May 3, 2014

A Vintage Easter

Ever since Mollie's first Easter, when she was 11 months old, I've made her Easter dresses, (2010, and 2011). When Dede came along, I made coordinating ones for both girls (2012 here and here, and 2013 here and here). Now that I have a boy, I knew I had to make him an Easter outfit, a vintage-style romper to be exact!! I was a little nervous that I wasn't going to be able to get three outfits done in time for Easter, but how could I not, now that it's become a tradition? The Easter dresses in stores and online were tempting, because of the low cost and zero effort involved, so I thought about just making Lincoln's outfit. But I'm glad I pushed past that thought and carried on the tradition.


I love vintage children's dress clothes, and bought vintage patterns on Etsy to use for each of the outfits. They were all from the 60s or 70s, and amazingly, all three of the patterns had never been cut! They'd been waiting 30+ years to fulfill their destiny as my kids' Easter outfits :)


This is the pattern I used for Mollie's dress (view 2):

I used mint colored cotton, with white lace on top. I've never sewn with lace, but I love the way it turned out. I wasn't planning on adding the collar, but Mollie insisted, and I'm glad she did!


 

Here is the pattern I used for Dede's dress (view 1):

 

I wanted something simple, so I could be sure to get it done quickly, and this fit the bill perfectly. I got it cut and sewn in less than 24 hours... that's unheard of for me!

 

I used quilting cotton from Denyse Schmidt's line at Joann's. I have been a fan of hers for several years, because I always love what she puts out.


 Another thing I love love love to sew with is eyelet trim!!


And lastly, the pattern I used for Lincoln's romper:

 

To me, this is the quintessential vintage Easter outfit for a baby boy. I just love this look and will definitely be making more for summertime. This was another crazy quick sew. I used Riley Blake's medium gray gingham. The fabric quality is great and I love that her gingham line includes small, medium, and large print gingham.


I just gotta add this in here: I got a new sewing machine a few months ago (this one). I could go on and on about all of the cool features, but I will just say this...having a computerized sewing machine is awesome! It seemed to come with a foot for everything, and it made sewing the buttonholes and the buttons on so easy and they look much more professional (more durable too).

 

               So there you go, our Easter outfits this year. They were well worth a few days of marathon sewing :)

1 comment:

  1. So sweet Caitlin, I love seeing your sewing progress.....and the old patterns. Takes me back many,many years! Ramona

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