A Sweet Baby Day-Gown

I got a little crafty this weekend and wanted to share the results!

Like it? I do too! Caroline wore one similar to this home from the hospital when she was born. By the way, that was before I "decided" I could sew, so I did not make C's. But two and a half years later it's a different story.

A few notes: I did not have a true pattern for this.  I just eyeballed it.  Also, as cute as the ribbon detail was at her empire waist, Caroline's version quickly became hard to put on and off because there was zero give in the fabric.  Lastly, I do not have a monogramming machine, so I chose an iron-on applique.  But your possibilities are endless on the top portion.

Here's a quick tutorial in pictures for you (as well as a recap for me to remember in the future how I did this).

This is a gift, so I prewashed all my materials in sensitive detergent to help the mom-to-be.

Again, I was "eyeballing" my measurements, but I used my rotary cutting blade to turn my onesie into a cropped top.

I am learning to love my serger!  I turned the minky-dot fabric right-sides in and serged it into a tube. I think I've been told this fabric frays very little, so a zig-zag stitch would probably work, too.

 Now, at this point I was a little conflicted.  At first I thought I wanted a line of elastic at the empire waist.  But I was reminded that on li'l ones, the elastic will ride up easily.  Also, the casing I sewed for the elastic got bulky in a hurry!  So I was given the following advice which I happily followed:

First I serged the top of the minky dot skirt (not pictured).  Then, in the before/above and after/below pictures, I stretched the onesie top wide and then zig-zag attached the minky-dot skirt to it.

The result was a piece that did not lay completely flat (giving a slightly ruffled illusion) and that also kept a little give for growing baby tummies!  Exactly what I wanted.

If you love putting babies in gowns, which I do, you love that they have that great length and cinchable bottoms.  Because this is for a girl, I wanted some extra oomph!  So I decided to cinch the bottom with coordinating ribbon.  First I sewed a button hole into the would-be ribbon casing...

(By the way, I am so proud of myself for learning this skill!)

...then I hemmed up the skirt forming the ribbon casing.  I fed my ribbon into the gown and tied it with a big bow!

I think the mommy-to-be will love this custom made, original gift idea.  If not, I can always give her some necessary diapers, etc.  If you know this mommy-to-be, don't tell her about this blog until after this weekend when her shower occurs.  Honestly, I should be sad she doesn't read my blog, but not today!