A Stitching Odyssey: Itty bitty stitching!

When Tilly posted about this cute little baby dress back in May, I knew it would be the perfect gift for two very close friends of mine who are each expecting their first baby (girls obviously) within a week of each other.

The Itty Bitty Baby Dress pattern from made by RAE is a free download and super easy to make, with plenty of variation possibilities. It’s sized for newborns, so it comes out very tiny and takes minimal fabric and time to make. I stayed true to the pattern for these two versions because it’s too cute not to really - I just cut out the larger of the two sizes and lengthened the shoulder ties a smidgeon.

There’s just one seam at the back of the skirt which I french seamed, I overlocked the waistline for extra strength and I finished the lined bodice according to the Elisalex instructions so there are no exposed seams there. If you're interested, Rachel has had a successful go at making an equally adorable reversible version.

To give you a sense of how small these dresses are, I thought it would be fun to photograph them against my two Mathilde blouses. Bonkers isn't it?!?

And thanks to your sound patchwork advice here, I was also able to make a colourful blanket for each friend and her baby! I don't know why, but these were so much fun to make. They are much smaller than my first patchwork project - a bunting tablecloth - so they came together with a lot less hassle. I was even surprised when all the squares actually lined up perfectly!

To make these I sewed the squares together in rows and then sewed the rows together to make the full blanket. I decided to press my seams to one side instead of open this time and ironed vigorously. I then smoothed and pinned on a plain flannel backing (a lot of smoothing and pinning on a flat surface was required) and finished the edges with some wide bias binding.

I made these cute bundles with so much love and knowing that they have gone to very appreciative homes (not everyone 'gets' handmade after all!) has quite literally made my month...or maybe even my year! I now can't wait to meet the itty bitty recipients, but we're still waiting for them to make an entrance!

 

I should say that I attribute much of the success of these projects to the gorgeous fabrics I had at my disposal. They were all sourced from two excellent shops - The Village Haberdashery and m is for make - both of which have amazing fabrics in their 'sale' sections, yearlong it would seem. In fact, thinking about it, I picked all of these up in their respective sale sections!