I’ve been buying lots of baby clothing patterns with this grandiose idea that I’m going to be making all these clothes for my baby, and so far I’ve only managed to make the jumpsuit (view D) from M7039.
I am way more ambitious than I realistically have time for. Just the other day I was telling my husband that I need a whole other week in my week. I just have so much that I want to get done! So really, my two choices are to master time travel or to moderate my expectations, and one of those is much more likely than the other to happen. (Here’s a hint, it’s not #2.)
I’ve made the jumpsuit twice – once for Halloween out of cotton jersey where I added wings to make a baby dragon, and once out of fleece to make cozy outdoor wear for cruising around in the stroller.
I thought this fleece was adorable and I just knew I had to use it for the outdoor jumpsuit only because I wanted to be able to call it a spacesuit!
The first time I made one I was still in the midst of major sleep deprivation (baby #3 is by far my worst sleeper). I do not recommend trying to do anything that requires a brain when you haven’t gotten more than a couple hours of sleep at a time. I messed up literally every step of this dang pattern. That wasn’t the pattern’s fault – it was all me… I mean, I forgot to cut out the top part for the foot and sewed the foot shut before I figured out I was missing that piece.
Because this pattern has so many variations and they all use bits and pieces from each other, the directions kind of bounce back and forth. There’s a lot of “see instructions for jacket A.” I’m not saying that’s a bad thing – it really is the most logical way to write a pattern without having to repeat the same exact thing over and over again but I just I kept losing my place. It felt a little like I was reading a Choose Your Own Adventure book with all the flipping back and forth where every time I picked wrong meant I had to undo my choices with a seam ripper.
One thing that was truly confusing, sleep deprived or not, was the gusset. I made this thing twice and I still have no freaking clue how you’re supposed to sew a gusset. I can’t even tell you if I sewed it in right. In the end the jumpsuit fit so I guess it’s fine. The picture and written directions were unclear. Before I attempt a gusset again I’m going to need to find some tutorials or something.
Worse than the gusset was the mitts. I really ended up hating these things. I only sewed them on my fleece version because I thought they would be great for keeping little hands warm outside. It wasn’t a good idea to sew the mitts using fleece because it added soooo much bulk to the sleeve. They’re the fold over variety, which might be fine if the sleeve was longer, but the way the pattern is written means you’re closing off the sleeve at the wrist. That means their little arm gets jammed up in the sleeve and their hand is bunched up in the end. This might be okay with some super stretchy jersey where the fabric stretches enough to make more room, but I found it unusable in the fleece. I won’t ever make those mitts again.
I do like that they included the little snap for over the zipper. I also like the mix and match nature of the pattern. I can see myself making all of the different versions. Having pockets is great if you’re making outdoor gear for kids – gotta have a place to collect rocks and leaves, right? However if you make just the pants there are no instructions for pockets which I think could have been easily done using the already provided jacket pockets.
It fit well too. I didn’t have to make any adjustments and it even fit my baby’s giant feet!
This is a pattern that I see myself making again in the future.
Pros
- Fit well without adjustments
- Mix and match to make the piece you want
- Included jacket pockets and a zipper snap
Cons
- Gusset instructions were confusing and unclear
- Mitts are non-functional
What I’d Do Differently
- Add pockets to the pants
