Thank you so much for all the congratulations! It’s so fun to hear from so many of you all at once, especially those of you who usually lurk! I love seeing so many familiar names; know that I read and appreciated all of your kind words, even if I’ll never be able to respond to them all (and forgive me for not really trying at this point…).
We are having so much fun with Clementine; she’s so snuggly and sleepy all the time. I know it only gets better, but this stage is so much fun too. These are hazy days for us; the time slips by, we don’t know what day it is and there’s lots of napping. So great.
It seemed only natural when I knew I was having a girl that I should try out that baby dress pattern. Finally, a chance to actually TEST it (heh…OK, so I’m kidding; I had made a couple as gifts before). So I made the smallest size with a few modifications:
- Skirt dimensions: I used 6″x17″ rectangles instead of the pattern specified 9″x18.”
- Bias Trim: I folded a strip 2.5″ wide in half, sewed it to the bottom hem of the skirt, pressed the seam underneath upward and topstitched it down. This way the folded edge is on the bottom of the skirt and you don’t have to do any hemming.
Fabric: Amy Butler’s Midwest Modern
Pattern: Itty Bitty Baby Dress (and check out The Photo Pool for more inspiration)
Fit: When I wrote the pattern, I said that it was designed “to fit a preemie or small newborn (about 7 lbs) right from birth.” That was a guess. Now while I agree that this would fit a 7-lb baby, I think it would be way too big for a preemie; this fits Clementine just about perfectly right now, and she’s a little over 8 pounds (she spit up about half a pound the first day, having spent about 15 minutes total making her exit from the womb…). I’m not sure it would fit a 9-lb baby, but we’ll see!
The result is a dress that is shorter; almost a top really, so I thought I’d just pair it with a pair of pants. Since it’s summer, the pants never made it on:
Bonnie’s got a nice (free!) pattern/tutorial for super-cute matching bloomers that I’ve been meaning to try; I also purchased her Little Fishies Undies pattern and can’t wait to make undies for Elliot! Right now the sewing machines are sitting dormant; maybe in a few weeks I’ll be able to start sewing again…
44 Responses to Itty Bitty Dress for Clementine
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about Rae
Hi, I'm Rae and I love to sew! I live in Michigan. This blog is a showcase for my crafty stuff.
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oh!!!! what a sweet baby girl!!! the dress is pretty but the baby is so beautiful!!!! congrats!!
So precious!! Baby and dress.
Enjoy your "napping" time while you can! We know how fast that time disappears!
She is a doll. The dress is adorable.
The dress is fabulous but the baby really stole the show on this post!! Congrats and enjoy the time!
Awww. She's so cute and the little dress is perfect on her. Congratulation you guys!
awww….that is so adorable! I LOVE newborns…I think it is one of the sweetest times, even with the lack of sleep.
She is so precious and this was the start of her modelling career of things made by MUMMY
Kisses to Clementine
Cheers
Mayya @ Sew Chic and Unique
Dear Rae,
I just have to repeat what everyone has said – Clementine is adorable! And with your dress, a very chic little girl too
Congratulations again!
She's beautiful, the dress (of course) is adorable…and I love that you altered your OWN pattern to fit your OWN baby. (Because, seriously? Who EVER makes anything the same way twice?!)
CONGRATULATIONS!!! It was a crazy week, and I'm sorry i couldn't stop by earlier. Myrnie did let me know, though.
she's killing me in that dress!!!!!!!
….then again, I AM a sucker for babies AND Amy Butler prints!
Wow- congrats. Your little girl is so darn cute in the dress that you made her. I am so impressed that you are already sewing for her! Your blog is an inspiration to me. The buttercup bag is adorable and gave me confidence in sewing again. Looking forward to making more- the dress, the top… Enjoy your new "bundle".
Those little fists. She is adorable. And that dress you made her looks very cute on her. You must be the proudest mama in the world!
Gushing here! I have five girls. I *HEART* little girls. Clementine is lovely and so is that cute Itty Bitty dress. Congrats!
So very cute!! The dress and Clementine!
Congratulations! She's such a beauty.
The dress is sooo lovely! How satisfying that it fits. Sniff the top of her head – the newborn smell is unique to each baby and fades so quickly. (I'm a doula)
x
So sweet and tiny.
she is adorable as is the dress! I am right there with you in the hazy days, but it is so wonderful, you just want to cherish every second:)
Wow! Congratulations! I went on hols and came back to see your beautiful baby girl! A precious time for you, enjoy it while you can
Great dress by the way!
A pretty dress for a very pretty girl. Adorable!
She looks so gorgeous!
Congratulations on Clementine~ She is so pretty! Can't wait to see how this little girl inspires you!
I LOVE the Amy Butler fabric for Clementine!! It suits her perfectly!!
So good to see that you are finding time to blog! Things must be going well. She is adorable. You and countless others have inspired me to start my own blog…I would love for you to visit. It's called the Southern Institute for Domestic Arts and Crafts…
http://www.sidac.blogspot.com
Have a wonderful weekend!
The dress is adorable–thanks for sharing the pattern! Clementine is beautiful! I just had a baby boy in May. Babies are the best!
She looks so beautiful, and the dress is adorable on her. Congratulations!
She's adorable. I love all the loose skin – course it's really only cute on babies, but none-the-less, really makes you want to cuddle and squish her. Congrats! The dress was really cute too.
So precious!! She looks adorable in it and I love her name.
I just used your Pleated Pocket on my 1st skirt for me. And I love how it turned out!
http://sewingthestressaway.blogspot.com/2009/08/finished-product.html
She is gorgeous! What a precious little girl!
wow…that looks very pretty and the baby looks too cute
tooooo sweet. I love all of it!!
She is soooo sweet. Congratulations!
I wasn't able to to go online due to some apartement changing and I was dying to see if you already had your baby. Totally worth it, she is really, really cute!
congratulations on the wee one, she is really beautiful and has SO much hair! Oh, and the dress is pretty cute too!
)
the dress turned out so cute!
Her super cuteness here motivated me! I made my first Itty Bitty dress last night and love it! Added it to the Flickr pool & I've got a shout out to you with it on my blog:)
Love the dress, love her, love new babies in the house! Our littlest is 11 mo and it's not so little anymore–I might have bitty baby envy right now!
Glad you're all doing well–enjoy it!
YOU ARE SOOO CRAFTY! LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL BABY YOU MADE.
CONGRATULATIONS
You have an angel. She's beautiful.
Congrats to you.
Adorable dress.
Jody
So glad youve gotten to enjoy your pattern! I know I did- made nine in one week. Ended up thinking it was way too many for one little girl and shared a few with my niece. She loves them! I cant wait to get our little Grace home and see how she likes them, I guess at the rate we are going it will be next summer before the dresses are worn.
LOVE your choices in fabrics and the way you turned it into a top. Several people have said I could do this if Grace grows too much before getting to wear them. So now I get to see a little version of what it will look like.
Glad things went well with your labor and delivery and that you are getting plenty of rest.
Many congratulations
She's beautiful!
Thanks for the pattern! I have two friends having girls in the next 6 weeks & needed an easy gift idea!!
Her expressions are priceless! So cute…and cute outfit too!
Lovely dress!
Sweet baby!
thanks for the tips about how it fit your little girl – I just made one up for our little one (due to arrive any day) and it turned out super cute!
she's so cute in that outfit…sweet babydool!