Sewing for My Lu Lu Bear

Lucy outgrew almost all of her pajamas at once, right as the weather cooled enough that she was no longer sleeping in just her diaper.  I scoured the second hand stores, but couldn't find any cute, non-Christmas pajamas in her size.  I seized the opportunity to sew some for her!  I was feeling adventurous so I decided I'd draft my own pattern.  What could possibly go wrong?!  I pulled out a pair of well-fitting pajamas and traced them, adding allowances, etc.  I started to stitch them up and thankfully I decided to try them on her before I attempted to put in a zipper (I was attempting the sleeper-style -- why not be super ambitious, right?)...  Total fail.  I mean total.

I attempted to replicate these the first time... 

Undaunted I decided to draft a different style of pajamas with a top and bottom.  I had purchased a cute giraffe receiving blanket from the "secret" Good Will that was just meant to be pajamas.  (Have I mentioned how much I love giraffes lately?)

Disassembled baby blanket 

Well, I found a tutorial on danamadeit.com, but decided I didn't want to cut up a shirt to draft my pattern.  I'll just trace it and fold it -- it'll be fine...  RIGHT.  Because these ideas always work out so well for me.  Well, I traced and added a seam allowance, and a little bit of room to make sure it wasn't too small... Aaaand well... I ended up with pajamas that will fit her in about two years.  Mark that down as a long-term "win", after all, they're adorable, but huge. 

Room to grow! 

I was now more determined than ever, and I still had some fabric left over (again from the secret Good Will -- this time a queen size jersey sheet I scored for about $4), so I tried again and sized down my pattern, compared it to a well-fitting shirt, adjusted, hemmed, hawed, and then took the plunge.  Did I mention that the sheet was totally in BOY colors?  Yep.  Blue and gray with the white left over from the giraffe blanket...  So, chalk that up to a "win" because my baby is adorable and can totally rock boy jams to bed, right? 

Baby Insomniac: Going strong at 11:30 PM