ match ready to wear wardrobe. I took a handful of her onesies to the fabric store with me and matched some solid cottons to them. Once I’m done she will have an easily interchangeable wardrobe to match all her onesies! She can choose from rompers, dresses, and pants and will, of course, have headwear to match! Sometimes I wonder if Penelope will grow up thinking this is awesome…or if she will just be embarrassed to wear homemade stuff! lol ;)
One Comment