Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Every outfit has its first outing

Today was the first time Alyssa has worn her present out in public...

I picked up a copy of Studio Bambini magazine a couple of months ago. I quickly realised that it's a magazine for parents who will quite happily spend $100 on one item of clothing for their baby/child (that's not me!). On the up side it's full of beautiful clothes - and my inspiration for the fabric chosen for this outfit. Gorgeous brands Monnalisa and Simonetta showcased skirts made from fabrics with big multi-coloured horizontal stripes. I didn't find big bold stripes and I wasn't making a skirt. Alyssa still can't sit by herself, let alone walk, so skirts have been deemed impractical until further notice.

Newlook 6903 gave me a headache. I read the instructions 10 times over the course of a week before I had the courage to start. I improvised on the yolk, god knows how you do it properly... One day I'll find out.



It didn't exactly turn out as planned. Rather, I made my poor bub look like a present. Most likely made worse by the addition of a big bow (yes I had a mini (in time) big (in my head) obsession with oversized bows and had to find a way to incorporate one).

It would be another 2 months before this outfit made it out in public. We bumped into our neighbours in Spotlight today and they both agreed that they wouldn't mind a present like Alyssa. She gave them great big smiles the whole time. It's true - she is a gift 



Alyssa loves it. From about 7 weeks old we started to show her her reflection and it became a game to poke her tongue out and smile at herself. Now, when she gets a new outfit she gets to 'see' it too. I highly anticipate her reactions. If only we had videoed the sunglasses reaction, hilarious!

Snap fasteners were used in excess. Forget button holes, I need to practice those first. And the button is a fake. The bow comes off completely and never makes it through a whole day.




Sunday, January 29, 2012

The first thing I made for my baby's room...

About 3 weeks after I found out I was pregnant I went out shopping for baby girls clothes. Apparently that is quite common... to shop for your baby even before you know the sex. I didn't have to sell them but I did have to keep the fact that we were having a girl a secret from my partner. I lasted only 3 months. It was supposed to be the whole time but I let it slip. I credit myself for being able to keep secrets, but that one was WAY too big. Plus, I didn't want everything while and yellow and I wanted to start sewing...

I found a second hand sewing machine on Gumtree, bought some fabric squares from Spotlight and made a bib, burnt myself (still have the scar on my knee) & decided not to count that one. I put the sewing machine away and it didn't come back out for three months.

In that time I found a beautiful birdy mobile on madeit.com.au. It was expensive. I decided to copy it. The one I made is a complete copy, not to the exact detail - I didn't have a pattern - but if you find one similar then that's probably where I sourced my inspiration. Two weeks later & a change of fabric half way through it was complete.


I still didn't particularly like the fabric choice. They were the squares left over from the bib-fabric-shopping. But it was made and I wasn't making another one.


This was the first item for Alyssa's room and influenced everything that happened after that.


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