First baby makes (Tadah Patterns Seaside Playsuit)

Today I first wanted to point you towards a post I have up on the new Minerva site and then show you the other versions I have made using the same patterns! The sweet little sets made in Liberty\’s always-amazing Tana Lawn are the third version of the Seaside Playsuit that I have made, and, in my opinion, the cutest yet! You can read more about them here.

Now for a bit of background on the previous two versions, also shown above!

I\’ve been sewing for myself for over a decade now and have mentioned time and time again that I love a well-thought-out, carefully drafted, logical pattern. I generally stick to the same pattern brands that I know and trust to have professional drafting and a standardized fit–Simplicity, Sewaholic, Deer & Doe–and ignore even the hottest new releases from pattern companies that have burned me in the past.

Then I decided I wanted to sew some baby clothes and all my hard-earned wisdom went out the window, apparently! I blame first trimester tiredness.

I purchased several misguided etsy patterns that were missing information or with seam allowances that seemed, honestly, improbable–how are you supposed to fully enclose 3/8\” elastic if you only have a 1/2\” of seam allowance to turn under?! After a recommendation from 7 Pine Design, whom I trust to only recommend high quality children\’s patterns (her pattern reviews are always brutally honest, which I appreciate so much) I purchased the Seaside Playsuit from Tadah Patterns and Sewing. Actually, she recommended the Seaside Dress pattern, but the two patterns cover almost the same age range and I thought I could always lop off the bottom half of the playsuit and get pretty close to the dress. The pattern comes optional snap crotch, several sweet variations including a ruffle collar, cap (seen here in seersucker) or short (seen here in little bud print) sleeves, and an optional \”skirt.\” Tadah also has a free long-sleeve add on with cute elasticated cuffs–which you can see over at Minerva 😉

My goal is to stick to a very small selection of patterns for now, that can grow with the girls and that I can make in a bunch of different variations, and I think this pattern totally works for that. This trial version I made in some sweet pink seersucker for my spring girls (born in April) that I actually pilfered from the skirt of this dress, which I didn\’t wear as much as I could have this past summer. (I\’m trying to be pretty ruthless in my closet.) The instructions are great and provide lots of different finishing techniques and variants without getting jumbled, which is impressive.

I don\’t plan on doing a huge amount of sewing for babies, since they\’ll grow out of things so so quickly, but I hope to sew more as they grow!

xoxo,

allie

ps: more baby sewing coming soon!