Cutesy Kimono and Diaper Cover

This week's project came from two different sites. Original tutorials can be found at Cook, Clean, Craft and Made.

Go check out their version, then come back and I'll tell you how it worked for the kindergarten crafter.

 Cutting out the pattern was not terrible. Not EASY, but not terrible. Taping it together - another story. Lots of pieces as you can see:

And let's just say that even though I printed them exactly like I was supposed to, they didn't quite line up. No matter...

After pinning the pattern and cutting out my fabric, I started sewing. A couple of things to note:

The directions were easy enough to follow - I'd say a 7 out of 10 as far as clarity. I had to zoom in on a couple of pictures to truly get the gist of it. 

Up until the part where  I had to use bias tape, I was thinking I was pretty amazing. Oh sure, the seams aren't perfect and there seems to be a lot of thread just laying around every which way, but in general, I was feeling like I had accomplished what I set out to do.

Bias tape ruined that for me. I used the great directions from Sew to Speak yet somehow, it didn't quite work.

Nevertheless, I wasn't going to rip it out and try it again. At this point, the Kimono almost finished. From a distance, it's looking pretty stylin'!!!

Up close, not quite so stylin'. But think about it: babies don't know if it's it's straight. Babies don't know much 'cept burpin and boobies, so I'm still feeling pretty confident here.

As a first, I used my sewing machine's button-hole feature. I've never made a button-hole before and honestly, would have said someone was crazy if they said "no problem". Surprisingly, no problem. I followed the directions on my super cool, brand new Brother SE400 and low and behold, a buttonhole!!!! There was only one minor issue and unfortunately, it was un-fixable. I started the buttonhole at the wrong end and that stuff just isn't seam-rippable on flannel. I'm pretending like it's a design element.

I also used the "sew on a button" feature of the machine. Yes, the machine sews the buttons on for me. What's not to love!!!!! Other than the Husband finding out I can sew buttons, but I don't expect him to visit the blog, so I should be safe.

It would have been nice had I known buttons are apparently not allowed on baby clothes. Choking hazard and all that (thanks Dori! you were about 30 minutes late with that advice though!). Back in the olden days, babies couldn't tear buttons off - not sure how they became so capable. I'm thinking this may not get really any "baby time" so I'm not worried. Plus, I'll send some velcro and the DIL can tear the buttons off before my darling granddaughter gets to them. :)

On to the  diaper cover!!! 

I did not have enough fabric left over all in once piece, so I had to piece together the baby booty part. I pretended like the crazy-quilt feature on my sewing machine was meant to join items together decoratively. Basically, I sewed it up the two pieces on the inside with a regular seam, then ironed the seam flat and sewed over it from the right side so I could pretend like it was intended that way. 

For the inside seams, I do not have a serger. Sadly. But I do have something called an overcast stitch. I doesn't always look as ugly as this. Sometimes it looks worse, but I've had a time or two when it totally rocked and looked almost like serging. And it's cheaper than a serger because it's included. Babies don't even look at seams, btw. I know this for a fact. That's good, because these seams = not so attractive.

Getting the elastic in the legs was fairly difficult. One, I sewed one of the seams a little bit close and the elastic had to be folded to squ-e-e-e-eze in there. Two, I couldn't find a safety pin, so I tried poking a hole and bending a bobby pin into sort of a reverse-curvy thing. I suggest you find a safety pin before running elastic.

So... the end result:

Ya know what? I looks just like a baby outfit. Go figure!

And compared to the originals: 

Photo credit: Cook, Clean, Craft cookcleancraft.com

Photo credit: MADE - dana-made-it.com

Not the same, but they're professionals! I suggest you visit them and get the real instructions and get busy sewing!

Now, for the scoring. Kindergarten Crafter will be giving these crafts a score, so you know just what you're getting into.

EASE - On a scale of 1-5 thumbs, 1 being no problem and 5 making me cry, I give this craft:

3 Thumbs

GIFTABILITY - On a scale of 1-5 gifts, 1 being barely giftable and 5 being almost sellable, I give this craft:

3 Gifts

HAPPINESS - On a scale of 1-5 smilies, 1 being UGH and 5 being WOOT!!!, I give this craft:

4 smiles

Skills learned: taping, bias tape, elastic, buttons, buttonholes,