While trawling through my cache of old photos today, I discovered I had failed to blog a few baby rompers I’d made for people! This is the challenge with gifts – I want to wait until after either the recipient has seen the gift, or the baby has modeled it before I share it! Well, I had meant to share these two adorable rompers over a year ago, but obviously failed to do that! Not to worry, baby boy is now quite a lot bigger, but still as cute as ever!
This was an absolutely last minute baby shower gift, in that I am fairly sure I cut and sewed it the day before the shower! Since Levi, the baby’s dad, is from Zimbabwe, I wanted to use African prints for these ones. One of my local-ish stores (45 minute drive away), Fabric Place Basement, carries a large collection of authentic African fabrics, and since I couldn’t settle on just one fabric, I decided I’d go ahead and make two rompers!
Speaking of the Fabric Place Basement, if you’re in the Alexandria, VA area, I recommend you check it out! It’s quite a large store with a collection of garment, home dec and quilting cottons. The staff are super friendly (I had my kids with me and the guy serving me – he was possibly the store manager – let my kids each pick a quilting fabric they liked, and then he cut a free 1/8 yard for each!), pricing is competitive, the store is conveniently located to major roads and it’s easy to park!
I created both of these outfits using the Peony Patterns Buttercup Romper. This is a downloadable, print at home, PDF pattern, and comes in sizes NB – 4T. From memory, I made a size 3M. I used a basic solid front on these ones, but there’s a split front and ruffle option available too. Some things I especially love about this pattern is the fully enclosed lining, the fun oversized buttons, and the bias binding around the legs (you can use pre-made or have fun with DIY bias tape!). Also, it’s a quick sew, which is perfect for those last minute baby shower gifts!!
And on the topic of baby shower, this was probably the most ethnically diverse shower I’d ever been to, with friends from possibly every continent present, and many different African countries represented too. Mom, Steph, works with a Christian campus mission organization called “Bridges International,” so she has friends from all over the world! Before having kids, I used to work on projects in Eastern Africa, so I surprised a few people with my (limited) knowledge of the region. Having the world on my doorstep will always be my favorite thing about living in the DC Metro area!
auschick sews 