Month Of Sewing: Baby Kimono Outfit

I had actually sewn this before the Month of Sewing except for the button. There are many baby kimono sewing tutorials out there on the net to get the idea of size etc. I used dotted ribbon for tie closure and there is a snap button on the underside of the top panel to further keep the two fronts closed. Then I sewed a matching pair of pants too. The fabric again is light, summer lawn.
 I still have a few more baby projects to blog about in the coming days, inshaAllah

Month Of Sewing: Baby Bonnets

Before I start posting about my probable Month Of Sewing projects, I want to state that my sewing skills are at best, passable. I manage to get the things I want, done, but I don't expect perfection in the process. So please bear with me while I try to churn out a modest sewing month.

I start off with a couple of little baby bonnets. I used one of my daughter's old caps for the size and inspiration. These are in newborn size and made with light and airy lawn, just right for a summer baby.

Sassy Stripes Socks

A half completed sock had been languishing in my craft closet since December and I might have still been uninspired to work on these, had it not been for my friend, Shells' Month O'Socks (MOS). I had promised, I would try to knit at least a pair, so I got these out and finished them over the weekend. Just in time, MOS ends tomorrow.
   This pair is for my father. The pattern is a simple 3x1 rib and mindless to knit. These knit up quite fast. I love the look and feel of the yarn, which is Cascade Yarns Sassy Stripes.
   Next, I plan to have a MOS of my own, only in my case, it will be a Month O'Sewing. With summer and a new baby imminent, I find I have a lot of small project to do. I will try to blog about the interesting ones.

Scrappy Doll

I stumbled across this cute pattern at ravelry and was tempted to knit it, as it seemed to be a quick, easy knit, I had just the right scrap wool for the project and I wanted to reacquaint myself with felting.

The pattern instructions were excellent, except for the head size which was quite large compared to the torso. So, I had to decapitate the doll and re-knit the head from the neck up, making the neck thinner (18sts instead of 24) and less increases for the head (48 sts instead of 60).

  The doll itself takes little time to knit (I did it in a day) but the felting, drying, stuffing and the making up took a lot longer. I stayed up well into the night, the second day to do the face and hair. Instead of the leggings I opted for shorts and changed color at feet to make shoes. Then I embroidered the shoes with white yarn to make Mary Janes and knit some frilly socks.

Next, the doll needed some clothes and by this time, I was pushing to get it done. Thus came into being this little blue dress with a crochet heart and edging.

 Here is the doll finally done and dressed.

  It was surprisingly well received by my daughter whose tastes in toys go after her elder borher and she can not be bothered with dolls as a rule. But she was enamored enough to take it to bed with her last night.Not so surprising, was the envious reaction of my son, who has supplied me with various sketches for the Lego superheroes for me to knit and has extracted a promise from me to see if I can knit those too. Sigh, a scrappy doll is not so simple a knit after all.

Another Baby Set

 It took about a week to get done but it was such a pleasant knit. Smooth-sailing through out and turned out quite nice. The yarns again are our local acrylics, Bally DK and Parley.

The sweater is this Side to Side Jacket by DROPS. The pattern is pleasantly easy to follow and brilliant. 

The pant is yet another DROPS design, which also was quite simple and gave nice results. I plan to add a fabric casing for the elastic at the waistband.

Lastly, the hat is one of my favorites, the Aviatrix Baby Hat. It is the second time I've knit it, doing it in two colors this time.The flower embellishment is a simple I cord folded into a flower shape and sewed in place.

DROPS Cabled Jumpsuit and Basque Hat

Here goes the first set for the baby. It is a DROPS pattern, which was a bit hard to decipher, leading to small bursts of frogging. Especially the part where the cables start, the stitch count seemed off and I had to work it out on my own. Other than that, it was a quick knit and seems to be well-sized. I knit it in 6/9 months size. The hat is the one modeled with the jumpsuit, though it does not exactly match, with no cables and all garter st. It turned out a bit too large, a toddler size. I have tried to fix it by running a couple of rows of elastic sewing thread through the head band. The yarn is Bally DK, our good local acrylic.
  Next up is a baby sweater, another DROPS design and thankfully, it has been a breeze to knit so far. Hope to post the FO during the next week, inshaAllah.

Cable Pullover With Shawl Collar

 Thank you all for your well wishes.

 Before continuing with my baby knitting, I had to complete this sweater I had started for my son in January. It was neglected quite a bit, while I worked on the baby blanket. I took it up again last week and finally it is done and donned.

 The pattern is my own and the yarn, our local acrylic (which is quite nice and excellent for kids' knits). I had wanted to knit a shawl collar for a long time and this project seemed perfect to try it out. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. The sleeves are quite a bit long, partly due to it being a size 8 on a seven year old and partly due to my inadvertently adding an inch to the size 8 length. But he will grow into it by the next winter, inshaAllah,  for which the pullover is intended.