Old to New

Speaking of babies... Did I mention the piles of fabric, stacks of patterns, and lists of sewing projects that have taken over my office (and a few other parts of the house, if truth be told)? Sewing has become a bit of an obsession for me in the last few years, thanks in large part to the amazing quantities of inspiration to be found online these days. I was collecting ideas and sewing kids' clothes for my own entertainment (and gifting to friends) well before Baby Figgy came into our lives. But now that I'm looking forward to having a kiddo of my own to clothe very soon, there's no stopping the avalanche of sewing priorities.

Nick, being of an entrepreneurial frame of mind, likes to speculate with me about how I could turn my sewing passion into some sort of business. I generally argue that the kind of sewing I like to do takes far too long to ever be cost-effective, and that it's doubtful I'd enjoy the mass-producing necessary to sew for sale. Besides, I have an ever-growing list of things I want to sew just for us, family, and friends - when would I find time to sew for strangers?

That said, the one idea that has been fun to toss around - that would allow me to continue experimenting with one-of-a-kind projects and also tap into my fondness for repurposing old garments into new ones - is a custom-sewing business based on turning a family's old clothes of some significance into useful items for their newest members. For instance: Grandpa's favorite flannel shirts transformed into a patchwork baby quilt; Grandma's vintage skirt into a sweet little pinafore; a soft, worn sweater from an aunt or uncle into a cozy hat and mittens.

I haven't gotten any further than speculating with that idea, although I've collected bins full of textile treasure of no particular family significance from Goodwill. I use this stash regularly instead of new fabrics, and knowing this, my mom has passed along a few things she's cleaned out of the closets at their house. Somehow, without planning it at all, what I've sewn for Figgy over the past few months includes a number of items that fit the theme of clothing the newest family member in garments that once belonged to older relatives.

From a wool sweater my mom no longer wore, I made a warm, cozy, flannel-lined snowsuit for a March newborn. The white ribbing around the waistband, sleeve cuffs, and neck of the existing sweater made for fun contrast and easy hem finishing:

Pattern is #2 from the Winter 2011 issue of Ottobre Design magazine, size 50 cm.

Next I turned a moth-eaten old sweater last worn by my dad decades ago into two woolly diaper covers, strategically avoiding the holes as I cut out the tiny pattern pieces. Again, I was able to put the sweater's existing ribbing to good use on one of the covers:

Pattern is Katrina's Soaker, size small.

Then I made another diaper cover from a soft merino sweater of mine that had seen better days:

Also from the Katrina's Soaker pattern, this one in newborn size.

Finally, an extra-large uniform shirt long-abandoned by my brother Jeff after his days working on the Boyne golf course yielded a nice expanse of stretchy stripes. I turned part of it into a little elastic-bottomed sleeping gown, a style I'm told is good for easy night-time diaper changes. I forgot to capture it in the photo, but it still says "STAFF" on the sleeve:

"Baby Sleep Sack" from the book Growing Up Sew Liberated by Meg McElwee, size 0-6 m.

This is not all the baby sewing I've done, by any means. (Stay tuned for the next installment.) But it does make for a fun themed set!